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Type: Journal Article
Author(s): Tara E. Penman; Jane G. Cawson; Simon Murphy; Thomas J. Duff
Publication Date: 2017

Messmate stringybark is common in forests across south-eastern Australia. The bark of these trees is persistent and produces firebrands that contribute to house loss and the difficulty of fire suppression during wildfires. The trees typically survive fire with the amount of bark depleted. We compared two common methods to assess messmate bark fuels: (1) field-based hazard assessment, and (2) desk-based assessment using mapped time since fire. Our measurements included space-for-time field surveys and laboratory flammability tests. Although several physical properties of bark could be approximated from both assessment methods, some bark properties important to flammability were not captured. Ignitability was found to be dependent on the amount of char on bark fragments and could be predicted by the site assessment methods, whereas sustainability was dependent on bark fragment dimensions and could not be predicted by current methods. Bark fragment properties were found to be partially a function of tree size. Overall, these findings indicate that current bark assessment methods do not capture all the key bark properties that contribute to messmate bark's flammability. Further research is warranted to improve bark assessment methods so they better reflect bark's contribution to fire behaviour. Jounral compilation © IAWF 2017

Online Links
Citation: Penman, T. E., J. G. Cawson, S. Murphy, and T. J. Duff. 2017. Messmate stringybark: bark ignitability and burning sustainability in relation to fragment dimensions, hazard score and time since. International Journal of Wildland Fire, v. 26, no. 10, p. 866-876. 10.1071/WF16146.

Cataloging Information

Topics:
Regions:
Keywords:
  • Australia
  • dry eucalypt forests
  • eucalyptus
  • fire ignition
  • fire suppression
  • firebrands
  • flammability
  • fuel generation
  • fuelbeds
  • Generalized Additive Models
  • messmate
  • spot fires
  • wildfire
Tall Timbers Record Number: 33779Location Status: Not in fileCall Number: AvailableAbstract Status: Fair use
Record Last Modified:
Record Maintained By: FRAMES Staff (https://www.frames.gov/contact)
FRAMES Record Number: 55705

This bibliographic record was either created or modified by Tall Timbers and is provided without charge to promote research and education in Fire Ecology. The E.V. Komarek Fire Ecology Database is the intellectual property of Tall Timbers.