U.S. Joint Fire Science Program

 

Date of this Version

2009

Document Type

Article

Citation

Fire Science Brief, Issue 63, August 2009

Comments

US government work.

Abstract

By collecting information on fuel loading, fuel consumption, fuel moisture, site conditions and fire weather on fi res in a variety of shrubland types, researchers are developing a fuller knowledge of shrubland fire effects. Results are being integrated into the software package CONSUME, a user-friendly software tool for predicting fuel consumption and emissions for fire, fuel and smoke management planning. Shrubland types studied include chamise chaparral in California, big sagebrush in Montana, pine flatwoods in Florida and Georgia, and pitch pine scrub in the New Jersey Pinelands. Measurements were made of fuel characteristics before and after prescribed fi res in the four vegetation communities in order to improve managers’ abilities to plan prescribed burns in these shrubland types. The outcomes of this research project contribute to our understanding and management of fi re effects in shrub ecosystems where data were previously limited

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