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The initiation of fire spread in shrubland fuels recreated in the laboratory

Plucinski, M P; Anderson, Wendy R.; Bradstock, Ross A.; Gill, A Malcom

Description

Fire-prone shrub-dominated vegetation communities cover a considerable portion of Australia, including areas fringing urban development. Near urban interfaces, they are actively managed with prescribed fire to reduce the risk of wildfire (unplanned fire). Knowledge of the range of conditions that allow fires to spread or fail to do so is limited and can inconvenience fire managers when conducting prescribed burns. A series of experimental ignitions conducted in miniature shrublands...[Show more]

dc.contributor.authorPlucinski, M P
dc.contributor.authorAnderson, Wendy R.
dc.contributor.authorBradstock, Ross A.
dc.contributor.authorGill, A Malcom
dc.date.accessioned2015-12-10T22:57:06Z
dc.identifier.issn1049-8001
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1885/60514
dc.description.abstractFire-prone shrub-dominated vegetation communities cover a considerable portion of Australia, including areas fringing urban development. Near urban interfaces, they are actively managed with prescribed fire to reduce the risk of wildfire (unplanned fire). Knowledge of the range of conditions that allow fires to spread or fail to do so is limited and can inconvenience fire managers when conducting prescribed burns. A series of experimental ignitions conducted in miniature shrublands reconstructed in the laboratory were used to investigate factors that influence ignition thresholds. The miniature shrublands were composed of foliage from the shrub Allocasuarina nana and were prepared over a range of moisture contents and densities. The impact of dead fuel within the aerial structure of the shrubs was also investigated, as was the presence and absence of wind and litter. The most important factors for spread initiation were identified using logistic regression analysis and classification tree modelling. The presence of litter, live fuel moisture content, shrub-layer density, presence of wind, and the amount and continuity of the dead elevated fuel were all found to influence spread sustainability. There was a negative interaction between shrub-layer density and live fuel moisture content, showing the effect of density to be less at higher moisture contents.
dc.publisherCSIRO Publishing
dc.sourceInternational Journal of Wildland Fire
dc.subjectKeywords: Allocasuarina nana dead elevated fuels; fire behaviour; fuel density; ignition thresholds; laboratory experiments.
dc.titleThe initiation of fire spread in shrubland fuels recreated in the laboratory
dc.typeJournal article
local.description.notesImported from ARIES
local.identifier.citationvolume19
dc.date.issued2010
local.identifier.absfor070503 - Forestry Fire Management
local.identifier.ariespublicationU4279067xPUB544
local.type.statusPublished Version
local.contributor.affiliationPlucinski, M P, CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems
local.contributor.affiliationAnderson, Wendy R., University of New South Wales
local.contributor.affiliationBradstock, Ross A., University of Wollongong
local.contributor.affiliationGill, A Malcom, College of Medicine, Biology and Environment, ANU
local.description.embargo2037-12-31
local.bibliographicCitation.startpage512
local.bibliographicCitation.lastpage520
local.identifier.doi10.1071/WF09038
local.identifier.absseo961004 - Natural Hazards in Forest and Woodlands Environments
dc.date.updated2016-02-24T10:51:51Z
local.identifier.scopusID2-s2.0-77954100127
local.identifier.thomsonID000279054900011
CollectionsANU Research Publications

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