Fire hazard after prescribed burning in a gorse shrubland: Implications for fuel management

Marino, Eva; Guijarro, Mercedes; Hernando, Carmen; Madrigal, Javier; Díez, Carmen

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2010.11.006

Cited by 35 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Campo et al 2006;Gonza´lez-Pelayo et al 2010). Given that such management might need to be applied on a relatively frequent basis in order to maintain a sufficiently low fuel load (Cassagne et al 2011;Marino et al 2011), especially under expected future increased summer temperatures causing probably greater wildfire possibility of a substantial impact might apply throughout much of the Mediterranean region. However, differences between the Tresminas study site examined here and previous studies in the Mediterranean with respect to vegetation type and prescribed fire procedures need to be considered.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of prescribed fire on surface soil in a Pinus pinaster plantation, northern Portugal

et al. 2014

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In order to decrease the risk of severe wildfire, prescribed fire has recently been adopted in Portugal and elsewhere in the Mediterranean as a major tool for reducing the fuel load instead of manual or mechanical removal of vegetation. There has been some research into its impact on soils in shrublands and grasslands, but to date little research has been conducted in forested areas in the region. As a result, the impact of prescribed fire on the physico-chemical soil characteristics of forest soils has been assumed to be minimal, but this has not been demonstrated. In this study, we present the results of a monitoring campaign of a detailed pre-and post-prescribed fire assessment of soil properties in a long-unburnt P. pinaster plantation, NW Portugal. The soil characteristics examined were pH, total porosity, bulk density, moisture content, organic matter content and litter/ash quantity. The results show that there was no significant impact on the measured soil properties, the only effect being confined to minor changes in the upper 1 cm of soil. We conclude that provided the fire is carried out according to strict guidelines in P. pinaster forest, a minimal impact on soil properties can be expected.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of prescribed fire on surface soil in a Pinus pinaster plantation, northern Portugal

et al. 2014

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“…Experimental equations (Anderson and Anderson 2010;Marino et al 2011) have been developed to predict ignition risk and fire spread in gorse shrubland, to aid decisions concerning burn prescriptions and to support fire suppression actions. Although the efficiency of prescribed fire in reducing wildfire hazard is often mentioned as a matter of fact, there are still some uncertainties regarding the protective advantages provided, which limit the use of this technique (Fernandes and Botelho 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Few studies have addressed the effects of fire on shrub flammability Anderson and Anderson 2010), and even fewer have investigated the fuels resulting from prescribed burning or wildfires (Marino et al 2011). Some authors have studied the recovery of vegetation after several fuel treatments, including prescribed burning in shrubland (Calvo et al 2002;Pereiras and Casal 2002;Baeza et al 2003;Potts et al 2010), but have not directly assessed the flammability of the resulting vegetation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Baeza et al (2002) and De Luis et al (2004) studied the fuel characteristics that influence fire behaviour in Mediterranean gorse shrubland of different ages, although they did not assess fuel flammability. Evaluation of flammability parameters may help forest managers and land owners, assessing the evolution of fire hazard in order to plan the frequency of prescribed burning (Marino et al 2011) or improving the predictive ability of forest fire behaviour models based on physical plant parameters (Sullivan 2009). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evaluation of the flammability of gorse (Ulex europaeus L.) managed by prescribed burning

Madrigal

Marino

Guijarro

et al. 2011

Annals of Forest Science

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“…The scarce studies undertaken in shrubland within the Mediterranean area point to an average timespan of approximately 4-5 years for a significant return to pre-harvest fire risk, depending on the type of shrub formation [13,41]. Hence, further research is needed to assess the temporal effects of this treatment on fire behavior in the mid to long term at the study sites.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is Mechanized Harvesting of Shrubs Grown for Energy Purposes Environmentally Sustainable?

González-González¹,

Sixto²,

González³

et al. 2018

Forests

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Mechanized harvesting of shrub formations as part of sustainable forest management not only helps reduce the risk of forest fires in Mediterranean environments but also provides economic benefit from the extracted biomass, contributing to the development of the bioeconomy. However, these mechanized operations require an environmental impact assessment to identify the short-term impacts, both positive and negative. This is especially important in the Mediterranean basin given the specific climatic conditions which exist. In this study, the environmental impact of mechanized shrub harvesting is analyzed in relation to (i) changes in biodiversity and in the presence and growth of species; (ii) physical and chemical properties of the soil; and (iii) changes in forest fire risk. For this purpose, a pre-harvest inventory was conducted and post-harvest monitoring schedules of 1-and 2-year durations were established in three characteristic Mediterranean shrubland formations located in the northern-central area of the Iberian Peninsula. Our results reveal that the recovery rates in biodiversity indices after harvesting were very high, with values ranging from 30 to 70% depending on the site. Two years after harvesting, the species coverage was similar to the pre-harvest scenario in some locations, although not with regards to height, the ericaceous species being those with the greatest sprouting capacity. Significant changes in the physical and chemical properties of soils were also observed. In this regard, negative impacts such as soil compaction or slight acidification were identified at some sites. However, positive effects were also found such as an increment in carbon and nitrogen content after harvesting, along with increased litter quantity a year from the clearing operation due to biomass residue left on the ground after harvesting. Furthermore, mechanical harvesting effectively modified fire behavior in all the shrub formations 2 years after clearing, with a notable reduction in fire risk at all the studied sites.

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Fire hazard after prescribed burning in a gorse shrubland: Implications for fuel management

Cited by 35 publications

References 33 publications

Effects of prescribed fire on surface soil in a Pinus pinaster plantation, northern Portugal

Effects of prescribed fire on surface soil in a Pinus pinaster plantation, northern Portugal

Evaluation of the flammability of gorse (Ulex europaeus L.) managed by prescribed burning

Is Mechanized Harvesting of Shrubs Grown for Energy Purposes Environmentally Sustainable?

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