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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
The Influence Of Prescribed Fire On The Extent Of Wildfire In Savanna Landscapes Of Western Arnhem Land, Australia, Owen F. Price, Jeremy Russell-Smith, Felicity Watt
The Influence Of Prescribed Fire On The Extent Of Wildfire In Savanna Landscapes Of Western Arnhem Land, Australia, Owen F. Price, Jeremy Russell-Smith, Felicity Watt
Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)
Fire regimes in many north Australian savanna regions are today characterised by frequent wildfires occurring in the latter part of the 7-month dry season. A fire management program instigated from 2005 over 24 000 km2 of biodiversity-rich Western Arnhem Land aims to reduce the area and severity of late dry-season fires, and associated greenhouse gas emissions, through targeted early dry-season prescribed burning. This study used fire history mapping derived mostly from Landsat imagery over the period 1990-2009 and statistical modelling to quantify the mitigation of late dry-season wildfire through prescribed burning. From 2005, there has been a reduction in mean …
The Relationship Between Particulate Pollution Levels In Australian Cities, Meteorology, And Landscape Fire Activity Detected From Modis Hotspots, Owen F. Price, Grant J. Williamson, Sarah B. Henderson, Fay Johnston, David M. J. S Bowman
The Relationship Between Particulate Pollution Levels In Australian Cities, Meteorology, And Landscape Fire Activity Detected From Modis Hotspots, Owen F. Price, Grant J. Williamson, Sarah B. Henderson, Fay Johnston, David M. J. S Bowman
Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)
Generally, sigmoid curves are used to describe the growth of animals over their lifetime. However, because growth rates often differ over an animal's lifetime a single curve may not accurately capture the growth. Broken-stick models constrained to pass through a common point have been proposed to describe the different growth phases, but these are often unsatisfactory because essentially there are still two functions that describe the lifetime growth. To provide a single, converged model to age animals with disparate growth phases we developed a smoothly joining two-phase nonlinear function (SJ2P), tailored to provide a more accurate description of lifetime growth …
Climate Change, Fuel And Fire Behaviour In A Eucalypt Forest, Stuart Matthews, Andrew L. Sullivan, Penny Watson, Richard J. Williams
Climate Change, Fuel And Fire Behaviour In A Eucalypt Forest, Stuart Matthews, Andrew L. Sullivan, Penny Watson, Richard J. Williams
Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)
A suite of models was used to examine the links between climate, fuels and fire behaviour in dry eucalypt forests in south-eastern Australia. Predictions from a downscaled climate model were used to drive models of fuel amount, the moisture content of fuels and two models of forest fire behaviour at a location in western Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. We found that a warming and drying climate produced lower fine fuel amounts, but greater availability of this fuel to burn due to lower moisture contents. Changing fuel load had only a small effect on fuel moisture. A warmer, drier …
Using Remotely-Sensed Fuel Connectivity Patterns As A Tool For Fire Danger Monitoring, Gabriele Caccamo, Laurie A. Chisholm, Ross A. Bradstock, Marjetta L. Puotinen
Using Remotely-Sensed Fuel Connectivity Patterns As A Tool For Fire Danger Monitoring, Gabriele Caccamo, Laurie A. Chisholm, Ross A. Bradstock, Marjetta L. Puotinen
Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)
Spatial connectivity of areas of dry fuels is considered a significant influence on the incidence of large fires. Precipitation patterns can dynamically affect fuel connectivity through controls on the distribution of dry fuels. Spatio-temporal monitoring of precipitation-driven variations in dry fuel connectivity patterns could therefore offer the potential to monitor fire danger. In this paper we present an innovative graph theoretic-based approach to monitor fire danger using remotely sensed patterns of dry fuel connectivity. We analysed the temporal evolution of dry fuel connectivity in south-eastern Australia during recent fire seasons. The analysis showed that rapid changes in the connectivity of …
Daily And 3-Hourly Variability In Global Fire Emissions And Consequences For Atmospheric Model Predictions Of Carbon Monoxide, M Mu, James Randerson, G R. Van Der Werf, L Giglio, Prasad Kasibhatla, D Morton, G J. Collatz, R S. Defries, E J. Hyer, E M. Prins, David W. Griffith, Debra Wunch, G C. Toon, V Sherlock, Paul O. Wennberg
Daily And 3-Hourly Variability In Global Fire Emissions And Consequences For Atmospheric Model Predictions Of Carbon Monoxide, M Mu, James Randerson, G R. Van Der Werf, L Giglio, Prasad Kasibhatla, D Morton, G J. Collatz, R S. Defries, E J. Hyer, E M. Prins, David W. Griffith, Debra Wunch, G C. Toon, V Sherlock, Paul O. Wennberg
Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)
"Attribution of the causes of atmospheric trace gas and aerosol variability often requires the use of high resolution time series of anthropogenic and natural emissions inventories. Here we developed an approach for representing synoptic-and diurnal-scale temporal variability in fire emissions for the Global Fire Emissions Database version 3 (GFED3). We disaggregated monthly GFED3 emissions during 2003-2009 to a daily time step using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)-derived measurements of active fires from Terra and Aqua satellites. In parallel, mean diurnal cycles were constructed from Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) Wildfire Automated Biomass Burning Algorithm (WF_ABBA) active fire observations. Daily variability …
The Dirt On Assessing Post-Fire Erosion In The Mount Lofty Ranges: Comparing Methods, Rowena H. Morris, Solomon Buckman, Paul Connelly, Deirdre Dragovich, Bertram Ostendorf, Ross A. Bradstock
The Dirt On Assessing Post-Fire Erosion In The Mount Lofty Ranges: Comparing Methods, Rowena H. Morris, Solomon Buckman, Paul Connelly, Deirdre Dragovich, Bertram Ostendorf, Ross A. Bradstock
Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)
Land managers are required to assess a range of environmental attributes prior to and after prescribed burning. Current environmental assessments vary depending on the organisation involved and the existing information about localised soil erosion. Auditing successful environmental assessments requires ongoing field monitoring to evaluate whether the magnitude and extent of predicted post-fire impacts are comparable. The impacts of post-fire erosion were assessed by the authors using the techniques of water sampling, sediment traps, erosion pins, laser scanning, photogrammetry and visual field assessment. Each data collecting method varies in its spatial and temporal reach in terms of monitoring landscape changes in …
Trial By Fire: Natural Hazards, Mixed-Methods And Cultural Research, Christine Eriksen, Nicholas J. Gill, Ross A. Bradstock
Trial By Fire: Natural Hazards, Mixed-Methods And Cultural Research, Christine Eriksen, Nicholas J. Gill, Ross A. Bradstock
Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)
This paper considers the issues of research 'relevance' and 'use' to reflect upon a cultural geography research project on bushfire that did not begin with any specific aim of being useful to policy makers but which has garnered considerable and ongoing interest from a broad audience. It provides an example of how the integration of quantitative and qualitative research methods and data can enhance research into cultural aspects of natural hazards whilst simultaneously playing a key role in ensuring that the research results are of interest to a wide range of groups. Using a mixed-methods research approach was found to …
Effects Of Soil Temperature Regimes After Fire On Seed Dormancy And Germination In Six Australian Fabaceae Species, Victor Santana, Ross A. Bradstock, Mark Ooi, Andrew J. Denham, Tony D. Auld, M Baeza
Effects Of Soil Temperature Regimes After Fire On Seed Dormancy And Germination In Six Australian Fabaceae Species, Victor Santana, Ross A. Bradstock, Mark Ooi, Andrew J. Denham, Tony D. Auld, M Baeza
Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)
In addition to direct fire cues such as heat, smoke and charred wood, the passage of fire leads indirectly to changes in environmental conditions which may be able to break physical dormancy in hard-coated seeds. After a fire, the open canopy and the burnt material lying on the surface alter the thermal properties of the soil, resulting in elevated soil temperatures for long periods of time. We simulated daily temperature regimes experienced at different depths of soil profile after a summer fire. Our aim was to determine whether these temperature regimes and the duration of exposure (5, 15 and 30 …
The Effect Of Fuel Age On The Spread Of Fire In Sclerophyll Forest In The Sydney Region Of Australia., Ross A. Bradstock, Owen F. Price
The Effect Of Fuel Age On The Spread Of Fire In Sclerophyll Forest In The Sydney Region Of Australia., Ross A. Bradstock, Owen F. Price
Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)
We investigated the effect of fuel age on the truncation of spread of unplanned fires using a set of 1473 patches in the Sydney region of Australia. Twenty-two percent of patches derived from prescribed fire experienced a subsequent unplanned fire within 5 years, compared with 42% of patches derived from unplanned fires. Among those encounters, the subsequent unplanned fire stopped at the leading edge of 18% of prescribed patches and 11% of unplanned patches. In comparison, the subsequent fire stopped somewhere in the patch for 44% of both prescribed and unplanned fires. Overall, there was a 10% chance that a …
Using Lidar To Assess The Effect Of Fire And Floods On Upland Peat Bogs, Waterfall Gully, Mount Lofty Ranges, South Australia, Javier Leon Patino, Solomon Buckman, Robert P. Bourman, Rowena Morris, Katherine C. Brownlie
Using Lidar To Assess The Effect Of Fire And Floods On Upland Peat Bogs, Waterfall Gully, Mount Lofty Ranges, South Australia, Javier Leon Patino, Solomon Buckman, Robert P. Bourman, Rowena Morris, Katherine C. Brownlie
Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)
A flood exceeding the 100 year average recurrence interval in November 2005 led to the failure of an upland peat bog in Waterfall Gully. The area is prone to severe bushfire and flood events and the control dam at the base of First Falls was filled with sediment sourced from Wilson Bog. A resistant quartzite bar at Fourth Falls has formed a natural constriction point against which burnt logs and debris have collected following previous fire events forming a natural dam resulting in sediment/peat accumulation upstream. The failure of the bog was inevitable as the vegetative material in the log-jam …
Relative Importance Of Fuel Management, Ignition Management And Weather For Area Burned: Evidence From Five Landscape-Fire-Succession Models, Geoffrey J. Cary, Mike D. Flannigan, Robert E. Keane, Ross A. Bradstock, Ian D. Davies, James M. Lenihan, Chao Li, Kimberley A. Logan, Russell A. Parsons
Relative Importance Of Fuel Management, Ignition Management And Weather For Area Burned: Evidence From Five Landscape-Fire-Succession Models, Geoffrey J. Cary, Mike D. Flannigan, Robert E. Keane, Ross A. Bradstock, Ian D. Davies, James M. Lenihan, Chao Li, Kimberley A. Logan, Russell A. Parsons
Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)
The behaviour of five landscape fire models (CAFE, FIRESCAPE, LAMOS(HS), LANDSUM and SEM-LAND) was compared in a standardised modelling experiment. The importance of fuel management approach, fuel management effort, ignition management effort and weather in determining variation in area burned and number of edge pixels burned (a measure of potential impact on assets adjacent to fire-prone landscapes) was quantified for a standardised modelling landscape. Importance was measured as the proportion of variation in area or edge pixels burned explained by each factor and all interactions among them. Weather and ignition management were consistently more important for explaining variation in area …
Prediction Of The Probability Of Large Fires In The Sydney Region Of South-Eastern Australia Using Components Of Fire Weather., R A. Bradstock, J S. Cohn, A M. Gill, M Bedward, C Lucas
Prediction Of The Probability Of Large Fires In The Sydney Region Of South-Eastern Australia Using Components Of Fire Weather., R A. Bradstock, J S. Cohn, A M. Gill, M Bedward, C Lucas
Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)
The probability of large-fire (>= 1000 ha) ignition days, in the Sydney region, was examined using historical records. Relative influences of the ambient and drought components of the Forest Fire Danger Index (FFDI) on large fire ignition probability were explored using Bayesian logistic regression. The preferred models for two areas (Blue Mountains and Central Coast) were composed of the sum of FFDI (Drought Factor, DF = 1) (ambient component) and DF as predictors. Both drought and ambient weather positively affected the chance of large fire ignitions, with large fires more probable on the Central Coast than in the Blue …
The Ecology Of Fire: Developments Since 1995 And Outstanding Questions, R J. Whelan
The Ecology Of Fire: Developments Since 1995 And Outstanding Questions, R J. Whelan
Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)
A great deal is already known about fire ecology in Australia, because careful observation of fire effects have been informing fire management for many thousands of years and scientific study of fire ecology has been going on for over a century, especially in the fields of forestry, evolutionary ecology, and land management. In this paper, I review some of the key questions of fire ecology identified in The Ecology of Fire (1995) for which I perceive there is a need for an expanded research effort and for better communication to politicians, policy makers, land managers, and the public at large. …
Applying Seed Germination Studies In Fire Management For Biodiversity Conservation In South-Eastern Australia., Tony D. Auld, Mark K.J Ooi
Applying Seed Germination Studies In Fire Management For Biodiversity Conservation In South-Eastern Australia., Tony D. Auld, Mark K.J Ooi
Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)
We examine the patterns of germination response to fire in the fire-prone flora of the Sydney basin, south-eastern Australia, using examples from several decades of research. The flora shows a strong response to fire-related germination cues. Most species show an interaction between heat and smoke, a number respond only to heat, whilst a few are likely to respond only to smoke. Many recruit in the first 12 months after fire and show no obvious seasonal patterns of recruitment, whilst several species have a strong seasonal germination requirement, even in this essentially aseasonal rainfall region. Key challenges remaining include designing future …
Post-Fire Recovery Of Eastern Bristlebirds (Dasyornis Brachypterus) Is Context-Dependent, D W. Bain, J R. Baker, K O. French, R J. Whelan
Post-Fire Recovery Of Eastern Bristlebirds (Dasyornis Brachypterus) Is Context-Dependent, D W. Bain, J R. Baker, K O. French, R J. Whelan
Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)
In late December 2003, a wildfire in the Jervis Bay region of New South Wales burned through an area that previously supported a large population of the endangered eastern bristlebird (Dasyornis brachypterus). The eastern bristlebird has been described as fire-sensitive, and fire is implicated in the decline of the species. The frequency of occurrence of bristlebirds was investigated in the second week after the fire in a range of sites varying in fire intensity. Bristlebirds were found in burned habitats but were less common in the sites that were more intensely burnt. Bristlebirds had been surveyed along transects in this …
Soil Temperatures During Autumn Prescribed Burning: Implications For The Germination Of Fire Responsive Species?, Trent D. Penman, A L. Towerton
Soil Temperatures During Autumn Prescribed Burning: Implications For The Germination Of Fire Responsive Species?, Trent D. Penman, A L. Towerton
Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)
Prescribed fire is a widely applied management tool in native forests. There have been concerns raised about the ecological impacts of prescribed fire on native flora. One aspect of the debate is the extent towhich prescribed fire heats the soil to levels reported to trigger germination in the soil seed banks.We used Thermochrons to test soil temperatures at 2 and 5 cm in prescribed burns in dry sclerophyll forests. Soil temperatures during the burns were generally low (<40◦C) with less than 5% of sites being exposed to temperatures necessary for the germination of fire-dependent shrub species. High temperatures were associated with high fuel consumption and large woody debris. This information suggests that prescribed fires, carried out according to standard practices, in these forests are unlikely to trigger germination in the majority of the soil-stored seed banks. If ecological burns in these forests are aimed at promoting populations of senescing obligate seeder species, they need to be hotter than standard practice if they are to achieve their objectives, although we acknowledge that there are inherent risks associated with hotter burns.
Germination Responses Of A Dry Sclerophyll Forest Soil-Stored Seedbank To Fire Related Cues, Trent D. Penman, D Binns, R Allen, R Shiels, S Plummer
Germination Responses Of A Dry Sclerophyll Forest Soil-Stored Seedbank To Fire Related Cues, Trent D. Penman, D Binns, R Allen, R Shiels, S Plummer
Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)
Fire is an integral component of many ecosystems worldwide. Many plant species require fire-related cues, primarily heat and smoke, to trigger germination. Despite the importance of this process, the responses of many Australian species to these cues are unknown. Without this knowledge fire management strategies may be developed that are inappropriate for individual species and vegetation communities. In this study we examined the responses of a dry sclerophyll forest seed bank to heat and smoke germination cues. Analysis was possible for 48 taxa within the soil seedbank with 34 of these showing a response to one or both of the …
The Tropical Forest And Fire Emissions Experiment: Trace Gases Emitted By Smoldering Logs And Dung From Deforestation And Pasture Fires In Brazil, Ted J. Christian, Robert J. Yokelson, Joao A. Carvahlo, David W. Griffith, Ernesto C. Alvarado, Jose C. Santos, Turibio Gomes Soares Neto, Carlos A. Gurgel Veras, Wei Min Hao
The Tropical Forest And Fire Emissions Experiment: Trace Gases Emitted By Smoldering Logs And Dung From Deforestation And Pasture Fires In Brazil, Ted J. Christian, Robert J. Yokelson, Joao A. Carvahlo, David W. Griffith, Ernesto C. Alvarado, Jose C. Santos, Turibio Gomes Soares Neto, Carlos A. Gurgel Veras, Wei Min Hao
Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)
Earlier work showed that Amazonian biomass burning produces both lofted and initially unlofted emissions in large amounts. A mobile, Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR) measured the unlofted emissions of 17 trace gases from residual smoldering combustion (RSC) of logs as part of the Tropical Forest and Fire Emissions Experiment (TROFFEE) during the 2004 Amazonian dry season. The RSC emissions were highly variable and the few earlier RSC measurements lay near the high end of combustion efficiency observed in this study. Fuel consumption by RSC was ∼5% of total for a planned deforestation fire. Much regional RSC probably occurs in the …
The Tropical Forest And Fire Emissions Experiment: Overview And Airborne Fire Emission Factor Measurements, Robert Yokelson, Thomas Karl, P Artaxo, D Blake, Theodore Christian, David W. Griffith, A Guenther, W M Hao
The Tropical Forest And Fire Emissions Experiment: Overview And Airborne Fire Emission Factor Measurements, Robert Yokelson, Thomas Karl, P Artaxo, D Blake, Theodore Christian, David W. Griffith, A Guenther, W M Hao
Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)
The Tropical Forest and Fire Emissions Experiment (TROFFEE) used laboratory measurements followed by airborne and ground based field campaigns during the 2004 Amazon dry season to quantify the emissions from pristine tropical forest and several plantations as well as the emissions, fuel consumption, and fire ecology of tropical deforestation fires. The airborne campaign used an Embraer 110B aircraft outfitted with whole air sampling in canisters, mass-calibrated nephelometry, ozone by UV absorbance, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and proton-transfer mass spectrometry (PTR-MS) to measure PM10, O3, CO2, CO, NO, NO2, HONO, HCN, NH3, OCS, DMS, CH4, and up to 48 non-methane …
Living In A Land Of Fire, R. J. Whelan, P. Kanowski, M. Gill, A. Andersen
Living In A Land Of Fire, R. J. Whelan, P. Kanowski, M. Gill, A. Andersen
Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)
Fires are an inherent part of the Australian environment. They cannot be prevented, but the risks they pose — to life, health, property and infrastructure, production systems, and to environment values — can be minimised through systematic evaluation and strategic planning and management. Fires have a fundamental and irreplaceable role in sustaining many of Australia’s natural ecosystems and ecological processes, and they are a valuable tool for achieving many land management objectives. However, if they are too frequent or too infrequent, too severe or too mild, or mistimed, they can erode ecosystem ‘health’ and biodiversity and compromise other land management …
Predicting Impacts Of Fuel Reduction For Asset Protection On Threatened Species, R. J. Whelan, L. Collins, R. Loemker
Predicting Impacts Of Fuel Reduction For Asset Protection On Threatened Species, R. J. Whelan, L. Collins, R. Loemker
Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)
Fuel reduction in bushland adjacent to urban development is an important component of bushfire management to protect lives and properties. In many urban areas, the objective of property protection by fuel reduction conflicts with biodiversity management objectives. Conserving threatened species in such situations will require information on spatial distributions of these species in the landscape. We used GIS modelling to predict the likely impacts of strategic fire advantage zones (SFAZs) on two threatened species in the Shoalhaven region of NSW: the eastern bristlebird and the glossy black cockatoo. We used current knowledge of the association between these animals and vegetation …
Adaptive Management: What Does It Mean And How Can It Be Used In Fire Management?, R. J. Whelan
Adaptive Management: What Does It Mean And How Can It Be Used In Fire Management?, R. J. Whelan
Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)
‘Adaptive Management’ is becoming a frequently heard term but it is a much misunderstood concept. It does not mean that developments can go ahead and be ‘adapted’ if detrimental effects are discovered! Its greatest value is in defining an experimental approach to land management in situations where scientific knowledge is lacking but where immediate actions are required. This is especially important where doing nothing might conceivably be just as undesirable as applying any of the alternative management options. Given the lack of knowledge of fire responses of much of our native biota, adaptive management is clearly a sensible approach to …