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Type: Journal Article
Author(s): William J. de Groot; Janet M. Pritchard; Timothy J. Lynham
Publication Date: 2009

In many forest types, over half of the total stand biomass is located in the forest floor. Carbon emissions during wildland fire are directly related to biomass (fuel) consumption. Consumption of forest floor fuel varies widely and is the greatest source of uncertainty in estimating total carbon emissions during fire. We used experimental burn data (59 burns, four fuel types) and wildfire data (69 plots, four fuel types) to develop a model of forest floor fuel consumption and carbon emissions in nonpeatland standing-timber fuel types. The experimental burn and wildfire data sets were analyzed separately and combined by regression to provide fuel consumption models. Model variables differed among fuel types, but preburn fuel load, duff depth, bulk density, and Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index System components at the time of burning were common significant variables. The regression R2 values ranged from 0.206 to 0.980 (P < 0.001). The log-log model for all data combined explained 79.5% of the regression variation and is now being used to estimate annual carbon emissions from wildland fire. Forest floor carbon content at the wildfires ranged from 40.9% to 53.9%, and the carbon emission rate ranged from 0.29 to 2.43 kg per m^2.

Online Links
Citation: de Groot, William J.; Pritchard, Janet M.; Lynham, Timothy J. 2009. Forest floor fuel consumption and carbon emissions in Canadian boreal forest fires. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 39(2):367-382.

Cataloging Information

Topics:
Regions:
Keywords:
  • air quality
  • Betula papyrifera
  • biomass
  • biomass consumption
  • boreal forest
  • Canada
  • carbon
  • carbon emissions
  • coniferous forests
  • drought
  • duff
  • experimental fire
  • fire hazard reduction
  • fire management
  • forest floor
  • forest management
  • forest types
  • fuel consumption
  • fuel loading
  • fuel management
  • fuel moisture
  • fuel types
  • Picea glauca
  • Pinus banksiana
  • Populus tremuloides
  • statistical analysis
  • understory vegetation
  • wildfires
Tall Timbers Record Number: 23357Location Status: In-fileCall Number: Journals-CAbstract Status: Okay, Fair use, Reproduced by permission
Record Last Modified:
Record Maintained By: FRAMES Staff (https://www.frames.gov/contact)
FRAMES Record Number: 9002

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.