Journal article
Adding fuel to the fire? Revegetation influences wildfire size and intensity
L Collins, TD Penman, OF Price, RA Bradstock
Journal of Environmental Management | Published : 2015
Abstract
The regrowth of woody vegetation in cleared landscapes (i.e. revegetation) has the potential to dramatically alter the spatial characteristics of vegetation and fuels, which will potentially alter fire characteristics. Understanding how revegetation alters fire size and intensity will be critical in determining the social and environmental value of revegetation. We used simulation modelling to examine (i) whether increasing native woody vegetation extent across landscapes cleared for pasture (i.e. revegetation) affects fire size and median fireline intensity and (ii) whether fuel load in the pasture matrix, the initial extent of land clearing and weather conditions during a fire alter the di..
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Funding Acknowledgements
This project was supported by the Hawkesbury-Nepean Catchment Management Authority (HNCMA), through regional funding from the Australian Government's Caring for our Country. We would like to thank Robert Adam, Bill Dixon and Aaron Smith from the HNCMA for their support and advice throughout the project. They provided invaluable information relating to revegetation within the Hawkesbury-Nepean Catchment as well as advice relating to appropriate treatment levels for revegetation scenarios. Alison Towerton (HNCMA) provided assistance with the acquisition of spatial data. Penny Watson provided advice regarding fuel curve parameters for Phoenix.