Chapter 11 - Post-hurricane fuel dynamics and implications for fire behavior (Project SO-EM-F-12-01)
| Authors: | Shanyue Guan, G. Geoff. Wang |
| Year: | 2018 |
| Type: | General Technical Report |
| Station: | Southern Research Station |
| Source: | In: Potter, Kevin M.; Conkling, Barbara L., eds. 2018. Forest health monitoring: national status, trends, and analysis 2017. General Technical Report SRS-233. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station. |
Abstract
Hurricanes have long been a powerful and recurring disturbance in many coastal forest ecosystems. Intense hurricanes often produce a large amount of dead fuels in their affected forests. How the post-hurricane fuel complex changes with time, due todecomposition and management such as salvage, and its implications for fire behavior remain largely unknown. Therefore, the primary objective of the project was to study posthurricane fuel dynamics and its effect on fire behavior by conducting field measurements and comparing fire behavior for undamaged stands and hurricane-damaged stands in southern pine forests. In addition, the project also examined the effect of post-hurricane salvage logging and the response of tree regeneration.