Description
Fire occurs at various intervals in differnet vegetation types. Intervals between fires are longer in warm, dry sites where small amount of fuel limits fire spread and in cool, wet sites where burning conditions are limiting despite the large amount of fuel. The shortest fire return intervals occur where an optimum combination of flammable fuel and ignition sources exist. The proposed U-shaped model for this pattern should be adaptable to mathematical modeling, using enviromental gradients and ignition source availablility.