Mechanical mastication is growing in popularity as a wildfire mitigation technique. Yet few studies quantify its effects on fire behaviour. Such information is needed by fire managers to evaluate its efficacy. Our aim was to develop an understanding of how mastication alters flaming and smouldering durations and the longevity of any effects. Flaming and smouldering duration are important determinants of soil heating and smoke emissions. We used a paired sampling design, collecting litter bed (hereafter surface fuel) samples from 15 sites with masticated and untreated vegetation in shrub-encroached Eucalyptus woodlands. We measured a range of fuel bed properties and then burnt the samples in the laboratory. Average smouldering durations increased 88% from 25 to 47 min in untreated v. masticated fuel; flaming durations increased 100% from 6 to 12 min. These changes were attributable to higher fine and coarse fuel loads in the masticated fuel bed. However, fine and coarse fuel load declined significantly over 4 years, meaning the effects of mastication on combustion duration are likely to be short-lived. Despite being a laboratory study, the results assist with evaluating mastication as a fuel treatment by demonstrating the potential magnitude of changes to flaming and smouldering duration.

机械咀嚼作为野火缓解技术正变得越来越流行。然而，很少有研究量化其对火灾行为的影响。消防管理人员需要此类信息来评估其效力。我们的目的是加深对咀嚼如何改变燃烧和阴燃持续时间以及任何影响的寿命的了解。火焰和阴燃持续时间是土壤加热和烟气排放的重要决定因素。我们采用了配对采样设计，从灌木侵蚀的桉树林地的15个有咀嚼和未处理植被的地点收集了垫料床（以下称为地表燃料）样品。我们测量了一系列的燃料床性能，然后在实验室中燃烧了样品。平均持续时间闷烧从25在未经处理的增加88％至47分钟v。咀嚼的燃料；燃烧持续时间从6到12分钟增加了100％。这些变化归因于咀嚼式燃料床中较高的细燃料负荷和粗燃料负荷。但是，细燃料和粗燃料的负载在4年中显着下降，这意味着咀嚼对燃烧持续时间的影响可能是短暂的。尽管是一项实验室研究，但结果仍通过证明燃烧和阴燃持续时间变化的潜在幅度，有助于评估咀嚼作为燃料的处理方法。