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Exploring the key drivers of forest flammability in wet eucalypt forests using expert-derived conceptual models

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Abstract

Context

Fire behaviour research has largely focused on dry ecosystems that burn frequently, with far less attention on wetter forests. Yet, the impacts of fire in wet forests can be high and therefore understanding the drivers of fire in these systems is vital.

Objectives

We sought to identify and rank by importance the factors plausibly driving flammability in wet eucalypt forests, and describe relationships between them. In doing so, we formulated a set of research priorities.

Methods

Conceptual models of forest flammability in wet eucalypt forests were elicited from 21 fire experts using a combination of elicitation techniques. Forest flammability was defined using fire occurrence and fireline intensity as measures of ignitability and heat release rate, respectively.

Results

There were shared and divergent opinions about the drivers of flammability in wet eucalypt forests. Widely agreed factors were drought, dead fine fuel moisture content, weather and topography. These factors all influence the availability of biomass to burn, albeit their effects and interactions on various dimensions of flammability are poorly understood. Differences between the models related to lesser understood factors (e.g. live and coarse fuel moisture, plant traits, heatwaves) and the links between factors.

Conclusions

By documenting alternative conceptual models, we made shared and divergent opinions explicit about flammability in wet forests. We identified four priority research areas: (1) quantifying drought and fuel moisture thresholds for fire occurrence and intensity, (2) modelling microclimate in dense vegetation and rugged terrain, (3) determining the attributes of live vegetation that influence forest flammability, (4) evaluating fire management strategies.

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Acknowledgements

This research was part of a project titled “Relationships between soil and fuel drying—flammability switch in ash and damper foothill forests” managed within the Integrated Forest Ecosystem Research program, a research program conducted by the University of Melbourne and funded by the Victorian Government’s Department of Environment, Water, Land and Planning. We would like to thank Andrew Sullivan and Nigel Brennan who were participants in the workshop but who felt their contributions were not sufficient to warrant authorship of this paper. Human ethics approval was obtained to conduct this research (ethics approval# 1853368).

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Cawson, J.G., Hemming, V., Ackland, A. et al. Exploring the key drivers of forest flammability in wet eucalypt forests using expert-derived conceptual models. Landscape Ecol 35, 1775–1798 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-020-01055-z

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