Article
Environmental Sciences
Francesca Di Giuseppe
Summary: A new fire danger index, the fire occurrence probability index (FOPI), is proposed to better predict landscape flammability by combining the Canadian fire weather index (FWI) with remote observations of vegetation characteristics. The FOPI aims to improve fire danger predictions in fuel-limited environments and outperforms the FWI in arid biomes while remaining comparable where fuel is abundant.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Agronomy
Tegan P. Brown, Assaf Inbar, Thomas J. Duff, Patrick N. J. Lane, Gary J. Sheridan
Summary: Understanding the variation in dead fuel moisture content (FMC) is crucial for accurately predicting wildfire risk, especially in wet forests where FMC is a primary control on fire activity. This study explores the relative importance of changes in microclimate resulting from altered forest structure to FMC variability. The research findings suggest that forest structure has a strong impact on FMC, with vapor pressure deficit (VPD) and longwave radiation (LWR) exerting the strongest control on fuel availability (FA).
AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST METEOROLOGY
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Bastien Romero, Anne Ganteaume
Summary: Flammability and terpene content in Mediterranean plants are influenced by different fire frequencies, with populations having experienced past fire events showing higher flammability. Aleppo pine exhibited higher terpene content in needles in the Fire modality, indicating a potential adaptive strategy to fire.
Article
Forestry
Martina Sanchez-Pinillos, Miquel De Caceres, Pere Casals, Albert Alvarez, Mario Beltran, Juli G. Pausas, Jordi Vayreda, Lluis Coll
Summary: Mediterranean forests are susceptible to fire hazards due to their high diversity in environmental conditions, species composition, and forest structure. The variation in fuel characteristics, particularly in the understory layer, plays a key role in determining fire hazard in heterogeneous Mediterranean regions. Climate conditions did not have a significant impact on the rates of change in fuel characteristics during the study period.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2021)
Article
Ecology
David Lindenmayer, Chris Taylor, Wade Blanchard
Summary: Fire severity is a key component of fire regimes, and understanding the factors affecting it is critical given the increasing incidence of wildfires globally. The study in Victoria, southeastern Australia, found that factors such as fire weather, forest type, and time since previous major disturbance have significant impacts on fire severity, especially under extreme fire weather conditions.
Article
Forestry
James M. Furlaud, Lynda D. Prior, Grant J. Williamson, David M. J. S. Bowman
Summary: Research in the Australian tall wet Eucalyptus forest found that as stand development stages change, fuel loads remain consistent while understorey moisture increases, rainforest tree abundance rises, leading to decreased fire risk and increased likelihood of high-severity fires in the early stages. Additionally, stands initiated by stand-replacing fire are more vulnerable to subsequent high-severity fires due to lack of a remaining mature canopy.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2021)
Article
Agronomy
Jamie E. Burton, Trent D. Penman, Alex I. Filkov, Jane G. Cawson
Summary: Fuel moisture and flammability thresholds vary between vegetation communities. Factors influencing moisture thresholds for flammability at two spatial scales were examined. Leaf cover and size influenced point-scale moisture thresholds, while vapour pressure deficit (VPD) and aridity influenced plot-scale ignitability. Higher VPD thresholds for ignition were observed in wetter parts of the landscape. Canopy cover and aridity-induced changes in litter moisture drove variations in ignitability between vegetation communities. Ignitability models based on VPD and aridity could be used for future predictions.
AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST METEOROLOGY
(2023)
Article
Forestry
Colin B. McFayden, Colleen George, Lynn M. Johnston, Mike Wotton, Daniel Johnston, Meghan Sloane, Joshua M. Johnston
Summary: This research emphasizes the importance of both formal and informal facilitators to support Knowledge Exchange in the successful implementation of the Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System (CFFDRS) in wildland fire management in Ontario, Canada. Key factors for success included personal relationships, shared field-based experiences, and opportunities for dialogue between researchers and practitioners.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF WILDLAND FIRE
(2022)
Article
Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence
Jorge S. S. Junior, Joao Ruivo Paulo, Jerome Mendes, Daniela Alves, Luis Mario Ribeiro, Carlos Viegas
Summary: This paper proposes a novel approach for the automatic calibration of fire danger classes, based on the Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index System (CFFWIS) and clustering algorithms. The approach aims to identify clusters in datasets composed of elements from CFFWIS and wildfire historical records, and associate these clusters with fire danger classes.
EXPERT SYSTEMS WITH APPLICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Bruno A. Aparicio, Joao A. Santos, Teresa R. Freitas, Ana C. L. Sa, Jose M. C. Pereira, Paulo M. Fernandes
Summary: The impacts of wildfires in the Mediterranean Basin are increasing due to more extreme fire seasons and high-intensity fires, which overwhelm fire suppression forces. This study quantified the effect of climate change on fire danger and wildfire behavior in Mediterranean forest ecosystems. The results show that climate change will lead to longer and more intense fire seasons, with significant increases in high-intensity wildfires. However, adjusting fuel load and improving fire planning and management can counteract the effects of climate change.
Article
Forestry
Chelene C. Hanes, Mike Wotton, Laura Bourgeau-Chavez, Douglas G. Woolford, Stephane Belair, David Martell, Mike D. Flannigan
Summary: This study conducted field studies in Alberta and Ontario provinces, aiming to determine if electronic soil moisture probes can be used to supplement the Drought Code (DC) in fire danger rating. The results show that the simple DC model can predict the moisture content of deeper organic layers well, even compared with the more sophisticated land surface model.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF WILDLAND FIRE
(2023)
Article
Forestry
Thalia Ross, Sanjeev K. Srivastava, Alison Shapcott
Summary: According to this study, the 2019-2020 wildfires in Australia had various impacts on subtropical rainforests, increasing their vulnerability to future fires. The post-fire regeneration of the rainforest vegetation could become highly flammable, with species that promote fires and species that suppress fires. The study investigated whether early post-fire regeneration would make rainforests more flammable and if this relationship varies with the severity of the fire. It was found that flammable species increased in regions where fire severity was higher.
Article
Forestry
Francis M. Fujioka, David R. Weise, Shyh-Chin Chen, Seung Hee Kim, Menas C. Kafatos
Summary: The study proposes a new perspective of the Rothermel fire spread model by partitioning the reaction intensity function and Energy Release Component equations, simplifying calculations and providing more insight into temporal variability of energy release component. Comparisons were made between theoretical maximum reaction intensities and ERCs across different NFDRS fuel models under current computation methods and proposed scheme, with discussion on the advantages and disadvantages of the new approach. Further research is needed to determine its operational implications.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF WILDLAND FIRE
(2021)
Article
Forestry
Chelene C. Hanes, Xianli Wang, William J. de Groot
Summary: This study models fire behavior in Canada based on a fuel classification system of 16 fuel types and analyzes predictive driving variables for dead and down woody debris (DWD) fuel loads. Significant variables for DWD fuel load include bioclimatic regime, age, spatial position, drainage, and structural components.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF WILDLAND FIRE
(2021)
Article
Forestry
Miguel G. Cruz, Martin E. Alexander, Paulo M. Fernandes
Summary: The study suggests that there is a gradual diminishing effect of fuel characteristics on fire spread in certain forest ecosystem types, but this effect is not observable under extreme fire danger conditions. Empirical-based fire spread models often fail to adequately capture this effect.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF WILDLAND FIRE
(2022)