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Journal of the International Association of Wildland Fire
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Indications of positive feedbacks to flammability through fuel structure after high-severity fire in temperate eucalypt forests

Yogendra K. Karna https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2120-4710 A D , Trent D. Penman https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5203-9818 A , Cristina Aponte B , Cordula Gutekunst C and Lauren T. Bennett A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne, 4 Water Street, Creswick, Vic. 3363, Australia.

B School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne, 500 Yarra Boulevard, Richmond, Vic. 3121, Australia.

C School of Landscape Ecology, University of Rostock, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 6, 18059 Rostock, Germany.

D Corresponding author. Email: karnayogendra@gmail.com

International Journal of Wildland Fire 30(9) 664-679 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF20153
Submitted: 21 September 2020  Accepted: 9 June 2021   Published: 6 July 2021

Abstract

Forest fire severity influences post-fire fuel structure and thus the behaviour of subsequent fires. Understanding such interactions is critical to improving predictions of fire risk and emergency management, yet few studies have quantified fire severity effects on fuel attributes. We quantify fuel structure of a fire-tolerant eucalypt forest 7 years after a landscape-scale wildfire in south-eastern Australia. We used high-density airborne lidar data to estimate understorey fuel metrics in three strata representing horizontal and vertical connectivity in 1084 plots (0.06 ha) representing four wildfire severities (unburnt, low, moderate, high). Fuel structure was changed by high-severity fire, which significantly increased the cover and horizontal connectivity of the elevated and midstorey strata and decreased space between the understorey and canopy relative to other severity types. Random Forest models indicated that understorey fuel metrics were most influenced by wildfire severity, pre-fire values of each metric, and post-fire canopy cover, and least influenced by climatic and topographic variables. Our study provides evidence of positive feedbacks to flammability by high-severity wildfire in fire-tolerant eucalypt forests through increased horizontal and vertical fuel connectivity. It demonstrates the utility of airborne lidar data for quantifying fuel structure in complex forests and providing critical data for fire risk assessments.

Keywords: airborne lidar, fire-tolerant forest, fuel connectivity, fuel metrics, ladder fuels, Random Forests, south-eastern Australia, understorey cover, wildfire severity.


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