Carbon loss from planned fires in southeastern Australian dry Eucalyptus forests

Volkova, Liubov; Weston, Christopher J.

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2014.10.018

Cited by 30 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 35 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…To assess the significance of RSC on total PM emissions, we used key parameters that underpin Australian national inventory calculations for fire emissions from a recent review by Roxburgh et al (). Recommended fuel loads for Victorian forests were 12.2 t/ha for fine fuels (diameter < 6 mm) and 32.5 t/ha for CWD, while recommended burning efficiencies during prescribed burns were 0.36 for fine fuels and 0.13 for CWD (Volkova & Weston, ). Burning efficiency is the product of fire patchiness and the proportion of available fuel that is burnt.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ground‐Based Field Measurements of PM_2.5 Emission Factors From Flaming and Smoldering Combustion in Eucalypt Forests

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In fire-prone areas such as southern Australia and parts of the United States, prescribed burning is a common fire management tool to reduce fuel load for wildfire suppression purposes. The burns are typically undertaken during calm and stable conditions when the burn extent and duration can be carefully controlled. This often coincides with poor atmospheric ventilation, leading to a buildup of smoke, which can impact air quality and human health. The low intensity of these burns also means that the plume is less buoyant and the main impact on local populations is due to emissions during the slow and prolonged smoldering combustion of heavy fuels. This study presents emission measurements of PM 2.5 at prescribed burns in eucalypt forests of southern Australia using a smoke collection method suitable for both flaming combustion of fine fuels and residual smoldering combustion of heavy fuels and logs. The median PM 2.5 emission factors (EFs) measured were 16.9-g/kg fuel during flaming combustion and 38.8-g/kg fuel during smoldering combustion. The correlation between PM 2.5 EFs and modified combustion efficiency highlights two distinct trends at low modified combustion efficiency, attributed to the distinct combustion processes of glowing char combustion and pyrolysis. Hence, two distinct relationships were developed that best fitted the measurements and that can be used to extrapolate measured EFs to a wider range of fuel and burning conditions. The results from this study addressed a gap in our knowledge of particle emissions during burns in eucalypt forests under different burning conditions and help to better forecast and manage air quality impacts from prescribed burns on nearby communities.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ground‐Based Field Measurements of PM_2.5 Emission Factors From Flaming and Smoldering Combustion in Eucalypt Forests

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Soil is one type of environmental condition that directly affects plant growth, and the soil and plants are two important element storage components. Numerous studies (Claudia et al 2014;Volkova and Weston 2015;Fedrigo et al 2014) have proven that most of the carbon stock is stored in the soil in terrestrial ecosystems, and the range in the stoichiometric characteristics of the elements in the plant body is influenced by the soil (Cross et al 2007;Escalante and Farmer 2005;Feller et al 2007;Fitter and Hillebrand 2009). However, few researchers regard forest stands as basic units to study the soil and plant carbon of different types of pure forests, and fewer researchers focus on nitrogen and phosphorus distribution in different forest stands.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological stoichiometric characteristics and element reserves of three stands in a closed forest on the Chinese loess plateau

Cao

Wang

Wei

et al. 2016

Environ Monit Assess

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Populus davidiana, Leuchtenbergia principis, and Pinus tabulaeformis are important greening tree species with a cosmopolitan distribution. However, the stoichiometric characteristics and element reserves of stands of these three species are not particularly clear. In this study, we conducted a plot-level investigation of forest stands of these species in the loess area; these have been closed forest stands more than 28 years. Trees were sampled from an area of 50 m × 20 m (in 6, 8, and 9 plots, respectively), which was sufficient for shrub (2 m × 2 m), herbal species, and litter (1 m × 1 m) investigations. The C, N, and P concentrations and the C:N:P stoichiometry in five different soil layers (0-10 cm, 10-20 cm, 20-30 cm, 30-50 cm, and 50-100 cm) and in the leaves, stems, branches, and roots of the plants were examined. The soil element concentrations and density were affected by soil depth. The element content had a significantly negative correlation with soil depth, and element density differed significantly among the soil layers. A particular element in a particular organ differed significantly between the forest stands, and the same element in different organs of the same stand was also significantly different. The C, N, and P element reserves in the soil were considerably higher than in the plants. Our results indicate that there are different stoichiometric characteristics and element reserves of the three stands in a closed forest on the Chinese loess plateau, which may provide a reference when we develop and optimize the structure of forest stands.

show abstract

“…While understorey accounted for a minor proportion of AGC in studied forests (about 3%), it is an important carbon pool that can contribute between 2% and 28% to forest fire emissions [20,25]. The developed allometric equation for understorey trees will contribute to more accurate estimates of this small but significant carbon pool and improve our understanding of understorey contribution to forest carbon cycling and ecosystem productivity [35].…”

Section: Importance Of Allometric Equations For Small Treesmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Overstorey represents the biggest aboveground carbon pool in open Eucalyptus forests, accounting for 50%-70% of total AGB [20] and as such overstorey trees are usually the focus of destructively sampled biomass studies [21][22][23]. There are very few accurate estimates of other AGB components such as understorey, which make up between 8% and 33% of total AGB [20,24], and are an important carbon pool contributing to forest fire emissions [25]. Developing allometric equations from destructively sampled understorey trees is not well described in the literature and often surrogates are used to determine the carbon content of small trees [26], contributing to additional sources of uncertainty in estimation of carbon stock and greenhouse gases emission from temperate forests.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Empirical Estimates of Aboveground Carbon in Open Eucalyptus Forests of South-Eastern Australia and Its Potential Implication for National Carbon Accounting

Volkova

Murphy

et al. 2015

Forests

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract:The aboveground carbon (AGC) storage of open Eucalyptus forests is unknown yet they are estimated to account for almost 25% of all Australian forests and about 60% of forests in Victoria. In this study we provide the best possible estimates of total AGC including tree biomass derived from destructive biomass sampling across 23 study plots established in open Eucalyptus forests in Victoria. The field estimates of AGC were then used for calibration of Australia's National Carbon Accounting Model, FullCAM. The study aimed to develop a transparent and defendable method to estimate AGC for one of the most common Australian forests. Our calibrations showed that the 8.3 M ha of open Eucalyptus forests of SE Australia sequester at least 139 Mt C more than default FullCAM predictions. Because most of these forests are not subject to human-induced emission such as harvesting, only emissions and stock changes from a small area of these forests is reported in national inventories and international greenhouse emissions agreements. Concern for climate change and emission reduction will inevitably OPEN ACCESSForests 2015, 6 3396 require land managers to come up with defendable methods of estimating forest carbon stocks and changes in all forest types; here we show how FullCAM can be further developed for this purpose.

show abstract

Carbon loss from planned fires in southeastern Australian dry Eucalyptus forests

Cited by 30 publications

References 35 publications

Ground‐Based Field Measurements of PM_2.5 Emission Factors From Flaming and Smoldering Combustion in Eucalypt Forests

Ground‐Based Field Measurements of PM_2.5 Emission Factors From Flaming and Smoldering Combustion in Eucalypt Forests

Ecological stoichiometric characteristics and element reserves of three stands in a closed forest on the Chinese loess plateau

Empirical Estimates of Aboveground Carbon in Open Eucalyptus Forests of South-Eastern Australia and Its Potential Implication for National Carbon Accounting

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Carbon loss from planned fires in southeastern Australian dry Eucalyptus forests

Cited by 30 publications

References 35 publications

Ground‐Based Field Measurements of PM2.5 Emission Factors From Flaming and Smoldering Combustion in Eucalypt Forests

Ground‐Based Field Measurements of PM2.5 Emission Factors From Flaming and Smoldering Combustion in Eucalypt Forests

Ecological stoichiometric characteristics and element reserves of three stands in a closed forest on the Chinese loess plateau

Empirical Estimates of Aboveground Carbon in Open Eucalyptus Forests of South-Eastern Australia and Its Potential Implication for National Carbon Accounting

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Ground‐Based Field Measurements of PM_2.5 Emission Factors From Flaming and Smoldering Combustion in Eucalypt Forests

Ground‐Based Field Measurements of PM_2.5 Emission Factors From Flaming and Smoldering Combustion in Eucalypt Forests