Using Fuel Characteristics to Estimate Plant Ignitability for Fire Hazard Reduction

There is growing recognition that classifying terrestrial plant species on the basis of their function (into 'functional types') rather than their higher taxonomic identity, is a promising way forward for tackling important ecological questions at the scale of ecosystems, landscapes or biomes. These questions include those on vegetation responses to and vegetation effects on, environmental changes (e.g. changes in climate, atmospheric chemistry, land use or other disturbances). There is also growing consensus about a shortlist of plant traits that should underlie such functional plant classifications, because they have strong predictive power of important ecosystem responses to environmental change and/or they themselves have strong impacts on ecosystem processes. The most favoured traits are those that are also relatively easy and inexpensive to measure for large numbers of plant species. Large international research efforts, promoted by the IGBP–GCTE Programme, are underway to screen predominant plant species in various ecosystems and biomes worldwide for such traits. This paper provides an international methodological protocol aimed at standardising this research effort, based on consensus among a broad group of scientists in this field. It features a practical handbook with step-by-step recipes, with relatively brief information about the ecological context, for 28 functional traits recognised as critical for tackling large-scale ecological questions.

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“…More on methods: Brown (1970); Papió and Trabaud (1990); Hogenbirk and Sarrazin-Delay (1995); Valette (1997); Dimitrakopoulos and Panov (2001).…”

Section: How To Define and Assess?mentioning

confidence: 99%

A handbook of protocols for standardised and easy measurement of plant functional traits worldwide

Cornelissen¹,

Lavorel²,

Garnier³

et al. 2003

Aust. J. Bot.

3,319

3,233

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“…Silica-free ash content has been shown to be of particular importance to fuel flammability. Increased ash contents reduce flammability due to lower concentrations of combustible organic matter with respect to unburnable mineral material and catalytic effects from inorganic compounds that inhibit the formation of volatile compounds by pyrolysis (Dickinson and Kirkpatrick, 1985;Hogenbirk and Sarrazin-Delay, 1995;Philpot, 1970). Silica is often discounted from ash content, as it is chemically inert and does not exhibit the latter retarding effect (Mutch and Philpot, 1970).…”

Section: Flammability Of Natural Fuels 227mentioning

confidence: 97%

“…A number of articles focused on biomass as an energy source (Bhatt and Tomar, 2002;Deka et al, 2007;Demirbas, 2002;Dhamodaran et al, 1989;Domalski et al, 1986;Fuwape and Akindele, 1997;Khamzina et al, 2006;Krigstin et al, 1993;Lemenih and Bekele, 2004;Mmolotsi and Teklehaimanot, 2006;Puri et al, 1994;Sastry and Anderson, 1980;Shavanas and Kumar, 2003). Only a small number of the papers were directly concerned with wildfire (Behm, 2003;Behm et al, 2004;Dimitrakopoulos and Panov, 2001;Hernando et al, 2006;Hogenbirk and Sarrazin-Delay, 1995;Liodakis et al, 2002;van Wagtendonk et al, 1998). Hughes (1971) made a particularly interesting study of the HoC of deciduous woodland species in the United Kingdom with the aim of estimating energy accumulation and balance with solar radiation.…”

Section: Variation In Hoc: Data Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 98%

Flammability and the Heat of Combustion of Natural Fuels: A Review

Rivera

Davies

Jahn

2012

Combustion Science and Technology

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Heat of combustion (HoC) is a key characteristic of fuels when analyzing and modeling wildfire scenarios. Despite significant differences in the structure of fuels from different environments, HoC is frequently considered a constant. This article briefly reviews methods used to describe natural fuels and the various different definitions of HoC. We also summarize measured values of HoC and elemental analyses of 238 plant genera reported in 28 papers since 1973. A statistical analysis of these data provided mean values and standard deviations of HoC for fuels according to six broad plant functional groups. Permutational Multivariate Analysis of Variance (PERMANOVA) demonstrated significant differences in the HoC with ground fuels and softwoods having particularly high values. Net heat of combustion was calculated for four fuel groups and the tabulated data may help to improve wildfire modeling and highlights fuels where further measurements of HoC are required.

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“…Fire behavior is influenced by many factors [61], among which the most important are fuel load [36], fuel quality [27], wind [3], slope [58], air humidity and air temperature [5]. All these factors may vary in space and time, adding variability to the intrinsic variability of fire as a turbulent phenomenon [3].…”

Section: Fire Severitymentioning

confidence: 99%