Quantifying the Fuel Load, Fuel Structure and Fire Behaviour of Forested Bogs and Blowdown

A study was undertaken to characterize two dynamic fuel types not included in the Canadian Forest Fire Behaviour Prediction System: forested bogs and blowdown. Fuel load and structure were measured at ten forested bog sites in central Alberta along a 108 year post-fire chronosequence. Canopy bulk density increased following a sigmoidal curve between 0.00 and 0.54 kg•m-3. Crown fire potential was modeled using a general crown fire behaviour model and found to follow a similar sigmoidal pattern increasing with time-since-fire. Blowdown fuel loads were measured at six sites in northwestern Ontario and ranged from 13.4 to 18.9 kg•m-2. Elevated fine blowdown fuels were found to have faster reaction times and dry more rapidly than predicted by the Fine Fuel Moisture Code. Detailed observations were also made of fire behaviour in blowdown fuels

[1]  M. E. Alexander,et al.  Fire behavior in black spruce-lichen woodland: the Porter Lake project. , 1990 .

[2]  W. J. Groot,et al.  Calibrating the Fine Fuel Moisture Code for grass ignition potential in Sumatra, Indonesia , 2005 .

[3]  K. Hirsch,et al.  Direct carbon emissions from Canadian forest fires, 1959-1999 , 2001 .

[4]  C. E. Van Wagner,et al.  IN A RED PINE PLANTATION: FIELD AND LABORATORY EVIDENCE , 1968 .

[5]  David L. Martell,et al.  The impact of fire suppression, vegetation, and weather on the area burned by lightning-caused forest fires in Ontario , 2008 .

[6]  Miguel G. Cruz,et al.  Development and testing of models for predicting crown fire rate of spread in conifer forest stands , 2005 .

[7]  Steward T. A. Pickett,et al.  Space-for-Time Substitution as an Alternative to Long-Term Studies , 1989 .

[8]  D. Vitt,et al.  Sphagnum-dominated Peatlands in North America Since the Last Glacial Maximum: Their Occurrence and Extent , 2000 .

[9]  L. Mearns,et al.  Climate Change and Forest Fire Potential in Russian and Canadian Boreal Forests , 1998 .

[10]  Robert E. Keane,et al.  First Order Fire Effects Model: FOFEM 4.0, user's guide , 1997 .

[11]  B. Wotton,et al.  Stand-specific litter moisture content calibrations for the Canadian Fine Fuel Moisture Code , 2005 .

[12]  K. Miyanishi,et al.  CommentA re-examination of the effects of fire suppression in the boreal forest , 2001 .

[13]  C. E. Van Wagner,et al.  PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF THE LINE INTERSECT METHOD , 1982 .

[14]  C. S. Wright,et al.  Stereo photo series for quantifying natural fuels Volume IX: oak/juniper in southern Arizona and New Mexico. , 2007 .

[15]  W. Anderson,et al.  Predicting the elevated dead fine fuel moisture content in gorse (Ulex europaeus L.) shrub fuels , 2009 .

[16]  F. Stuart Chapin,et al.  Effects of Soil Burn Severity on Post-Fire Tree Recruitment in Boreal Forest , 2006, Ecosystems.

[17]  J. E. Deeming.  National Fire-Danger Rating System / , 1972 .

[18]  J. Waddington,et al.  Sphagnum production and decomposition in a restored cutover peatland , 2003, Wetlands Ecology and Management.

[19]  Charles D. Canham,et al.  Interspecific variation in susceptibility to windthrow as a function of tree size and storm severity for northern temperate tree species , 2001 .

[20]  D. Vitt,et al.  Spatial Patterns and Temporal Trajectories of the Bog Ground Layer Along a Post-Fire Chronosequence , 2008, Ecosystems.

[21]  Brian J. Stocks,et al.  The extent and impact of forest fires in northern circumpolar countries , 1991 .

[22]  Ernst-Detlef Schulze,et al.  Growth and carbon stocks of a spruce forest chronosequence in central Europe , 2002 .

[23]  Sarah McCaffrey,et al.  Science basis for changing forest structure to modify wildfire behavior and severity , 2004 .

[24]  H. Anderson.  Aids to Determining Fuel Models for Estimating Fire Behavior , 1982 .

[25]  Martin E. Alexander,et al.  Calculating and interpreting forest fire intensities , 1982 .

[26]  John M. Norman,et al.  Carbon distribution and aboveground net primary production in aspen, jack pine, and black spruce stands in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, Canada , 1997 .

[27]  C. E. Van Wagner,et al.  Conditions for the start and spread of crown fire , 1977 .

[28]  M. E. Alexander,et al.  Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System: An Overview , 1989 .

[29]  D. Gelhaye,et al.  The dynamics of biomass and nutrient accumulation in a Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii Franco) stand studied using a chronosequence approach , 1995 .

[30]  Wildfire Regime in the Boreal Forest , 2002 .

[31]  Merritt R. Turetsky,et al.  Current disturbance and the diminishing peatland carbon sink , 2002 .

[32]  E. Johnson,et al.  Process and patterns of duff consumption in the mixedwood boreal forest , 2002 .

[33]  R. Wieder,et al.  Variability in organic matter lost by combustion in a boreal bog during the 2001 Chisholm fire. , 2003 .

[34]  Charles H. Wick,et al.  A method of evaluating crown fuels in forest stands. , 1972 .

[35]  C. Peterson,et al.  Catastrophic wind damage to North American forests and the potential impact of climate change. , 2000, The Science of the total environment.

[36]  Ben Bond-Lamberty,et al.  Aboveground and belowground biomass and sapwood area allometric equations for six boreal tree species of northern Manitoba , 2002 .

[37]  Ben Bond-Lamberty,et al.  Net primary production and net ecosystem production of a boreal black spruce wildfire chronosequence , 2004 .

[38]  D. Jacob,et al.  Inventory of boreal fire emissions for North America in 2004 : Importance of peat burning and pyroconvective injection , 2007 .

[39]  Joel S. Levine,et al.  The Extent and Impact of Forest Fires in Northern Circumpolar Countries , 1991 .

[40]  A. Simard,et al.  Predicting fuel moisture in jack pine slash: a test of two systems , 1984 .

[41]  Miguel G. Cruz,et al.  Predicting crown fire behavior to support forest fire management decision-making , 2002 .

[42]  Van Wagner.  The Line Intersect Method in Forest Fuel Sampling , 1968 .

[43]  M. Turner,et al.  Factors Influencing Succession: Lessons from Large, Infrequent Natural Disturbances , 1998, Ecosystems.

[44]  E. Kasischke,et al.  Fire, Global Warming, and the Carbon Balance of Boreal Forests , 1995 .

[45]  A. J. Simard,et al.  Comparing methods of predicting Jack pine slash moisture , 1982 .

[46]  Miguel G. Cruz,et al.  Assessing canopy fuel stratum characteristics in crown fire prone fuel types of western North America , 2003 .

[47]  E. Gorham.  Northern Peatlands: Role in the Carbon Cycle and Probable Responses to Climatic Warming. , 1991, Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America.

[48]  W. Frandsen.  Ignition probability of organic soils , 1997 .

[49]  W. J. Groot.  Modeling Canadian wildland fire carbon emissions with the Boreal Fire Effects (BORFIRE) model , 2006 .

[50]  F. A. Albini,et al.  Aerial and Surface Fuel Consumption in Crown Fires , 1997 .

[51]  G. Rein,et al.  The severity of smouldering peat fires and damage to the forest soil , 2008 .

[52]  william Frandsen.  Burning Rate of Smoldering Peat , 1991 .

[53]  John C. Zasada,et al.  Alternative Fuel Reduction Treatments in the Gunflint Corridor of the Superior National Forest: Second-year Results and Sampling Recommendations , 2003 .

[54]  Robert C. Seli,et al.  BehavePlus fire modeling system, version 4.0: User's Guide , 2005 .

[55]  Philip N. Omi,et al.  Effect of thinning and prescribed burning on crown fire severity in ponderosa pine forests , 2002 .

[56]  D. Wardle,et al.  The charcoal effect in Boreal forests: mechanisms and ecological consequences , 1998, Oecologia.

[57]  F. Raulier,et al.  Canadian national tree aboveground biomass equations , 2005 .

[58]  Black spruce crown fuel weights in northern Ontario , 1980 .

[59]  K. Hirsch,et al.  Large forest fires in Canada, 1959–1997 , 2002 .

[60]  M. Palmer,et al.  Changes in two Minnesota forests during 14 years following catastrophic windthrow , 2000 .

[61]  E. Kasischke,et al.  Recent changes in the fire regime across the North American boreal region—Spatial and temporal patterns of burning across Canada and Alaska , 2006 .

[62]  B. Mike Wotton,et al.  3A.2 A GRASS MOISTURE MODEL FOR THE CANADIAN FOREST FIRE DANGER RATING SYSTEM , 2009 .

[63]  Robert E. Keane,et al.  Estimating canopy fuel characteristics in five conifer stands in the western United States using tree and stand measurements , 2006 .

[64]  A. Lugo,et al.  Climate Change and Forest Disturbances , 2001 .

[65]  M. Ter-Mikaelian,et al.  Amount of downed woody debris and its prediction using stand characteristics in boreal and mixedwood forests of Ontario, Canada , 2008 .

[66]  Beyond the year 2000, more tornadoes in western Canada? Implications from the historical record , 1995 .

[67]  E. Agee.  Trends in Cyclone and Anticyclone Frequency and Comparison with Periods of Warming and Cooling over the Northern Hemisphere. , 1991 .

[68]  C. Woodall,et al.  Downed woody fuel loading dynamics of a large-scale blowdown in northern Minnesota, U.S.A. , 2007 .

[69]  Wesley G. Page,et al.  Predicted Fire Behavior in Selected Mountain Pine Beetle-Infected Lodgepole Pine , 2007 .

[70]  M. Flannigan,et al.  Future Area Burned in Canada , 2005 .

[71]  Stewart G. Pickford,et al.  Natural Abatement of Fire Hazard in Douglas-fir Blowdown and Thinning Fuelbeds , 1991 .

[72]  P. Lafleur,et al.  Northern fens: methane flux and climatic change , 1992 .

[73]  Joe H. Scott,et al.  Assessing Crown Fire Potential by Linking Models of Surface and Crown Fire Behavior , 2003 .

[74]  J. M. Stewart,et al.  The Relationship Between Net Primary Production and Accumulation for a Peatland in Southeastern Manitoba , 1972 .

[75]  K. Logan,et al.  Simulating the effects of future fire regimes on western Canadian boreal forests , 2003 .

[76]  A. Granström,et al.  Fuel succession and fire behavior in the Swedish boreal forest , 1997 .

[77]  Dan K. Thompson,et al.  Interactive effects of vegetation, soil moisture and bulk density on depth of burning of thick organic soils , 2011 .

[78]  Mike D. Flannigan,et al.  Length of the fire season in a changing climate , 1993 .

[79]  S. Bayley,et al.  Net above-ground primary production along a bog-rich fen gradient in Central Alberta, Canada , 1996, Wetlands.

[80]  Werner A. Kurz,et al.  A 70-YEAR RETROSPECTIVE ANALYSIS OF CARBON FLUXES IN THE CANADIAN FOREST SECTOR , 1999 .

[81]  D. Vitt,et al.  Functional Characteristics and Indicators of Boreal Peatlands , 2006 .

[82]  B. Stocks.  Fire behavior in mature jack pine , 1987 .

[83]  George M. Byram,et al.  Solar radiation and forest fuel moisture , 1943 .

[84]  M. E. Alexander,et al.  Physical properties of dead and downed round-wood fuels in the boreal forests of Alberta and Northwest Territories , 1997 .

[85]  Global Warming and the Insurance Industry , 1993 .

[86]  D. Vitt,et al.  The Bog Landforms of Continental Western Canada in Relation to Climate and Permafrost Patterns , 1994, Arctic and Alpine Research.

[87]  A. Leahey,et al.  The Canadian System of Soil Classification and the Seventh Approximation1 , 1963 .

[88]  M. Turetsky,et al.  Historical burn area in western Canadian peatlands and its relationship to fire weather indices , 2004 .

[89]  D. Greene,et al.  Recruitment of Picea mariana, Pinus banksiana, and Populus tremuloides across a burn severity gradient following wildfire in the southern boreal forest of Quebec , 2004 .

[90]  Z. Chrosciewicz,et al.  Evaluation of Fire-produced Seedbeds for Jack Pine Regeneration in Central Ontario , 1974 .

[91]  S. Gower,et al.  Carbon distribution of a well‐ and poorly‐drained black spruce fire chronosequence , 2003 .

[92]  James K. Brown.  Handbook for inventorying downed woody material , 1974 .

[93]  L. Morrissey,et al.  Effects of fires on carbon cycling in North American boreal peatlands , 1998 .

[94]  Thomas R. Crow,et al.  A Guide to Using Regression Equations for Estimating Tree Biomass , 1988 .

[95]  D. F. Grigal,et al.  Generalized Biomass Estimation Equations for Jack Pine (Pinus banksiana lamb.) , 1978 .

[96]  R. Weber,et al.  Analytical models for fire spread due to radiation , 1989 .

[97]  C. Nock,et al.  Forest fire occurrence and climate change in Canada , 2010 .

[98]  William H. Frandsen,et al.  The influence of moisture and mineral soil on the combustion limits of smoldering forest duff , 1987 .

[99]  M. Turetsky,et al.  A direct approach to quantifying organic matter lost as a result of peatland wildfire , 2001 .

[100]  M. Ter-Mikaelian,et al.  Biomass equations for sixty-five North American tree species , 1997 .

[101]  P. Richard,et al.  Future fire in Canada's boreal forest: paleoecology results and general circulation model--regional climate model simulations , 2001 .

[102]  M. Cruz,et al.  Modeling the initiation and spread of crown fires , 1999 .

[103]  Alan S. Cantin,et al.  Future emissions from Canadian boreal forest fires , 2009 .

[104]  M. E. Alexander,et al.  Crown fire behaviour in a northern jack pine-black spruce forest , 2004 .

[105]  R. Wein.  Characteristics and suppression of fires in organic terrain in Australia , 1981 .

[106]  D. Vitt,et al.  Spatial and temporal trends in carbon storage of peatlands of continental western Canada through the Holocene , 2000 .

[107]  D. Sprugel,et al.  Correcting for Bias in Log‐Transformed Allometric Equations , 1983 .

[108]  R. Wein,et al.  Potential Carbon Losses From Peat Profiles: Effects of Temperature, Drought Cycles, and Fire. , 1992, Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America.

[109]  William L. Baker,et al.  Attributes of blowdown patches from a severe wind event in the Southern Rocky Mountains, USA , 2001, Landscape Ecology.

[110]  J. Bhatti,et al.  Postfire carbon balance in boreal bogs of Alberta, Canada , 2009 .

[111]  Emery R. Boose,et al.  Patterns of forest damage resulting from catastrophic wind in central New England, USA , 1992 .

[112]  C. E. Van Wagner,et al.  Development and structure of the Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index System , 1987 .