Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Canopy fuel characteristics in relation to crown fire potential in pine stands: analysis, modelling and classification

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
European Journal of Forest Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Crown fire occurrence and subsequent crown fire behaviour are strongly dependent on canopy fuel characteristics, especially canopy fuel load (CFL), canopy bulk density (CBD) and canopy base height (CBH). Therefore, quantification of such variables is required for the appropriate selection of silvicultural treatments aimed at reducing susceptibility to crown fire. Data from the IV Spanish National Forest Inventory and individual tree biomass dry weight equations were used to estimate the canopy fuel characteristics of four representative types of pine stands in north-western Spain. Probability of crown fire initiation and crown fire rate of spread were simulated by using the mean surface fuel load observed for each type of pine in this area and assuming different burning conditions. The results indicate that a 22.13 % of the sample plots analysed showed a rather high potential for active crown fire spread under moderate burning conditions, and this value increases to 69.27 % under extreme burning conditions. Equations relating the canopy fuel characteristics to common stand variables (stand density, basal area and dominant height) were fitted simultaneously for each pine, and weighting factors for heteroscedasticity were included. The models explained more than 93.90, 74.70 and 69.42 % of the observed variability in CFL, CBD and CBH, respectively. Basal area was the most important variable for estimating CFL and CBD while dominant height explained most of the observed variability in CBH. The use of the fitted equations together with existing dynamic growth models and fire management decision support systems will enable assessment of the crown fire potential associated with different silvicultural alternatives used in these types of pine stands.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Agee J (1996) The influence of forest structure on fire behaviour. Proceedings of the 17th annual forest vegetation management conference, Redding, CA, USA, 16–18 Jan, pp 52–68

  • Alberdi I, Condés S, Millán JM, Saura S, Sánchez G, Pérez F, Villanueva JA, Vallejo R (2010) National forest inventories report, Spain (Chapter 34). In: Tomppo E, Gschwantner T, Lawrence M, McRoberts RE (eds) National forest inventories. Pathways for common reporting. Springer, Berlin, pp 527–540

    Google Scholar 

  • Alexander ME, Cruz MG (2011) Crown fire dynamics in conifer forests. In: Werth PA, Potter BE, Clements CB, Finney MA, Goodrick SL, Alexander ME, Cruz MG, Forthofer JA, McAllister SS (eds) Synthesis of knowledge of extreme fire behavior: volume I for fire managers. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. General Technical Report PNW-GTR-854

  • Alexander ME, Stefner CN, Mason JA, Stocks BJ, Hartley GR, Maffey ME et al (2004) Characterizing the jack pine-black spruce fuel complex of the International Crown Fire Modelling Experiment (ICFME). Natural Resources Canada, Forestry Service, Northern Forestry Centre, Edmonton, Alberta. Information Report NOR-X-393

  • Alexander ME, Cruz MG, Lopes AMG (2006) CFIS: a software tool for simulating crown fire initiation and spread. In: Viegas DX (ed) Proceedings of V international conference on forest fire research, Elsevier, Meppel, Netherlands [CD-ROM]

  • Alvarez A, Gracia M, Vayreda J, Retana J (2012) Patterns of fuel types and crown fire potential in Pinus halepensis forests in the Western Mediterranean Basin. For Ecol Manag 270:282–290

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Andrews PL (2008) BehavePlus fire modeling system, version 4.0: variables. General Technical Report RMRS-GTR-213WWW. Fort Collins, CO: Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. Rocky Mountain Research Station

  • Arellano Pérez S (2011) Modelos de combustibles forestales de Galicia. MD. Thesis, University of Santiago de Compostela, Lugo, Spain

  • Belsey DA (1991) Conditioning diagnostics, collinearity and weak data in regression. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Beukema SJ, Greenough DC, Robinson CE, Kurtz WA, Reinhardt ED, Crookston NL et al (1997) An introduction to the fire and fuels extension to FVS. In: Teck R, Mouer M, Adams J (eds) Proceedings of the forest vegetation simulator conference. USDA Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station. General Technical Report. INT-373, Ogden, UT, pp 191–195

  • Breiman L, Friedman JH, Olshen RA, Stone CJ (1984) Classification and regression trees. Chapman & Hall, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown JK, Bradshaw LS (1994) Comparisons of particulate emissions and smoke impacts from presettlement, full suppression and prescribed natural fire periods in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness. Int J Wildland Fire 4(3):143–155

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown JK, Reinhardt ED (1991) Predicting and managing fuel consumption in the Interior West. In: Andrews PL, Potts DL (eds) Proceedings of the 11th conference on fire and forest meteorology. Society of American Foresters Publication 91-04, pp 419–429

  • Cailliez F (1980) Estimación del volumen forestal y predicción del rendimiento. Vol 2. Predicción del rendimiento. Estudio FAO 22/2, Roma

  • Call PT, Albini FA (1997) Aerial and surface fuel consumption in crown fires. Int J Wildland Fire 7(3):259–264

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crecente-Campo F, Pommerening A, Rodríguez-Soalleiro R (2009) Impacts of thinning on structure, growth and risk of crown fire in a Pinus sylvestris L. plantation in northern Spain. For Ecol Manag 257:1945–1954

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cronan J, Jandt R (2008) How succession affects fire behaviour in boreal black spruce forest of interior Alaska. USDI Bureau of Land management, Alaska State Office, BLM-Alaska Technical Report 59

  • Cruz MG, Alexander ME (2010) Assessing crown fire potential in coniferous forests of western North America: a critique of current approaches and recent simulation studies. Int J Wildland Fire 19:377–398

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cruz MG, Alexander ME, Wakimoto RH (2003) Assessing canopy fuel stratum characteristics in crown fire prone fuel types of western North America. Int J Wildland Fire 12:39–50

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cruz MG, Alexander ME, Wakimoto RH (2004) Modelling the likelihood of crown fire occurrence in conifer forest stands. For Sci 50(5):640–658

    Google Scholar 

  • Cruz MG, Alexander ME, Wakimoto RH (2005) Development and testing of models for predicting crown fire rate of spread in conifer forest stands. Can J For Res 35:1626–1639

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cruz MG, Fernandes PM, Alexander ME (2007) Development of a model system to predict wildfire behaviour in pine plantations. Programme, abstracts & papers of the 2007 Institute of Foresters of Australia and New Zealand Institute of Forestry Conference, Coffs Harbour (Australia), 3–7 June, pp 119–128

  • Cruz MG, Alexander ME, Fernandes PM (2008) Development of a model system to predict wildfire behaviour in pine plantations. Aust For 71(2):113–121

    Google Scholar 

  • Diéguez-Aranda U, Rojo Alboreca A, Castedo-Dorado F, Álvarez González JG, Barrio-Anta M, Crecente-Campo F, et al (2009) Herramientas selvícolas para la gestión forestal sostenible en Galicia. Consellería do Medio Rural, Xunta de Galicia

  • Fernandes PM (2009a) Examining fuel treatment longevity through experimental and simulated surface fire behaviour: a maritime pine case study. Can J For Res 39:2529–2535

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fernandes PM (2009b) Combining forest structure data and fuel modelling to classify fire hazard in Portugal. Ann For Sci 66:415. doi:10.1051/forest/2009013

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Finney MA (1998) FARSITE: fire area simulator-model development and evaluation. USDA Forest Service Research Paper RMRS-RP-4

  • French NHF, De Groot W, Jenkins LK, Rogers BM, Alvarado E, Amiro B, de Jong B, Goetz S, Hoy E, Hyer E, Keane R, Law BE, McKenzie D, McNulty SG, Ottmar R, Pérez-Salicrup DR, Randerson J, Robertson KM, Turetsky M (2011) Model comparisons for estimating carbon emissions from North American wildland fire. J Geophys Res 116:G00K05 doi:10.1029/2010JG001469

    Google Scholar 

  • González JR, Palahí M, Trasobares A, Pukkala T (2006) A fire probability model for forest stands in Catalonia (north-east Spain). Ann For Sci 63:169–176

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harvey AC (1976) Estimating regression models with multiplicative heterocedasticity. Econometrica 44:461–465

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keyser T, Smith FW (2010) Influence of crown biomass estimators and distribution on canopy fuel characteristics in ponderosa pine stands of the Black Hills. For Sci 56(2):156–165

    Google Scholar 

  • López-Sánchez C, Rodríguez-Soalleiro R (2009) A density management diagram including stand stability and crown fire risk for Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco in Spain. Mt Res Dev 29:169–176

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MARM (2010) Anuario de estadística. Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y Medio Rural y Marino, Madrid

    Google Scholar 

  • MARM (2011) Cuarto Inventario Forestal Nacional. Comunidad Autónoma de Galicia (ed) Dirección General del Medio Natural y Política Forestal

  • Mitsopoulos ID, Dimitrakopoulos AP (2007) Canopy fuel characteristics and potential crown FIRE behavior in Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis Mill.) forests. Ann For Sci 64:287–299

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Montero G, Ruiz-Peinado R, Muñoz M (2005) Producción de biomasa y fijación de CO2 por los bosques españoles. Monografías INIA, Serie Forestal, nº 13

  • R Development Core Team (2011) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. http://www.R-project.org/

  • Reinhardt ED, Keane RE, Brown JK (1997) First order fire effects model: FOFEM 4.0, user′s guide. General Technical Report. INT-344. Ogden, UT: USDA Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station

  • Reinhardt ED, Lutes D, Scott J (2006a) FuelCalc: a METHOD for estimating fuel characteristics. In: Andrews PL, Butler BW (eds) Fuels management-how to measure success: conference proceedings. USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station RMRS-P-41, pp 273–282

  • Reinhardt ED, Scott J, Gray K, Keane R (2006b) Estimating canopy fuel characteristics in five conifer stands in the western United States using tree and stand measurements. Can J For Res 36:2803–2814

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ruiz-González AD (2007) Efecto de las claras sobre la humedad de los combustibles muertos en masas de pino. Proceedings of the 4th international wildland fire conference, Sevilla (Spain), May 13–17. http://www.fire.uni-freiburg.de/sevilla-007/contributions/doc/SESIONES_TEMATICAS/ST3/Ruiz-Gonzalez_spain_lugo.pdf. Accessed 7 Feb 2011

  • Ruiz-González AD, Álvarez-González JG (2011) Canopy bulk density and canopy base height equations for assessing crown fire hazard in Pinus radiata plantations. Can J For Res 41:839–850

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sando RW, Wick CH (1972) A method of evaluating crown fuels in forest stands. USDA Forest Service. Research paper NC-84

  • SAS Institute Inc (2004) SAS/ETS® 9.1 user’s guide. SAS Institute Inc, Cary, NC

  • Scott JH, Reinhardt ED (2001) Assessing crown fire potential by linking models of surface and crown fire behavior. USDA Forest Service. Rocky Mountain Research Station. Research Paper RMRS-RP-29

  • Scott JH, Reinhardt ED (2007) Effects of alternative treatments on canopy fuel characteristics in five conifer stands. In: Powers RF (ed) Restoring fire-adapted ecosystems: proceedings of the 2005 national silviculture workshop. USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station GTR-203, pp 193–209

  • SECF (2010) Informe 2010. Situación de los bosques y del sector forestal en España. http://www.secforestales.org/web/images/infores2010.pdf. Accessed 24 Oct 2011

  • Therneau TM, Atkinson B (2012) Package rpart. Version 3.1-52. http://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/rpart/index.html. Accessed 12 March 2012

  • Van Wagner CE (1977) Conditions for the start and spread of crown fire. Can J For Res 7:23–34

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White H (1980) A heteroskedasticity-consistent covariance matrix estimator and a direct test for heteroskedasticity. Econometrica 48(4):817–838

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams DF (1978) Fuel properties before and after thinning in young radiata pine plantations. Fire Management Branch. Department of Conservation and Environment. Research Report 3

  • WWF/Adena (2005) Incendios forestales ¿por qué se queman los montes españoles? http://www.wwf.es. Accessed 8 June 2008

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research was initiated during a research visit by Juan Gabriel Álvarez-González to the Forestry Research Centre (INIA-CIFOR), with financial support from the “Programa Nacional de Movilidad de Recursos Humanos de Investigación de 2010” (REF: PR2010-0467. PN I + D + i 2008–2011). The research was funded by the AEG-09-007 agreement between the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture and INIA and by the Project RTA2009-0153-C03-01. We would also like to thank the two anonymous reviewers whose comments helped to substantially improve this manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Investigación Forestal de Lourizán, PO Box 127, 36080, Pontevedra, Spain

    José María Fernández-Alonso & José Antonio Vega

  2. INIA-CIFOR, Dpto, Selvicultura y Gestión de los Sistema Forestales, Ctra La Coruña km 7.5, 28040, Madrid, Spain

    Iciar Alberdi & Isabel Cañellas

  3. Departamento de Ingeniería Agroforestal, Escuela Politécnica Superior, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Campus Universitario s/n, 27002, Lugo, Spain

    Juan Gabriel Álvarez-González & Ana Daría Ruiz-González

Authors
  1. José María Fernández-Alonso
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Iciar Alberdi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Juan Gabriel Álvarez-González
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. José Antonio Vega
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Isabel Cañellas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Ana Daría Ruiz-González
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ana Daría Ruiz-González.

Additional information

Communicated by C. Ammer.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Fernández-Alonso, J.M., Alberdi, I., Álvarez-González, J.G. et al. Canopy fuel characteristics in relation to crown fire potential in pine stands: analysis, modelling and classification. Eur J Forest Res 132, 363–377 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-012-0680-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-012-0680-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation