Selecting Low-Flammability Plants as Green Firebreaks within Sustainable Urban Garden Design

Murray, Brad R.; Martin, Leigh J.; Brown, Colin D.; Krix, Daniel W.; Phillips, Megan L.

doi:10.3390/fire1010015

Cited by 24 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Models that incorporate plant traits can be used to predict fire behaviour (Morvan & Dupuy, 2004;Zylstra et al, 2016) and evaluate vegetation management strategies (McColl-Gausden & Penman, 2019). Studies that rank species flammability can be used to identify low flammable species for planting in fire-prone areas (Dimitrakopoulos & Panov, 2001;Krix et al, 2019;Murray et al, 2018). Additionally, knowledge linking plant traits to flammability can help explain the evolution and function of plant species in fire-prone environments (Pausas et al, 2017;Pausas & Moreira, 2012) and provides insight into how changes in the distribution and abundance of plant species may affect future wildfire behaviour (Babl et al, 2020;Stevens et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leaf traits predict global patterns in the structure and flammability of forest litter beds

et al. 2020

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1. Fallen plant material such as leaves, needles and branches form litter beds which strongly influence fire ignition and spread. Traits of the dominant species influence litter flammability directly by determining how individual leaves burn and indirectly through the structure of the litter bed. However, we are yet to determine the relative importance of these different drivers across a range of plant species from different biomes. 2. We undertook a meta-analysis, combining leaf trait, litter structure and flammability data for 106 species from North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia. The dataset encompassed broad-leaved and coniferous species from seven different experimental studies. Relationships between leaf traits, litter structure and key flammability metrics-sustainability, combustibility and consumability-were analysed using bivariate and piecewise structural equation modelling (SEM). 3. Traits which characterise the three-dimensional nature of the leaf and how much space a leaf occupies showed much stronger associations to litter structure and flammability than other morphological traits. Leaf curl, surface area to volume ratio (SAV) and SLA predominately influence litter flammability indirectly via litter structure with SLA being the only leaf trait which had a negative direct effect on flame duration. Packing ratio and bulk density were influenced by different combinations of leaf traits and, in turn, they aligned with different flammability metrics. Bulk density predicted flame spread rate and flame duration whereas packing ratio predicted consumption. 4. Synthesis. We identified key leaf and litter traits which influence different components of litter bed flammability. Importantly, we show that the effects of these leaf and litter traits are consistent across a wide range of taxa and biomes. Our study represents a significant step towards developing trait-based models for predicting surface wildfire behaviour. Such models will more flexibly accommodate future shifts in the composition of plant species triggered by altered fire regimes and climate change.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leaf traits predict global patterns in the structure and flammability of forest litter beds

et al. 2020

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“…The location of buildings, both in town areas and in the WUI, has already been planned, and is given from the perspective of the current paper. However, planning with respect to potential severe fires comes into play regarding, e.g., prescribed burning, proactive emergency organizing, as well as what people plant in their gardens [90]. This results in better protection as e.g., WUI fires become easier to control when the fire fighters arrive earlier at a fire scene.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reducing Wooden Structure and Wildland-Urban Interface Fire Disaster Risk through Dynamic Risk Assessment and Management

Log

Vandvik

Velle

et al. 2020

ASI

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In recent years, severe and deadly wildland-urban interface (WUI) fires have resulted in an increased focus on this particular risk to humans and property, especially in Canada, USA, Australia, and countries in the Mediterranean area. Also, in areas not previously accustomed to wildfires, such as boreal areas in Sweden, Norway, and in the Arctic, WUI fires have recently resulted in increasing concern. January 2014, the most severe wooden town fire in Norway since 1923 raged through Laerdalsøyri. Ten days later, a wildfire raged through the scattered populated community of Flatanger and destroyed even more structures. These fires came as a surprise to the fire brigades and the public. We describe and analyze a proposed way forward for exploring if and how this increasing fire incidence can be linked to concomitant changes in climate, land-use, and habitat management; and then aim at developing new dynamic adaptive fire risk assessment and management tools. We use coastal Norway as an example and focus on temporal changes in fire risk in wooden structure settlements and in the Norwegian Calluna vulgaris L. dominated WUI. In this interface, the fire risk is now increasing due to a combination of land-use changes, resulting in large areas of early successional vegetation with an accumulation of biomass, and the interactive effects of climatic changes resulting in increased drought risk. We propose a novel bow-tie framework to explore fire risk and preventive measures at various timescales (years, months, weeks, hours) as a conceptual model for exploring risk contributing factors and possibilities for risk management. Ignition is the top event of the bow-tie which has the potential development towards a fire disaster as a worst case outcome. The bow-tie framework includes factors such as changes in the built environment and natural habitat fuel moisture content due to the weather conditions, WUI fuel accumulation, possibly improved ecosystem management, contribution by civic prescribed burner groups, relevant fire risk modeling, and risk communication to the fire brigades and the public. We propose an interdisciplinary research agenda for developing this framework and improving the current risk understanding, risk communication, and risk management. This research agenda will represent important contributions in paving the road for fire disaster prevention in Norway, and may provide a model for other systems and regions.

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“…Segundo Murray et al (2018) as pesquisas para identificar amplas generalidades nas características morfológicas, químicas e estruturais de espécies de baixa inflamabilidade ainda estão no estágio pioneiro.…”

Section: Discussionunclassified

Avaliação De Espécies Arbóreas Para Composição De Cortinas De Segurança Contra Incêndios Florestais

Kovalsyki

Junior

Assunção

et al. 2019

NAT

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Cortina de segurança é um plantio em faixas com espécies vegetais de menor combustibilidade do que as do cultivo principal, a fim de reduzir ou evitar a propagação do fogo. O presente trabalho teve por objetivo avaliar o potencial das espécies Magnolia grandiflora L., Michelia champaca L., Viburnum odoratissimum Ker Gawl., Casearia sylvestris Swartz e Bougainvillea glabra Choisy para compor cortinas de segurança. Para isso, as espécies foram analisadas em função do teor de umidade, altura de chama, velocidade de propagação do fogo, quantidade de material combustível consumido em queimas experimentais e intensidade do fogo. Foram realizadas 10 repetições por espécie e as queimas foram realizadas no Laboratório de Incêndios Florestais, do Departamento de Ciências Florestais, da Universidade Federal do Paraná, em parcelas de 1 m², com uma carga de 1 kg de material combustível fino seco em estufa. As espécies que se destacaram nas análises foram B. glabra e C. sylvestris, as quais indicaram baixa combustibilidade, apresentando assim potencial para uso em cortina de segurança na prevenção de incêndios florestais.Palavras-chave: barreiras verdes, prevenção de incêndios, altura de chama, proteção florestal. EVALUATION OF TREE SPECIES FOR THE COMPOSITION OF GREEN FIREBREAKS AGAINST FOREST FIRES ABSTRACT: Green firebreaks are vegetation stripes with a lower combustibility than that of the main crop and are intended to prevent or restrict the spread of fire. The present study aimed to evaluate the potential of the following tree species to compose firebreaks: Magnolia grandiflora L., Michelia champaca L., Viburnum odoratissimum Ker Gawl., Casearia sylvestris Swartz and Bougainvillea glabra Choisy. The species were analyzed according to their moisture content, flame height, fire spread rate, amount of fuel consumed in controlled burns, and fire intensity. There were ten repetitions per species and the burns were done at the wildfire laboratory, from the forest sciences department, of Universidade Federal do Paraná, on experimental plots of 1 m2, with 1 kg of thin fuel load, kiln-dried at 75 °C for 48 hours. The most notable species from the analyses were B. glabra and C. sylvestris, which indicated low combustibility, showing potential to compose green firebreaks and prevent forest fires.Keywords: green firebreaks, fire prevention, flame height, forest protection.

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Selecting Low-Flammability Plants as Green Firebreaks within Sustainable Urban Garden Design

Abstract: In response to an increasing risk of property loss from wildfires at the urban–wildland interface[…]

Cited by 24 publications

References 13 publications

Leaf traits predict global patterns in the structure and flammability of forest litter beds

Leaf traits predict global patterns in the structure and flammability of forest litter beds

Reducing Wooden Structure and Wildland-Urban Interface Fire Disaster Risk through Dynamic Risk Assessment and Management

Avaliação De Espécies Arbóreas Para Composição De Cortinas De Segurança Contra Incêndios Florestais

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