EFFECT OF FUEL TREATMENTS ON CROWN FIRE BEHAVIOR IN ALEPPO PINE FORESTS OF GREECE: A SIMULATION STUDY

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (7) ◽  
pp. 1507-1514
Author(s):  
Ioannis D. Mitsopoulos ◽  
Alexandros P. Dimitrakopoulos
Keyword(s):  
Simulation Study ◽  
Fire Behavior ◽  
Aleppo Pine ◽  
Pine Forests ◽  
Crown Fire ◽  
Fuel Treatments ◽  
Of Greece

scholarly journals Needle Senescence Affects Fire Behavior in Aleppo Pine (Pinus halepensis Mill.) Stands: A Simulation Study

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 1054 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodrigo Balaguer-Romano ◽  
Rubén Díaz-Sierra ◽  
Javier Madrigal ◽  
Jordi Voltas ◽  
Víctor Resco de Dios
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Basin ◽  
Fire Behavior ◽  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
Aleppo Pine ◽  
Fire Season ◽  
Burned Area ◽  
Crown Fire ◽  
Wind Speeds ◽  
Western Mediterranean Basin ◽  
Needle Senescence

Research Highlights: Pre-programmed cell death in old Aleppo pine needles leads to low moisture contents in the forest canopy in July, the time when fire activity nears its peak in the Western Mediterranean Basin. Here, we show, for the first time, that such needle senescence may increase fire behavior and thus is a potential mechanism explaining why the bulk of the annual burned area in the region occurs in early summer. Background and Objectives: The brunt of the fire season in the Western Mediterranean Basin occurs at the beginning of July, when live fuel moisture content is near its maximum. Here, we test whether a potential explanation to this conundrum lies in Aleppo pine needle senescence, a result of pre-programmed cell death in 3-years-old needles, which typically occurs in the weeks preceding the peak in the burned area. Our objective was to simulate the effects of needle senescence on fire behavior. Materials and Methods: We simulated the effects of needle senescence on canopy moisture and structure. Fire behavior was simulated across different phenological scenarios and for two highly contrasting Aleppo pine stand structures, a forest, and a shrubland. Wildfire behavior simulations were done with BehavePlus6 across a wide range of wind speeds and of dead fine surface fuel moistures. Results: The transition from surface to passive crown fire occurred at lower wind speeds under simulated needle senescence in the forest and in the shrubland. Transitions to active crown fire only occurred in the shrubland under needle senescence. Maximum fire intensity and severity were always recorded in the needle senescence scenario. Conclusions: Aleppo pine needle senescence may enhance the probability of crown fire development at the onset of the fire season, and it could partly explain the concentration of fire activity in early July in the Western Mediterranean Basin.

Effect of thinning and prescribed burning on crown fire severity in ponderosa pine forests

2002 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jolie Pollet ◽  
Philip N. Omi
Keyword(s):  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Stand Structure ◽  
Fire Severity ◽  
Fire Effects ◽  
Pine Forests ◽  
Crown Fire ◽  
Fuel Treatments ◽  
Ponderosa Pine Forests ◽  
Wildfire Hazard

Fire exclusion policies have affected stand structure and wildfire hazard in north American ponderosa pine forests. Wildfires are becoming more severe in stands where trees are densely stocked with shade-tolerant understory trees. Although forest managers have been employing fuel treatment techniques to reduce wildfire hazard for decades, little scientific evidence documents the success of treatments in reducing fire severity. Our research quantitatively examined fire effects in treated and untreated stands in western United States national forests. Four ponderosa pine sites in Montana, Washington, California and Arizona were selected for study. Fuel treatments studied include: prescribed fire only, whole-tree thinning, and thinning followed by prescribed fire. On-the-ground fire effects were measured in adjacent treated and untreated forests. We developed post facto fire severity and stand structure measurement techniques to complete field data collection. We found that crown fire severity was mitigated in stands that had some type of fuel treatment compared to stands without any treatment. At all four of the sites, the fire severity and crown scorch were significantly lower at the treated sites. Results from this research indicate that fuel treatments, which remove small diameter trees, may be beneficial for reducing crown fire hazard in ponderosa pine sites.

Simulating fuel treatment effects in dry forests of the western United States: testing the principles of a fire-safe forest

2011 ◽  
Vol 41 (5) ◽  
pp. 1018-1030 ◽  
Author(s):  
Morris C. Johnson ◽  
Maureen C. Kennedy ◽  
David L. Peterson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Treatment Effects ◽  
Fire Hazard ◽  
Fire Behavior ◽  
Post Treatment ◽  
Western United States ◽  
Crown Fire ◽  
Fuel Treatments ◽  
Dry Forests ◽  
Fuel Treatment

We used the Fire and Fuels Extension to the Forest Vegetation Simulator (FFE-FVS) to simulate fuel treatment effects on 45 162 stands in low- to midelevation dry forests (e.g., ponderosa pine ( Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex. P. & C. Laws.) and Douglas-fir ( Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) of the western United States. We evaluated treatment effects on predicted post-treatment fire behavior (fire type) and fire hazard (torching index). FFE-FVS predicts that thinning and surface fuel treatments reduced crown fire behavior relative to no treatment; a large proportion of stands were predicted to transition from active crown fire pre-treatment to surface fire post-treatment. Intense thinning treatments (125 and 250 residual trees·ha–1) were predicted to be more effective than light thinning treatments (500 and 750 residual trees·ha–1). Prescribed fire was predicted to be the most effective surface fuel treatment, whereas FFE-FVS predicted no difference between no surface fuel treatment and extraction of fuels. This inability to discriminate the effects of certain fuel treatments illuminates the consequence of a documented limitation in how FFE-FVS incorporates fuel models and we suggest improvements. The concurrence of results from modeling and empirical studies provides quantitative support for “fire-safe” principles of forest fuel reduction (sensu Agee and Skinner 2005. For. Ecol. Manag. 211: 83–96).

scholarly journals Firefighter Observations of “Surprising” Fire Behavior in Mountain Pine Beetle-Attacked Lodgepole Pine Forests

Fire ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Moriarty ◽  
Antony S. Cheng ◽  
Chad M. Hoffman ◽  
Stuart P. Cottrell ◽  
Martin E. Alexander
Keyword(s):  
Mountain Pine Beetle ◽  
Lodgepole Pine ◽  
Fire Behavior ◽  
Pine Forests ◽  
Fuel Moisture ◽  
Crown Fire ◽  
Gray Phase ◽  
Mountain Pine ◽  
Pine Beetle ◽  
Moisture Conditions

The recent mountain pine beetle outbreak affecting lodgepole pine forests in the Rocky Mountains has created a novel fire environment for wildland firefighters. This paper presents results from an examination of firefighters’ observations of fire behavior in post-outbreak lodgepole pine forests, with a focus on what they considered surprising from a fire behavior standpoint and how this in turn affected their suppression tactics. The surprises in fire behavior experienced by firefighters during the red phase of post-outbreak forests included an elevated level of fire spread and intensity under moderate weather and fuel moisture conditions, increased spotting, and faster surface-to-crown fire transitions with limited or no ladder fuels. Unexpectedly, during the gray phase in mountain pine beetle-attacked stands, crown ignition and crown fire propagation was observed for short periods of time. Firefighters are now more likely to expect to see active fire behavior in nearly all fire weather and fuel moisture conditions, not just under critically dry and windy situations, and across all mountain pine beetle attack phases, not just the red phase. Firefighters changed their suppression tactics by adopting indirect methods due to the potential fire behavior and tree-fall hazards associated with mountain pine beetle-attacked lodgepole pine forests.

scholarly journals Surface Fire Intensity Influences Simulated Crown Fire Behavior in Lodgepole Pine Forests with Recent Mountain Pine Beetle-Caused Tree Mortality

2013 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 390-399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chad M. Hoffman ◽  
Penelope Morgan ◽  
William Mell ◽  
Russell Parsons ◽  
Eva Strand ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mountain Pine Beetle ◽  
Tree Mortality ◽  
Lodgepole Pine ◽  
Fire Behavior ◽  
Pine Forests ◽  
Fire Intensity ◽  
Crown Fire ◽  
Surface Fire ◽  
Mountain Pine ◽  
Pine Beetle

Fuel treatments alter the effects of wildfire in a mixed-evergreen forest, Oregon, USA

2005 ◽  
Vol 35 (12) ◽  
pp. 2981-2995 ◽  
Author(s):  
Crystal L Raymond ◽  
David L Peterson
Keyword(s):  
Tree Mortality ◽  
Fire Regime ◽  
Fire Severity ◽  
Fire Behavior ◽  
Evergreen Forest ◽  
Fire Intensity ◽  
Crown Fire ◽  
Fuel Loading ◽  
Fuel Treatments ◽  
Surface Fire

We had the rare opportunity to quantify the relationship between fuels and fire severity using prefire surface and canopy fuel data and fire severity data after a wildfire. The study area is a mixed-evergreen forest of southwestern Oregon with a mixed-severity fire regime. Modeled fire behavior showed that thinning reduced canopy fuels, thereby decreasing the potential for crown fire spread. The potential for crown fire initiation remained fairly constant despite reductions in ladder fuels, because thinning increased surface fuels, which contributed to greater surface fire intensity. Thinning followed by underburning reduced canopy, ladder, and surface fuels, thereby decreasing surface fire intensity and crown fire potential. However, crown fire is not a prerequisite for high fire severity; damage to and mortality of overstory trees in the wildfire were extensive despite the absence of crown fire. Mortality was most severe in thinned treatments (80%–100%), moderate in untreated stands (53%–54%), and least severe in the thinned and underburned treatment (5%). Thinned treatments had higher fine-fuel loading and more extensive crown scorch, suggesting that greater consumption of fine fuels contributed to higher tree mortality. Fuel treatments intended to minimize tree mortality will be most effective if both ladder and surface fuels are treated.

scholarly journals Potential crown fire behavior in Pinus pinea stands following different fuel treatments

2011 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Ramon Molina ◽  
F Rodriguez y Silva ◽  
M A Herrera
Keyword(s):  
Fire Behavior ◽  
Pinus Pinea ◽  
Crown Fire ◽  
Fuel Treatments

scholarly journals Canopy fuel characteristics and potential crown fire behavior in Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensisMill.) forests

2007 ◽  
Vol 64 (3) ◽  
pp. 287-299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ioannis D. Mitsopoulos ◽  
Alexandros P. Dimitrakopoulos
Keyword(s):  
Fire Behavior ◽  
Aleppo Pine ◽  
Crown Fire ◽  
Fuel Characteristics

scholarly journals Needle senescence affects fire behavior in Aleppo pine (<em>Pinus halepensis</em> Mill.) stands: a simulation study.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodrigo Balaguer-Romano ◽  
Victor Resco de Dios ◽  
Ruben Diaz-Sierra ◽  
Javier Madrigal ◽  
Jordi Voltas
Keyword(s):  
Simulation Study ◽  
Pinus Halepensis ◽  
Fire Behavior ◽  
Aleppo Pine ◽  
Needle Senescence

scholarly journals Do mountain pine beetle outbreaks change the probability of active crown fire in lodgepole pine forests?

2011 ◽  
Vol 81 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Simard ◽  
William H. Romme ◽  
Jacob M. Griffin ◽  
Monica G. Turner
Keyword(s):  
Mountain Pine Beetle ◽  
Lodgepole Pine ◽  
Pine Forests ◽  
Crown Fire ◽  
Mountain Pine ◽  
Pine Beetle
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