Using visual obstruction to estimate heathland fuel load and structure

Davies, G. Matt; Hamilton, Amy; Smith, Alastair; Legg, Colin J.

doi:10.1071/wf07021

Cited by 42 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…BrieXy, this method is based on regression equations, developed and tested in similar vegetation, which relate measures of visual obstruction of the FuelRule, to vegetation biomass measured using destructive sampling (Davies et al 2008). A similar approach was used to develop regression equations relating burnt heather stem density and size, to post-burn biomass (Davies 2006). This work allows the same measures to be taken elsewhere, in similar vegetation, and used to estimate biomass nondestructively.…”

Section: Fire Management and Characterisationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Inset part of Scotland (grey stipple), with Cairngorms National Park (black boundary) and Abernethy reserve (black) Davies et al 2008). BrieXy, this method is based on regression equations, developed and tested in similar vegetation, which relate measures of visual obstruction of the FuelRule, to vegetation biomass measured using destructive sampling (Davies et al 2008). A similar approach was used to develop regression equations relating burnt heather stem density and size, to post-burn biomass (Davies 2006).…”

Section: Fire Management and Characterisationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Main map: central part of Abernethy reserve (black boundary), forested area and scattered trees (grey stipple), and the ten experimental blocks (black circles). Inset part of Scotland (grey stipple), with Cairngorms National Park (black boundary) and Abernethy reserve (black) Davies et al 2008). BrieXy, this method is based on regression equations, developed and tested in similar vegetation, which relate measures of visual obstruction of the FuelRule, to vegetation biomass measured using destructive sampling (Davies et al 2008).…”

Section: Fire Management and Characterisationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Testing prescribed fire as a tool to promote Scots pine Pinus sylvestris regeneration

et al. 2009

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Techniques for encouraging natural tree regeneration are of increasing interest to managers of Scots pine Pinus sylvestris forests. We tested prescribed Wre at a management scale, with deer present or excluded, as a means of increasing rates of Scots pine forest expansion on heathland. At a semi-natural pinewood in Scotland, ten experimental blocks were established, within range of pine seed-fall. Each block comprised four, 100 m 2 plots. Two plots at each site were burnt and two fenced, allowing the eVects of burning on pine regeneration to be measured at two levels of deer abundance. We monitored pine seedlings, seed-fall, deer dung and vegetation for 5 years following treatment. DiVerences in seedling detection rates between treatments were quantiWed using dummy seedlings, and analyses corrected accordingly. Mean new pine seedling establishment was 9.8 times higher on burnt ground than unburnt ground (conWdence intervals 3.2-30). DiVerences were even more pronounced in a year of high seed-fall, and following Wres with low rates of spread. Establishment rates varied strongly between experimental blocks. Exclusion of deer increased establishment rates, but only in the Wrst 2 years after Wre. There was evidence that both seedling survival, and cumulative recruitment of older (over 12 months) seedlings, were improved by prescribed burning. Our results support the use of prescribed Wre as a tool to promote increased Scots pine seedling establishment. This technique is likely to give strong Wne-scale variation in seedling densities, and so would most suit areas where a variable spatial pattern of regeneration is sought, for landscape or naturalness reasons.

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Section: Fire Management and Characterisationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Fire Management and Characterisationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Fire Management and Characterisationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Testing prescribed fire as a tool to promote Scots pine Pinus sylvestris regeneration

et al. 2009

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“…Measures of vegetation structure and composition were used to derive measures of moss/litter depth, ground-level light incidence, and competition from surrounding vegetation, all considered important factors in Scots pine seedling establishment (Carlisle and Brown 1968;Jäderlund et al 1998;Wennström et al 1999;Oleskog and Sahlén 2000). At 16 sample points per quadrat, vegetation density was quantified using a standard measuring stick ('FuelRule': Davies et al 2008). At each sample point, the stick was pushed vertically into the moss/litter layer until the resistance of the soil/humus layer was felt.…”

Section: Study Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

Using cattle for conservation objectives in a Scots pine Pinus sylvestris forest: results of two trials

et al. 2009

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It has been argued that large ungulates play a key role in natural forest dynamics, but in Britain, the largest native ungulates (aurochs and elk) are extinct. Cattle could have some similar effects, and are widely used, but rarely tested, for nature conservation management. Here, we test conservation management with cattle at a native Scots pine Pinus sylvestris forest in Scotland. Our hypotheses were that cattle impacts would (a) increase the abundance of an understorey shrub of conservation importance, bilberry Vaccinium myrtillus; and (b) increase Scots pine seedling establishment. Two cattle trials were established, one for each objective, based on a 14-ha plot within the forest, and a 6.1-ha plot at the forest edge. Cattle were introduced for 2 months to both plots, giving an approximately 100-to 150-fold increase in ungulate biomass per hectare when compared to background deer abundance. The ground layer vegetation in both treatment and matched control plots was monitored before and after treatment, and subsequently over a 4-year period. At the within-forest trial, bilberry percent-cover, 4 years after treatment, was 1.9 times higher in the cattle area than in the control (95% confidence limits 1.6-2.3). Bilberry percentcover increases were directly related to the degree of trampling impact on heather Calluna vulgaris, as recorded immediately after the trial. At the forest-edge trial, there were vegetation changes in the cattle plot that were considered favourable to pine seedling establishment: reduced moss/litter depth and vegetation percent-cover, and increased ground-level light incidence. However, too few new pine seedlings were found for formal analysis, partly due to unexpectedly low seed-fall. Nevertheless, the potential for cattle to create conditions that would subsequently promote pine regeneration was illustrated by the observation of large numbers of new, young pine seedlings at the within-forest cattle plot. We recommend that managers and researchers collaborate to develop further trials like the ones reported here, to give an improved understanding of the conditions under which cattle can yield nature conservation benefits in woodlands.

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“…The spate of wildfires in the spring of 2003, some attributable to escaped management fires, has been linked to a period of extended dry weather combined with a cold but largely snow-free winter that froze ground and allowed live Calluna to become exceptionally dry [17]. Shrubland fuels, such as those formed by Calluna, show significant structural complexity in both horizontal and vertical space [35]. Modelling fire behaviour, both empirically and mathematically, in such fuels is generally acknowledged to be extremely challenging [27].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fuel Moisture Thresholds in the Flammability of Calluna vulgaris

Davies

Legg

2010

Fire Technol

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Managed and wild fires play a significant role in the ecology of heathlands in the UK but we currently have little ability to forecast fire behaviour or the likelihood of accidental wildfires. Like many shrubland fuel types, heathlands display significant structural complexity and the role of different fuel components in governing flammability has not been clear. Using a series of small, field-based ignition tests, we demonstrate the critical importance of the moisture content of dead fine fuels in the lower canopy for determining when sustaining fires in the vegetation canopy can develop. At moisture contents above c. 70% both spot and line ignitions failed but where moisture contents were less than c. 60% fires developed rapidly. The initial rate of spread of successful ignitions was primarily controlled by the moisture content of the lower canopy and the moss/litter layer. Models that predict the moisture content of elevated dead fuels and the moss litter layer are urgently needed in order to protect heathlands from wildfire and to allow forecasts of the suitability of conditions for prescribed burning to be developed.

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Using visual obstruction to estimate heathland fuel load and structure

Cited by 42 publications

References 34 publications

Testing prescribed fire as a tool to promote Scots pine Pinus sylvestris regeneration

Testing prescribed fire as a tool to promote Scots pine Pinus sylvestris regeneration

Using cattle for conservation objectives in a Scots pine Pinus sylvestris forest: results of two trials

Fuel Moisture Thresholds in the Flammability of Calluna vulgaris

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