Coarse woody debris (>0.6cm in diameter) is an important component of the fuel complex in Australian eucalypt forests, influencing both fire behaviour, smoke production and post-fire ecological processes. We investigated how physical characteristics of woody fuel affected ignition and consumption during an experimental fire where the fuel complex characteristics, fire weather and fire behaviour varied within a narrow range. Decay status, bark condition, arrangement, suspension and extent of charring were classified for 2866 coarse woody fuel particles. We used generalised linear model (GLM) analysis to explain ignition success and the extent of consumption of individual particles, with a focus on larger diameter fuels (>7.5cm in diameter), which comprised 83% of the woody fuel load and 94% of the woody fuel consumed during the flaming and smouldering stages of combustion. Ignition success was best explained by a model that included fuel arrangement (a surrogate of fuel proximity), suspension and decay status. The extent of fuel consumption was greater for pieces in advanced stages of decay, but suspension (inversely related) and arrangement (directly related) also affected the outcome. Forest management practices, previous fire history and other natural disturbances are likely to influence the distribution of pre-fire diameters and suspension classes that characterise large woody fuels at a site, and will therefore influence woody fuel consumption. This has practical implications for quantifying heat release and atmospheric emissions from fires burning in forests with different management histories.

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更正：木质燃料特性对燃料着火和消耗的影响：以澳大利亚西部西南部的桉树林为例

粗大的木屑（直径> 0.6cm）是澳大利亚桉树林中燃料复合物的重要组成部分，影响着火行为，烟雾产生和火后生态过程。我们研究了木质燃料的物理特性如何在实验性大火中影响着火和燃烧，在该实验中，燃料的复杂特性，火天气和火行为在狭窄范围内变化。对2866个粗木质燃料颗粒的腐烂状态，树皮状况，排列，悬浮和炭化程度进行了分类。我们使用广义线性模型（GLM）分析来解释点火成功和单个颗粒消耗的程度，重点是大直径燃料（直径大于7.5厘米），包括83％的木质燃料负荷和94％的燃烧和阴燃阶段消耗的木质燃料。用包括燃料布置（燃料接近度的替代物），悬浮状态和衰减状态的模型可以最好地解释点火成功。在衰变的晚期阶段，燃油消耗的程度更大，但悬挂（成反比）和布置（成直接）也影响结果。森林管理实践，先前的火灾历史和其他自然干扰很可能会影响火灾前直径和悬浮等级的分布，这些特征是现场使用大型木质燃料的特征，因此会影响木质燃料的消耗。