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International Journal of Wildland Fire International Journal of Wildland Fire Society
Journal of the International Association of Wildland Fire
RESEARCH ARTICLE

A comparison of fuel hazard in recently burned and long-unburned forests and woodlands

Kelly M. Dixon A C , Geoffrey J. Cary A , Graeme L. Worboys A , Julian Seddon B and Philip Gibbons A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Acton, ACT 2601, Australia.

B ACT Government Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate, Mitchell, ACT 2911, Australia.

C Corresponding author. Email: kelly.dixon@anu.edu.au

International Journal of Wildland Fire 27(9) 609-622 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF18037
Submitted: 13 March 2018  Accepted: 30 June 2018   Published: 23 July 2018

Abstract

Fuel hazard is often assumed to increase with fuel age, or the time-since-fire. However, studies on fuel hazard in long-unburned forests are scarce. We measured overall fuel hazard in Eucalyptus forests and woodlands in south-eastern Australia at 81 sites where time-since-fire spans 0.5 years to at least 96 years. Overall fuel hazard was higher in forests and woodlands burned 6–12 years previously than those unburned for at least 96 years. The probability of high, very high or extreme overall fuel hazard – which is an operational threshold considered to equate with almost no chance of wildfire suppression in severe fire-weather – was highest 0.5–12 years post-fire, and lowest where fire had not occurred for at least 96 years. Frequent burning can maintain forest understorey in an early successional ‘shrubby’ state, leading to higher overall fuel hazard than forests where a lack of fire is associated with the senescence of shrubs. Protecting long-unburned sites from fire and managing to transition a larger proportion of forest to a long-unburned state may benefit fuel-hazard management within these forests in the long-term.

Additional keywords: fuel age, fuel reduction, prescribed burning, wildfire.


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