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Potential crown fire behaviour in pinus pinea stands following different fuel treatments

Abstract:

Forest fires are permanent seasonal threats that have been accentuated in recent years by climate change. Taking this problem into consideration, forest policies must propose courses of action to mitigate the effects of fires on ecosystems and their surrounding populations. The aim of this study is to assess the effectiveness of fuel treatments on the potential fire behavior of Pinus pinea polewood stands. Evaluating fire behavior requires a characterization of the fuel at its two levels: surface and crown layers. As crown fuel characterization is highly time consuming, field inventory has yielded an equation from which canopy fuel load can be obtained without cutting trees. A complete characterization of the fuel allows for a pbkp_rediction of fire behavior for each silvicultural treatment and whether or not it will be virulent enough for the start and spread of crown fire. Polewood stands of P.pinea are susceptible to crown fires because canopy base height is usually overrun by dense and flammable understory. Thinning and pruning treatments on the stand do not contribute in themselves to eliminating crown fire susceptibility. This study raises the need for fuel treatments combination (both surface and crown treatments) to ensure the effectiveness of extinction efforts. Given current budgetary constraints, fuel treatments are limited to 23.40% of the study area for mitigating possible crown fire impacts on forested area that have a future leading role in the socioeconomic development of surrounding populations.