Register      Login
International Journal of Wildland Fire International Journal of Wildland Fire Society
Journal of the International Association of Wildland Fire
Shopping Cart: ( empty )
You are here: Home > Journals > WF > WF06021
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 16(1)

Predicting forest floor moisture for burned and unburned Pinus banksiana forests in the Canadian Northwest Territories

Keith N. Abbott A , Martin E. Alexander B , David A. MacLean A E , Brigitte Leblon A , Judith A. Beck C and Gordon C. Staples D
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Faculty of Forestry and Environment Management, University of New Brunswick, PO Box 44555, Fredericton, NB, E3B 6C2, Canada.

B Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Northern Forestry Centre, 5320-22 Street, Edmonton, AB, T6H 3S5, Canada.

C British Columbia Ministry of Forests, Protection Program, 2957 Jutland Road, Victoria, BC, V8W 9C1, Canada.

D Radarsat International, 13800 Commerce Parkway, MacDonald Dettwiler Building, Richmond, BC, V6V 2J3, Canada.

E Corresponding author. Email: macleand@unb.ca

International Journal of Wildland Fire 16(1) 71-80 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF06021
Published: 20 February 2007

Abstract

We assessed how well the fuel moisture codes of the Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index System can be used to predict forest floor moisture in burned and in mature, unburned jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.) stands in Canada’s Northwest Territories. Moisture content sampled at varying depths in the forest floor profile was compared with hourly variations in the Fine Fuel Moisture Code and daily variations in the Duff Moisture Code and Drought Code. Fuel moisture samples were collected in June 2000 and August 2002 from one mature forest stand and four experimental plots that were burned between 1997 and 2000. Forest floor moisture, drying rate, and water-holding capacity varied between the mature, unburned forest and burned plot areas, as well as between surface and subsurface fuel layers within the mature forest. The Duff Moisture Code was the best predictor of forest floor moisture for all the fuel components examined, based on the coefficient of determination (r2 = 0.81–0.90) and because its relationship with forest floor moisture more closely resembled relationships observed in previous studies.


References


Abbott KN (2005) Fire danger monitoring in a northern boreal forest region using RADARSAT-1 imagery. MScF Thesis, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB.

Abbott KN, Leblon B, Staples GC, MacLean DA , Alexander ME (2006) Fire danger monitoring using RADARSAT-1 over northern boreal forests. International Journal of Remote Sensing  27,
Alexander ME, Stefner CN, Mason JA, Stocks BJ, Hartley GR, Maffey ME, Wotton BM, Taylor SW, Lavoie N, Dalrymple GN (2004) Characterizing the jack pine–black spruce fuel complex of the International Crown Fire Modelling Experiment (ICFME). Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Information Report NOR-X-393. (Northern Forestry Centre: Edmonton, AB)

Anderson K (2000) Incorporating smoldering into fire growth modelling. In ‘Preprint Volume of the Third Symposium on Fire and Forest Meteorology’. pp. 31–36. (American Meteorological Society: Boston, MA)

Beck JA, Armitage OB (2004) Diurnal fine fuel moisture and FFMC characteristics at northern latitudes. In ‘Proceedings of the 22nd Tall Timbers Fire Ecology Conference’. (Eds RT Engstom, KEM Galley, WJ de Groot) pp. 211–221. (Tall Timbers Research Station: Tallahassee, FL)

Camia A, Leblon B, Cruz M, Carlson JD, Aguado I (2003) Methods used to estimate moisture content of dead wildland fuels. In ‘Wildland Fire Danger Estimation and Mapping: the Role of Remote Sensing Data’. (Ed. E Chuvieco) pp. 91–119. (World Scientific Publishing: London)

Chrosciewicz Z (1989a) Prediction of forest floor moisture content on jack pine cutovers. Canadian Journal of Forest Research  19, 239–243.
Jandt R, Allen J, Horschel E (2005) Forest floor moisture content and fire danger indices in Alaska. USDI Bureau of Land Management, BLM-Alaska Technical Report 54. (Alaska State Office: Anchorage, AK)

Lawson BD, Dalrymple GN (1996) Ground-truthing the Drought Code: field verification of overwinter recharge of forest floor moisture. Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service and British Columbia Ministry of Forests, FRDA Report 268. (Pacific Forestry Centre and Research Branch: Victoria, BC)

Lawson BD, Armitage OB, Hoskins WD (1996) Diurnal variation in the Fine Fuel Moisture Code: tables and computer source code. Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service and British Columbia Ministry of Forests, FRDA Report 245. (Pacific Forestry Centre and Research Branch: Victoria, BC)

Lawson BD, Dalrymple GN, Hawkes BC (1997a) Predicting forest floor moisture content from Duff Moisture Code values. Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Technology Transfer Note 6. (Pacific Forestry Centre: Victoria, BC)

Lawson BD, Frandsen WH, Hawkes BC, Dalrymple GN (1997b) Probability of sustained smouldering ignition for some boreal forest duff types. Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Forest Management Note 63. (Northern Forestry Centre: Edmonton, AB)

Minitab Inc (2000) ‘Minitab Statistical Software, Version 13.1.’ (Minitab Inc.: State College, PA)

Muraro SJ, Lawson BD (1970) Prediction of duff moisture distribution for prescribed burning. Canada Department of Fisheries and Forestry, Canadian Forestry Service, Information Report BC-X-46. (Pacific Forest Research Centre: Victoria, BC)

Nelson RM, Jr (2001) Water relations of forest fuels. In ‘Forest Fires: Behavior and Ecological Effects’. (Eds EA Johnson, K Miyanishi) pp. 79–149. (Academic Press: San Diego, CA)

Norum RA, Miller M (1984) Measuring fuel moisture content in Alaska: standard methods and procedures. USDA Forest Service, Pacific North-west Forest and Range Experiment Station General Technical Report PNW-171. (Portland, OR)

Otway SG (2005) Aspen forest duff depletion and ground fire potential. MSc Thesis, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB.

Pech G (1989) A model to predict the moisture content of reindeer lichen. Forest Science  35, 1014–1028.
Remsoft Inc (2000) ‘WeatherPro3: Fire and Weather Management, Version 3.08.’ (Remsoft: Fredericton, NB)

SAS Institute Inc (2001) ‘Statistical Software, Version 8.’ (SAS Institute Inc.: Cary, NC)

Stocks BJ (1970) Moisture in the forest floor – its distribution and movement. Canada Department of Fisheries and Forestry, Publication 1271. (Canadian Forestry Service: Ottawa, ON)

Stocks BJ, Lawson BD, Alexander ME, Van Wagner CE, McAlpine RS, Lynham TJ , Dubé DE (1989) The Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System: an overview. Forestry Chronicle  65, 450–457.
Turner JA (1972) The Drought Code component of the Canadian Forest Fire Behavior System. Environment Canada, Publication 1316. (Canadian Forestry Service: Ottawa, ON)

Turner JA, Lawson BD (1978) Weather in the Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System: a user guide to national standards and practices. Environment Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Information Report BC-X-177. (Pacific Forest Research Centre: Victoria, BC)

Van Wagner CE (1970) An index to estimate the current moisture content of the forest floor. Canada Department of Fisheries and Forestry, Publication 1288. (Canadian Forestry Service: Ottawa, ON)

Van Wagner CE (1972) Equilibrium moisture contents of some fine forest fuels in eastern Canada. Environment Canada, Canadian Forestry Service, Information Report PS-X-36. (Petawawa Forest Experiment Station: Chalk River, ON)

Van Wagner CE (1974) Effect of duff weight on drying rate. Canadian Forest Service Bi-Monthly Research Notes  30, 11–12.
Van Wagner CE (1977) A method of computing fine fuel moisture content throughout the diurnal cycle. Environment Canada, Canadian Forestry Service, Information Report PS-X-69. (Petawawa Forest Experiment Station: Chalk River, ON)

Van Wagner CE (1979) A laboratory study of weather effects on the drying rate of jack pine litter. Canadian Journal of Forest Research  9, 267–275.
Van Wagner CE (1983) Analysis of fuel moisture data and development of fuel moisture codes as practised in the Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System. Environment Canada, Canadian Forestry Service, report. (Petawawa National Forestry Institute: Chalk River, ON)

Van Wagner CE (1985) Drought, timelag, and fire danger rating. In ‘Proceedings of the Eighth Conference on Fire and Forest Meteorology’. SAF Publication 85-04. (Eds LR Donoghue, RE Martin) pp. 178–185. (Society of American Foresters: Bethesda, MD)

Van Wagner CE (1987) Development and structure of the Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index System. Government of Canada, Forestry Technical Report 35. (Canadian Forest Service: Ottawa, ON)

Van Wagner CE, Pickett TL (1985) Equations and FORTRAN program for the Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index System. Government of Canada, Forestry Technical Report 33. (Canadian Forest Service: Ottawa, ON)

Wilmore B (2001) Duff moisture dynamics in black spruce–feather moss stands and their relation to the Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System. MSc Thesis, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK.

Wotton BM, Beverly JL (2005) Stand-specific litter moisture content calibrations for the Canadian Fine Fuel Moisture Code. In ‘Proceedings of the Joint Meeting of the Sixth Symposium on Fire and Forest Meteorology and the 19th Interior West Fire Council Meeting’. CD-ROM. (American Meteorological Society: Boston, MA)

Wotton BM, Stocks BJ , Martell DL (2005) An index for tracking sheltered forest floor moisture within the Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index System. International Journal of Wildland Fire  14, 169–182.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |