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

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Contents Vol 16(1)

doi:10.1071/WF06021

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, Gordon C. Staples ^D

^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





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International Journal of Wildland Fire 16(1) 71–80 http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/WF06021
Published online: 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.