Climate and recent fire history affect fuel loads in Eucalyptus forests: Implications for fire management in a changing climate

Penman, Trent D.; York, Alan

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2010.08.023

Cited by 39 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 57 publications

(65 reference statements)

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“…UF) under extreme weather conditions. This supports the general consensus that fine fuels will approach pre-fire levels 2-5 years following fire in sclerophyll forests and woodlands of temperate Australia (Fox et al 1979;Morrison et al 1996;Penman and York 2010). However, this window of effectiveness appears to shorten as mean annual precipitation increases (Fig.…”

Section: Management Implications and Climate Changesupporting

confidence: 81%

“…This is presumably due to more rapid accumulation of fine fuels in wetter environments (Huston 2003). Although decomposition rates have been shown to increase with precipitation (Austin 2002;Penman and York 2010), decreased decomposition rates in the first couple of years following fire (Penman and York 2010) may counterbalance this effect. Drought in the months preceding the 2001-02 Sydney fires ensured fuel across much of the study region was sufficiently dry to burn (Chafer et al 2004;Caccamo et al 2012).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A logarithmic transformation (i.e. ln[xþ1]) was performed to TSF, due to the non-linear trend in fuel accumulation within eucalypt forests (Fox et al 1979;Morrison et al 1996;Penman and York 2010). Mean annual precipitation for the period 1977 to 2001 was calculated using monthly rainfall grids (0.058 resolution) obtained from the Bureau of Meteorology A grid of data points with 400-m spacing was generated using 'Hawths Tools ' (v3.27) in order to sample variables used in the analysis.…”

Section: Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, studies examining time since fire-fuel relationships are often limited in geographic extent (e.g. Fox et al 1979;Morrison et al 1996;Penman and York 2010) and rarely consider the effect of precipitation gradients across a vegetation community. Spatial variation in fuel accumulation will have important implications for fire management, as it will shape the temporal window of fuel reduction burning effectiveness and overall fire suppression potential across a landscape (Fernandes and Botelho 2003;Schoennagel et al 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Can precipitation influence landscape controls on wildfire severity? A case study within temperate eucalypt forests of south-eastern Australia

Collins

Bradstock

Penman

2014

Int. J. Wildland Fire

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Abstract. The environmental, economic and social impacts of wildfires depend on spatial patterns of fire severity. An understanding as to how drivers of fire severity vary across broad vegetation communities exists. However, examination of variation within communities in response to gradients of moisture has received little attention so far. This study examined whether relationships between environmental variables (i.e. fire weather, topography and fuel age) and fire severity were modified by increasing mean annual precipitation. Understorey fires were more likely to occur in young fuels (i.e. ,5 years since fire) in drier sites, although this effect diminished as precipitation increased. The probability of occurrence of understorey fires under non-extreme weather and on steep slopes was reduced in wetter areas. Relationships between crown fire and weather, topography and fuel age were largely unaltered by the precipitation gradient, with only a marginally significant interaction occurring between weather and mean annual precipitation. Greater fine fuel accumulation associated with increased precipitation presumably reduced fuel limitations imposed by environmental factors (i.e. fire weather, slope, fuel age), altering their relative control on the probability of understorey fire. The probability of crown fires is predominantly driven by fire weather and is consequently less sensitive to precipitation gradients. Consideration of precipitation gradients will be necessary when identifying controls of fire severity and devising effective fire management strategies.

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Section: Management Implications and Climate Changesupporting

confidence: 81%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Can precipitation influence landscape controls on wildfire severity? A case study within temperate eucalypt forests of south-eastern Australia

Collins

Bradstock

Penman

2014

Int. J. Wildland Fire

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“…The Bulls Ground Frequent Burning Study is a long term experiment designed to examine the effect of frequent low intensity burning on the dynamics of an open wet sclerophyll forest community [29], a common forest type in which canopy species are predominantly resprouters (i.e., have a high capacity for vegetative recovery following wildfire), the dominant fire response syndrome of canopy species across temperate forests of eastern Australia [30,31]. Two burning treatments were imposed in this experiment, with experimental plots being either burnt notionally every three years or protected from fire (i.e., unburnt) [29].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of Frequent Burning on Live Tree Carbon Biomass and Demography in Post-Harvest Regrowth Forest

Collins

Penman

Ximenes

et al. 2014

Forests

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Abstract:The management of forest ecosystems to increase carbon storage is a global concern. Fire frequency has the potential to shift considerably in the future. These shifts may alter demographic processes and growth of tree species, and consequently carbon storage in forests. Examination of the sensitivity of forest carbon to the potential upper and lower extremes of fire frequency will provide crucial insight into the magnitude of possible change in carbon stocks associated with shifts in fire frequency. This study examines how tree biomass and demography of a eucalypt forest regenerating after harvest is affected by two experimentally manipulated extremes in fire frequency (i.e., ~3 year fire intervals vs. unburnt) sustained over a 23 year period. The rate of post-harvest biomass recovery of overstorey tree species, which constituted ~90% of total living tree biomass, was lower within frequently burnt plots than unburnt plots, resulting in approximately 20% lower OPEN ACCESSForests 2014, 5 803 biomass in frequently burnt plots by the end of the study. Significant differences in carbon biomass between the two extremes in frequency were only evident after >15-20 years of sustained treatment. Reduced growth rates and survivorship of smaller trees on the frequently burnt plots compared to unburnt plots appeared to be driving these patterns. The biomass of understorey trees, which constituted ~10% of total living tree biomass, was not affected by frequent burning. These findings suggest that future shifts toward more frequent fire will potentially result in considerable reductions in carbon sequestration across temperate forest ecosystems in Australia.

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Adapting the community sector for climate extremes

Mallon¹,

Hamilton

Black³

et al. 2014

Applied Studies in Climate Adaptation

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The role of NCCARF is to lead the research community in a national interdisciplinary effort to generate the information needed by decision-makers in government, business and in vulnerable sectors and communities to manage the risk of climate change impacts. DisclaimerThe views expressed herein are not necessarily the views of the Commonwealth or NCCARF, and neither the Commonwealth nor NCCARF accept responsibility for information or advice contained herein.

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Climate and recent fire history affect fuel loads in Eucalyptus forests: Implications for fire management in a changing climate

Cited by 39 publications

References 57 publications

Can precipitation influence landscape controls on wildfire severity? A case study within temperate eucalypt forests of south-eastern Australia

Can precipitation influence landscape controls on wildfire severity? A case study within temperate eucalypt forests of south-eastern Australia

Impacts of Frequent Burning on Live Tree Carbon Biomass and Demography in Post-Harvest Regrowth Forest

Adapting the community sector for climate extremes

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