Bayes Nets as a method for analysing the influence of management actions in fire planning

2011 ◽  
Vol 20 (8) ◽  
pp. 909 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. D. Penman ◽  
O. Price ◽  
R. A. Bradstock

Wildfire can result in significant economic costs with inquiries following such events often recommending an increase in management effort to reduce the risk of future losses. Currently, there are no objective frameworks in which to assess the relative merits of management actions or the synergistic way in which the various combinations may act. We examine the value of Bayes Nets as a method for assessing the risk reduction from fire management practices using a case study from a forested landscape. Specifically, we consider the relative reduction in wildfire risk from investing in prescribed burning, initial or rapid attack and suppression. The Bayes Net was developed using existing datasets, a process model and expert opinion. We compared the results of the models with the recorded fire data for an 11-year period from 1997 to 2000 with the model successfully duplicating these data. Initial attack and suppression effort had the greatest effect on the distribution of the fire sizes for a season. Bayes Nets provide a holistic model for considering the effect of multiple fire management methods on the risk of wildfires. The methods could be further advanced by including the costs of management and conducting a formal decision analysis.

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (11) ◽  
pp. 974
Author(s):  
William Nikolakis ◽  
Emma Roberts ◽  
Ngaio Hotte ◽  
Russell Myers Ross

After generations of fire-suppression policy, Indigenous fire management (IFM) is being reactivated as one way to mitigate wildfire in fire-prone ecosystems. Research has documented that IFM also mitigates carbon emissions, improves livelihoods and enhances well-being among participants. This study documents the goals of the Yunesit’in and Xeni Gwet’in First Nations as they develop a fire management program in central British Columbia, Canada. Drawing on goal setting theory and interviews, a qualitative coding and cluster analysis identified three general goals from fire management: (1) strengthen cultural connection and well-being, (2) restore the health of the land and (3) respect traditional laws. Sub-goals included enhancing community member health and well-being, improving fire management practices to maintain ‘pyrodiversity’ and food security and re-empowering Indigenous laws and practices. This community-developed framework will guide program evaluation and brings insight to a theory of IFM.


2007 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noel Preece

Landscape fires are common and frequent across the north Australian savannas, and are arguably an essential component of regional ecosystem dynamics. Seasonal biases in fire regimes and the high frequency of late dry season fires in a large proportion of the region have been presented as an impediment to appropriate land management. Legislation regulating the lighting of fires applies to the whole of the savannas. The legislation seeks to control the lighting of fires, provides for permit systems to operate in each jurisdiction, and is supported by policies and guidance manuals. The present paper argues that the legislation fails to address prescribed burning, the biophysical and social realities of contemporary regimes, and management needs. The policies and legislation are in need of some fundamental changes, including recognition of the concept of prescribed burning, mechanisms to promote regional fire management strategies and plans, and recognition of indigenous traditional practices.


2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 386 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jay Evans ◽  
Jeremy Russell-Smith

Given the recent history of frequent and extensive late dry season wildfire in Australia’s fire-prone northern savannas, regional conservation-based fire management programs typically aim to mitigate wildfire through the use of strategic prescribed burning during the cooler early dry season. However, it remains unclear as to the extent such environmental management concerns are being addressed by these renewed fire management efforts. This study documents changes in fire regime in the western Arnhem Land region of northern Australia associated with the implementation of active fire management since 2006. Over a 12-year period, the regional fire regime has transitioned from late dry season, wildfire-dominated to being characterised by a majority of fires occurring as small early dry season prescribed burns. Although overall area burnt has not significantly decreased, most ecological threshold metrics have improved, with the exception of those describing the maintenance of longer-unburnt habitat. Challenges involved with defining, delivering, monitoring and evaluating heterogeneity targets are discussed.


Forests ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 648 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Keane

Wildfire in declining whitebark pine forests can be a tool for ecosystem restoration or an ecologically harmful event. This document presents a set of possible wildfire management practices for facilitating the restoration of whitebark pine across its range in Western North America. These management actions are designed to enhance whitebark pine resilience and health, while also being effective wildfire management measures. The actions are presented by the three phases of the wildfire continuum: Before, during, and after a wildfire. Current pre-wildfire restoration actions, such as mechanical thinning’s, prescribed burning, and fuel treatments, can also be designed to be fuel treatment activities that allow more effective suppression of wildfires when needed. Three wildfire strategies can be implemented while the wildfire is burning—full suppression, partial suppression, and wildland fire use (letting some fires burn under acceptable conditions)—for protecting valuable whitebark pine trees and for ecosystem restoration. Finally, post-wildfire activities include planting rust-resistant seedlings and monitoring effects of the wildfires. Recommended wildfire management practices for the wildfire continuum are specified by region, site type, and stand type in the last section of this paper.


2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Musa Musa

This research was conducted to determine the Effectiveness of Jakarta Siaga 112 Emergency Services in Fire Management by UPT. Disaster Data & Information Center of BPBD DKI Jakarta Province by paying attention to aspects contained in the Effectiveness of the Jakarta Siaga Emergency Service Program 112. The research method was carried out with a case study method with data collection techniques using interview methods and document review. Interviews were conducted on 10 (ten) key informants, document review focused on documents related to the Jakarta Emergency Alert Service 112 Effectiveness research in Fire Management. The results showed that the Effectiveness of Jakarta Siaga 112 Emergency Services in Fire Management by UPT. The Center for Disaster Data & Information BPBD DKI Jakarta Province Its effectiveness is still low, due to the Implementation of Emergency Services Jakarta Standby 112 in Fire Management implemented by UPT. Disaster Data & Information Center of BPBD DKI Jakarta Province in terms of the Target Group Understanding of the Program, the Achievement of the Program Objectives aspects, and the Program Follow-up aspects. It is recommended to continue to disseminate this Emergency Service to the public, it is necessary to increase the firm commitment of the Head of 8 SKPD related to fire management so that all units play a role in accordance with the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for Fire Management and the evaluation and follow-up of program services that are held periodically 3 once a month.Keywords: Effectiveness, Emergency Services, Fire Handling


Shore & Beach ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 83-91
Author(s):  
Tim Carruthers ◽  
Richard Raynie ◽  
Alyssa Dausman ◽  
Syed Khalil

Natural resources of coastal Louisiana support the economies of Louisiana and the whole of the United States. However, future conditions of coastal Louisiana are highly uncertain due to the dynamic processes of the Mississippi River delta, unpredictable storm events, subsidence, sea level rise, increasing temperatures, and extensive historic management actions that have altered natural coastal processes. To address these concerns, a centralized state agency was formed to coordinate coastal protection and restoration effort, the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA). This promoted knowledge centralization and supported informal adaptive management for restoration efforts, at that time mostly funded through the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act (CWPPRA). Since the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill in 2010 and the subsequent settlement, the majority of restoration funding for the next 15 years will come through one of the DWH mechanisms; Natural Resource and Damage Assessment (NRDA), the RESTORE Council, or National Fish and Wildlife Foundation –Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund (NFWF-GEBF). This has greatly increased restoration effort and increased governance complexity associated with project funding, implementation, and reporting. As a result, there is enhanced impetus to formalize and unify adaptive management processes for coastal restoration in Louisiana. Through synthesis of input from local coastal managers, historical and current processes for project and programmatic implementation and adaptive management were summarized. Key gaps and needs to specifically increase implementation of adaptive management within the Louisiana coastal restoration community were identified and developed into eight tangible and specific recommendations. These were to streamline governance through increased coordination amongst implementing entities, develop a discoverable and practical lessons learned and decision database, coordinate ecosystem reporting, identify commonality of restoration goals, develop a common cross-agency adaptive management handbook for all personnel, improve communication (both in-reach and outreach), have a common repository and clearing house for numerical models used for restoration planning and assessment, and expand approaches for two-way stakeholder engagement throughout the restoration process. A common vision and maximizing synergies between entities can improve adaptive management implementation to maximize ecosystem and community benefits of restoration effort in coastal Louisiana. This work adds to current knowledge by providing specific strategies and recommendations, based upon extensive engagement with restoration practitioners from multiple state and federal agencies. Addressing these practitioner-identified gaps and needs will improve engagement in adaptive management in coastal Louisiana, a large geographic area with high restoration implementation within a complex governance framework.


Botany ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 86 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dana Lepofsky ◽  
Ken Lertzman

Ethnographic literature documents the pervasiveness of plant-management strategies, such as prescribed burning and other kinds of cultivation, among Northwest Peoples after European contact. In contrast, definitive evidence of precontact plant management has been elusive. Documenting the nature and extent of precontact plant-management strategies has relevance to historians, archaeologists, managers, conservationists, forest ecologists, and First Nations. In this paper, we summarize the various lines of evidence that have been, or could be, used to document ancient cultivation in the northwest of North America. We organize this discussion by the ecological consequences of ancient plant-management practices and their documented or potential visibility in the paleo-, neo-ecological, and archaeological records. Our review demonstrates that while finding evidence of ancient plant management can be difficult, such evidence can be found when innovative research methods are applied. Further, when various independent lines of evidence are compiled, reconstructions of past plant-management strategies are strengthened considerably.


2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 844-850 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory Peters ◽  
Anna Sala

Thinning and thinning followed by prescribed fire are common management practices intended to restore historic conditions in low-elevation ponderosa pine ( Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex P. & C. Laws.) forests of the northern Rocky Mountains. While these treatments generally ameliorate the physiology and growth of residual trees, treatment-specific effects on reproductive output are not known. We examined reproductive output of second-growth ponderosa pine in western Montana 9 years after the application of four treatments: thinning, thinning followed by spring prescribed fire, thinning followed by fall prescribed fire, and unthinned control stands. Field and greenhouse observations indicated that reproductive traits vary depending on the specific management treatment. Cone production was significantly higher in trees from all actively managed stands relative to control trees. Trees subjected to prescribed fire produced cones with higher numbers of filled seeds than trees in unburned treatments. Seed mass, percentage germination, and seedling biomass were significantly lower for seeds from trees in spring burn treatments relative to all others and were generally higher in trees from fall burn treatments. We show for the first time that thinning and prescribed-burning treatments can influence reproductive output in ponderosa pine.


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