Rocky Mountain Research Station Publications
RMRS Online Publication
RMRS-RP-98: Spatial variability of wildland fuel characteristics in northern Rocky Mountain ecosystems
Keane, Robert E.; Gray, Kathy; Bacciu, Valentina. 2012. Spatial variability of wildland fuel characteristics in northern Rocky Mountain ecosystems. Res. Pap. RMRS-RP-98. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 56 p.
We investigated the spatial variability of a number of wildland fuel characteristics for the major fuel components found in six common northern Rocky Mountain ecosystems. Surface fuel characteristics of loading, particle density, bulk density, and mineral content were measured for eight fuel components - four downed dead woody fuel size classes (1, 10, 100, 1000 hr), duff, litter, shrub, and herb - on nested plots located within sampling grids to describe their variability across spatial scales. We also sampled canopy bulk density, biomass, and cover for each plot in the grid. The spatial distribution and variability of surface and canopy fuel characteristics are described using the variance, spatial autocorrelation, semi-variograms, and Moran's I. We found that all fuels had high variability in loading (two to three times the mean), and this variability increased with the size of fuel particle. We also found that fuel components varied at different scales, with fine fuels varying at scales of 1 to 5 m, coarse fuels at 10 to 150 m, and canopy fuels at 100 to 500 m. Findings and data from this study can be used to sample, describe, and map fuel characteristics, such as loading, at the appropriate spatial scales to accommodate the next generation of fire behavior prediction models.
Keywords: wildland fire, biomass, landscape ecology, woody debris, spatial scale, mineral content, particle density, bulk density, loading
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Spatial variability of wildland fuel characteristics in northern
Rocky Mountain ecosystems
Electronic Publish Date: October 22, 2012
Last Update: October 22, 2012
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