Spatiotemporal Variability of Wildland Fuels in US Northern Rocky Mountain Forests
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Methods
2.1. Spatial Methods
2.2. Temporal Methods
3. Results
3.1. Spatial Dynamics
3.2. Temporal Dynamics
3.2.1. Deposition
3.2.2. Decomposition
4. Discussion
4.1. The Wildland Fuel Mosaic
4.2. Implications
5. Summary
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Abbreviations
FUELVAR | A comprehensive project aimed at quantifying the spatial variability of fuels |
FUELDYN | A 12 years study quantifying litterfall and decomposition rates for US northern Rocky Mountain undisturbed stands |
1 h | downed, dead woody fuel particles less than 6 mm in diameter |
10 h | downed, dead woody fuel particles less than 25 mm in diameter |
100 h | downed, dead woody fuel particles less than 76 mm in diameter |
1000 h | downed, dead woody fuel particles greater than 76 mm in diameter |
FWD | all dead fuel particles below 76 mm in diameter |
CWD | all dead fuel particles greater than 76 mm in diameter |
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Fuel Type | Fuel Component/Attribute | Common Name | Size | Description |
---|---|---|---|---|
Canopy Fuels | ||||
Canopy | Canopy bulk density (kg·m−3) | CBD | <3 mm diameter | All canopy material less than 3 mm diameter |
Canopy fuel loading (kg·m−2) | CFL | <3 mm diameter | All canopy material less than 3 mm diameter | |
Canopy cover (%) | CC | All material | Vertically projected canopy cover | |
Surface Fuels | ||||
Downed Dead Woody | 1 h woody | Twigs, FWD | <0.6 cm (0.25 inch) diameter | Detached woody fuel particles on the ground |
10 h woody | Branches, FWD | 0.6–2.5 cm (0.25–1.0 inch) diameter | Detached woody fuel particles on the ground | |
100 h woody | Large Branches, FWD | 2.5–8 cm (1–3 inch) diameter | Detached woody fuel particles on the ground | |
1000 h woody | Logs, CWD | 8+ cm (3+ inch) diameter | Detached woody fuel particles on the ground | |
Shrubs | Shrub | Shrubby | All shrubby material less than 5 cm diameter | All burnable shrubby biomass with branch diameters less than 5 cm |
Herbaceous | Herb | Herbs | All sizes | All live and dead grass, forb, and fern biomass |
Litter | Litter | Litter | All sizes, excluding woody | Freshly fallen non-woody material which includes leaves, cones, pollen cones |
Ground Fuels | ||||
Duff | Duff | Duff | All sizes | Partially decomposed biomass whose origins cannot be determined |
Fuel Component | Sagebrush Grassland | Pinyon Juniper | Ponderosa Pine Savanna | Ponderosa Pine-Fir | Pine- Fir-Larch | Lodgepole Pine |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Range (m) | ||||||
1 h | 4.7 | 2.5 | 2.8 | 16.3 | 8.9 | 6.0 |
10 h | 6.6 | 2.4 | 0.9 | 4.9 | 2.2 | 11.1 |
100 h | No 100 h | 2.5 | 2.5 | 4.6 | 2.4 | 4.1 |
1000 h | No Logs | No Logs | 84.0 | 22.0 | 87.3 | 157.0 |
Shrub | 2.4 | 15.1 | 0.9 | 1.8 | 3.6 | 2.7 |
Herb | 0.7 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 3.5 | 0.5 | 1.8 |
Litter + Duff | 0.5 | 1.4 | 2.5 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0.9 |
CBD | No trees | 440.0 | - | 412.0 | 100.0 | 120.0 |
CFL | No trees | 560.0 | - | 600.0 | 310.0 | 560.0 |
CC | No trees | 407.0 | - | - | 230.0 | 300.0 |
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Keane, R.E. Spatiotemporal Variability of Wildland Fuels in US Northern Rocky Mountain Forests. Forests 2016, 7, 129. https://doi.org/10.3390/f7070129
Keane RE. Spatiotemporal Variability of Wildland Fuels in US Northern Rocky Mountain Forests. Forests. 2016; 7(7):129. https://doi.org/10.3390/f7070129
Chicago/Turabian StyleKeane, Robert E. 2016. "Spatiotemporal Variability of Wildland Fuels in US Northern Rocky Mountain Forests" Forests 7, no. 7: 129. https://doi.org/10.3390/f7070129