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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 (Open Access)

Heading and backing fire behaviours mediate the influence of fuels on wildfire energy

Joseph D. Birch https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8644-7345 A B * , Matthew B. Dickinson https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3635-1219 C , Alicia Reiner https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8068-4219 D , Eric E. Knapp https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6991-8157 E , Scott N. Dailey F , Carol Ewell G , James A. Lutz https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2560-0710 H and Jessica R. Miesel https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7446-464X A B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA. Email: mieselje@msu.edu

B Program in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.

C USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, Delaware, OH, USA. Email: matthew.b.dickinson@usda.gov

D Geospatial Technology and Applications Center, USDA Forest Service, Asheville, NC, USA. Email: alicia.reiner@usda.gov

E USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station, Redding, CA, USA. Email: eric.e.knapp@usda.gov

F USDA Forest Service, Enterprise Program, Reno, NV, USA. Email: scott.dailey@usda.gov

G USDA Forest Service, PSW Region, Stanislaus National Forest, Sonora, CA, USA.

H Department of Wildland Resources, Utah State University, Logan, UT, USA. Email: james.lutz@usu.edu

* Correspondence to: coope456@msu.edu

International Journal of Wildland Fire 32(8) 1244-1261 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF22010
Submitted: 9 February 2022  Accepted: 30 June 2023   Published: 21 July 2023

© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of IAWF. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Background: Pre-fire fuels, topography, and weather influence wildfire behaviour and fire-driven ecosystem carbon loss. However, the pre-fire characteristics that contribute to fire behaviour and effects are often understudied for wildfires because measurements are difficult to obtain.

Aims: This study aimed to investigate the relative contribution of pre-fire conditions to fire energy and the role of fire advancement direction in fuel consumption.

Methods: Over 15 years, we measured vegetation and fuels in California mixed-conifer forests within days before and after wildfires, with co-located measurements of active fire behaviour.

Key results: Pre-fire litter and duff fuels were the most important factors in explaining fire energy and contributed similarly across severity categories. Consumption was greatest for the forest floor (litter and duff; 56.8 Mg ha−1) and 1000-h fuels (36.0 Mg ha−1). Heading fires consumed 13.2 Mg ha−1 more litter (232%) and 24.3 Mg ha−1 more duff (202%) than backing fires. Remotely sensed fire severity was weakly correlated (R2 = 0.14) with fuel consumption.

Conclusions: 1000-h fuels, litter, and duff were primary drivers of fire energy, and heading fires consumed more fuel than backing fires.

Implications: Knowledge of how consumption and fire energy differ among contrasting types of fire behaviours may inform wildfire management and fuels treatments.

Keywords: backing fire, burn severity, carbon loss, FBAT, fire effects, flanking fire, forest change, heading fire, Klamath Mountains, Sierra Nevada.


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