14th Int'l Wildland Fire Safety Summit & Int'l Congress on Prescirbed Fires by Pau Costa Foundation

14th International Wildland Fire Safety Summit & International Congress on Prescribed Fires BARCELONA, 31 JANUARY - 3 FEBRUARY 2017

PROGRAM PROGRAM GUIDE GUIDE

#2017WFSS, #iCOPFires

www.paucostafoundation.org/ICoPFires

Organisers:

Agency Support:

In collaboration with

Platinum Sponsors:

Global Sponsors:

Video Sponsors:

Supporting Sponsor:

Sponsors & Exhibitors:

Content Sponsors..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 4 Welcome....................................................................................................................................................................................................22

14th International Wildland Fire Safety Summit & Wildland Fire Safety Award BARCELONA, 31 JANUARY ...................................................................................................................................... 28 Introduction and Organising Committee.................................................................................................................... 30 Venue................................................................................................................................................................................ 32 Program............................................................................................................................................................................ 34 Keynote Speakers............................................................................................................................................................ 38 Oral Presentation Abstracts.......................................................................................................................................... 42 Poster Abstracts.............................................................................................................................................................. 64 Wildland Fire Safety Awards Ceremony....................................................................................................................... 82

International Congress on Prescribed Fires

BARCELONA, 1-3 FEBRUARY ................................................................................................................................. 84 Introduction and Organising Commitee...................................................................................................................... 86 Scientific Committee...................................................................................................................................................... 87 Venue................................................................................................................................................................................ 88 Program............................................................................................................................................................................ 90 Pre-Conference Fieldtrip................................................................................................................................................ 98 Keynote Speakers..........................................................................................................................................................100 Oral Presentation Abstracts........................................................................................................................................104 Poster Abstracts............................................................................................................................................................167 Fieldtrip..........................................................................................................................................................................196

Exhibitors & Sponsors...................................................................................................................................................................... 202 Documentary Premiere................................................................................................................................ 204 Art & Fire Exhibition.......................................................................................................................................................................... 206 Barcelona Practical Information.................................................................................................................................................. 208 Notes....................................................................................................................................................................................................... 212 3

Agency Support:

In collaboration with:

DIPUTACIÓ DE BARCELONA NATURAL PARK NETWORK Barcelona Provincial Council’s Natural Park Network consists of 12 natural areas of significant landscape, environmental and cultural value. –– It ensures the territorial and environmental balance of municipalities within its geographical scope. –– Overall, it covers an area of 102,587 hectares, divided among 100 municipalities. This represents 22% of Catalan territory where 70% of the population of Catalonia lives. –– It plans and manages natural and agricultural areas through special plans drawn up with the participation of all the stakeholders. –– It protects the natural, agricultural, forestry, cultural and landscape values of each park. –– It works towards achieving balance between the preservation of the parks and the economic development of the area. –– It encourages public use of natural heritage.

NATURAL PARK NETWORK MAP: Castell de Montesquiu Park, GuilleriesSavassona natural area, Montseny Naural Park, Sant Llorenç del Munt i l’Obac Naural Park, Montnegre i el Corredor Park, Serralada Litoral Park, Serralada de Marina Park, Serra de Collserola Park, Baix Llobregat Agricultural Park, Garraf Park, Olèrdola Park, Foix Naural Park

Platinum Sponsor:

AIRTRACTOR Since 1996, Air Tractor Europe S.L. is appointed as exclusive dealer of the American aircraft manufacturer Air Tractor Inc. for Europe, North Africa and Middle East. We are the largest Air Tractor distributor outside United States. Air Tractor Europe has a great structure to provide full services for aerial operations, consultancy, sale, maintenance, training and certification. Our main mission is to provide our clients with the most advanced technological solutions in order to perform their activities with the highest rates of efficacy, efficiency and at a competitive price. We are a world reference company as supplier of cutting edge technology and aeronautical services.

We are a world reference company as supplier of cutting edge technology and aeronautical services

SUPPLY OF PLANES AND SPARE PARTS Study and assessment for the proper choice of the most appropriate technology for the application and use required by the client. We also prepare all paperwork and certification procedures, deliveries in the end-user country, as well as the after-sale service and spare parts delivery.

airtractoreurope.com

Platinum Sponsor:

SITEP SITEP is a GIS & ICT engineering specializing in consultancy, development and implementation of custom-made computer systems for management of territory. As well as, twenty years of collaboration with public entities and private companies endorse us as specialists in the treatment, analysis and implementation of geographic information.The knowledge gained has led us to develop a Mobile Mapping division focused on integral engineering projects, allowing us to provide innovative solutions to customers in multiple sectors. Starting from the customerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s needs, we provide comprehensive project management, from the design of the aerial platform, to resultâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s delivery. Along these lines, we have developed innovative projects that tackle real-life security, defense and emergency issues. sitep.com

Global Sponsor:

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THE SUPPLY CACHE The Supply Cache has been in business since 1991, serving the wildfire community, emergency responders, utility workers, and the oil and gas industry with the best selection of innovative products.

With over 25 years of experience, we are always expanding our current product lines to respond to customer requests, and growing our presence across the United States as well as internationally. Over the years we have partnered with our suppliers to acquire superior products to serve diversified markets. As the industry leader of innovative solutions, providing the highest quality provisions is one of our main objectives at The Supply Cache. We are a proud, Colorado, USA based company who looks forward to serving you with the kind of leading edge, forward thinking solutions you need and deserve. 1980 Caribou Dr, Fort Collins, CO 80525 U.S.A. supplycache.com +1.800.839.0821

Global Sponsor:

WORKING ON FIRE Working on Fire (WoF) is a pioneer and global leader in Integrated Fire Management Solutions (IFMS). It has a presence across five continents, with active operations in Africa, USA, Canada, Brazil, Chile, Australia and Indonesia. Integrated Fire Management (IFM) is a series of actions implemented through reduction, readiness, response and recovery planning and management. Activities in IFM include fire awareness, fire prevention, prescribed burning, resource sharing, fire detection and coordination, fire suppression, fire damage rehabilitation and research. Through these activities, Working on Fire aims to create a sustainable and well-balanced environment, reduce wildfire damage and promote the beneficial use of fire.

Working on Fire believes in the beneficial use of fire

Climate change is causing a global increase in wildfires and some of these have the propensity to become large scale disasters if not managed properly. As a result, many governments and land users allocate a growing amount of resources to the suppression of wildfires, often neglecting fire prevention and mitigation strategies. The amount of time spent on active risk reduction, directly relates to a decrease in the amount of time spent on suppression. WoF strongly advocates the use of prescribed fire to reduce fuel loads and the potential of catastrophic wildfires. They make use of both ground and aerial ignition of prescribed fires. WoF uses fire to fight fire. Working on Fire is a subsidiary of Kishugu, a group dedicated to serving the greater good. Since its founding, Kishugu has, through innovation, team work and a strive for excellence, shown phenomenal growth. It has accumulated over 30 years of experience in a variety of landscapes affected by fire, as it continues to develop and implement IFM strategies in an ever-increasing number of countries. workingonfire.com

Supporting Sponsor:

COTELSA Cotelsa mission is to provide our customers in different industrial sectors such as Security, Energy, Environment and Transportation with the most advanced high-tech products and solutions. Cotelsa has mostly focused its activity for more than 30 years in the Security sector where it is widely recognized as one of the Spanish leaders in the industry serving customers in the public and private sector. As a consequence of this effort, Cotelsa security products and solutions are installed in most of Spanish airports, train stations, and in hundreds of private and public buildings classified as critical infrastructure. In the last years, Cotelsa has strategically invested in the environment sector improving its portfolio of solutions by reaching strategic alliances with world-wide industry leaders. As an example, one of the key developments in this area has been the incorporation to our offer of highly sophisticated systems for early detection of wildfires by identification of smoke. This solution is being widely adopted by multiple clients world-wide and it has already been introduced successfully in Spain. Besides selling and installing systems, Cotelsa also provides complete maintenance services all along the life cycle of the products by means of our powerful network of technical specialists all over the Spanish territory. cotelsa.es

Welcome! Pau Costa Foundation Welcome

It is our pleasure to welcome all participants to the 14th International Wildland Fire Safety Summit and the International Conference on Prescribed Fires. We are sure that your participation and the participation of many of us, will be a fantastic occasion to share knowledge, experiences and help improve the current forest fire situation. These events bring the opportunity to learn and exchange experiences with leading firefighting teams and scientists from all Europe and beyond. We hope each participant will get most out of the events. It is the first time that such events are taking place at the same week in Europe and we are proud to be part of the organising committee that have put together an outstanding program, gathering professionals from more than 20 different countries. We wish each participant will get opportunities to network and return back home with unprecedented knowledge and new connections that will help to develop the vanguard forest fire knowledge needed to face the challenges and threats of forest fires in the upcoming years. Pau Costa Foundation was founded in 2011 with the ambition to become an international platform on forest fire management, as well as an instrument to investigate, train and disseminate on fire ecology and wildland fire management. The creation of such Foundation was motivated by the need to establish a common platform, capitalizing the knowledge and experience gathered by specialists in fire ecology and management and sharing it with others at national and international level. 22

Our present and future mission is to continue giving a voice to the fire community so they experience is imprinted in leading national and international projects.

Since then, Pau Costa Foundation has been working with and for the forest fire community to enlarge the knowledge-exchange platform; first starting in Spain, but rapidly growing and expanding to many countries around the world.

Our present and future mission is to continue giving a voice to the fire community so their experience is imprinted in leading national and international projects. The communityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s knowledge and experience should be used as a tool to help firefighters in their duty, but also to guide researchers and develop new technology. We aim to reach more local and regional forest fire communities that due to their active fire history have developed knowledge currently unknown in other countries. We commit to spread and disseminate their valuable knowledge and make sure it can be used and shared with others. We also aim to reach countries with little experience on fire ecology and management, that due to climate change are expected to face forest fires in the upcoming years, for example northern Europe countries. It is fundamental to contribute to societal education on forest fire ecology and management in order to develop more secure and resilient societies, we will continue spreading our childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s educational programs and fostering fire education in rural communities. We help the forest fire community to have a voice and take part of political decision-making, so the experience of many are taken into account on safety, forest management and fire management legislation.

BECOME A MEMBER! Pau Costa Foundation is a non-profit organisation that is actively developing projects and actions that benefit the entire fire community. Without the support, collaboration and participation of their members most of these projects would not be possible. We encourage everyone (firefighters, technical staff, scientists, students, environmental journalists, forest managers, land ownersâ&#x20AC;Ś) to become members of the Foundation and take part of this prolific project. www.paucostafoundation.org/ing/formulari_membres.php

IAWF Welcome

The International Association of Wildland Fire welcomes all participants and is certain that this summit will meet, and even exceed your expectations of increasing awareness, knowledge, and capability in this important field in addition to networking with peers to establish future avenues of discovery. We hope you will enjoy attending and gain significant information from what promises to be an informative and powerful summit on wildland fire safety. If you were not previously a member of the IAWF, you are receiving a one-year membership in the association. By participating as an active IAWF member you can help to improve communication between firefighting organizations, enhance firefighter and public safety, increase our understanding of wildland fire science, and improve our ability to manage fire. Your membership in the IAWF provides you with a connection to other wildland fire professionals from across the world. The IAWF is uniquely positioned as an independent organization whose international membership includes experts in all aspects of wildland fire management, including professionals from the fields of fire ecology, suppression, planning, contracting, fire use, research, and prescribed fire. Our members are scientists, firefighters, mangers, contractors, and policy makers. As an association, we are unique in that we represent all areas of wildland fire management. Our vision is to be an acknowledged resource, from the local to global scale, of scientific and technical knowledge, education, networking and professional development that is depended on by members and partners in the international wildland fire community.

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF WILDLAND FIRE Our official fire science journal, published on our behalf by CSIRO, is dedicated to the advancement of basic and applied research covering wildland fire. IAWF members have access to this leading scientific journal online, as a member benefit.

WILDFIRE MAGAZINE All IAWF members receive WILDFIRE magazine, official publication of the IAWF. Our authors submit fire articles from all corners of the world and our topical editors cover a broad array of important issues in wildland fire. We encourage you to submit articles and photographs for inclusion in the magazine. www.wildfiremagazine.org.

There are so many reasons to be a member of the International Association of Wildland Fire but most importantly, the opportunity to be a member of a professional association that is committed to facilitating communication and providing leadership for the wildland fire community. On behalf of the Board of Directors and the global membership of the IAWF, thank you for your support of our association.

Welcome!

GRAM UB Welcome

The Environmental Mediterranean Research Group (GRAM) is a research group from the University of Barcelona. The GRAM is grateful to the scientific-technical community involved in the management through prescribed fires that participates in ICOPFIRES by sharing knowledge, experiences and starting fruitful relationships. All those are going to have positive impacts for our landscapes, ecosystems and people living and working on them. We wish a pleasant and scientifically-beneficial stay in Barcelona to everyone, hoping that the scientific-technical sessions at the University of Barcelona and the prescribed fire fieldtrip are a nice and profitable experience for all the attendees. The University of Barcelona is the principal centre of university research in Spain and has become a European benchmark for research activity, both in terms of the number of research programmes it conducts and the excellence these have achieved. Its own history closely tied to the history of Barcelona and of Catalonia, our university combines the values of tradition with its position as an institution dedicated to innovation and teaching excellence: a university that is as outward-looking and cosmopolitan as the city from which it takes its name.

Catalan Ministry of Home Affairs Welcome Mr. Jordi Jané i Guasch, Minister of Home Affairs

Els dies 30 i 31 de gener Catalunya acull el 14è Congrés Internacional de Seguretat contra Incendis Forestals, impulsat per la Fundació Pau Costa i la International Association of Wildland Fire. Per aquet motiu voldria donarvos la benvinguda, i agrair la participació de professionals assistents dels diferents serveis d’emergències i comandaments vinguts tant d’Europa com de la resta del món. L’èxit del model de la gestió de les emergències a Catalunya es basa en la professionalitat dels bombers funcionaris i voluntaris dels Bombers de la Generalitat. Per aquest fet, estic convençut que el seu elevat grau d’experiència i la seva expertesa contribuiran a nodrir de contingut aquest Congrés. A Catalunya existeix un orgull col·lectiu, una estima i un màxim respecte cap als cossos d’emergències. Aquest sentiment s’ha aconseguit gràcies a molts anys d’esforç, sempre amb caràcter d’urgència, gràcies una planificació, una formació i uns procediments tècnics molt acurats. Estic segur que aquests dies de treball serviran per intercanviar experiències, per compartir estratègies, i sobretot per millorar la resposta davant dels incendis forestals. Vull agrair expressament la bona feina que es realitza i encoratjo a tothom a seguir endavant a favor de la societat en els moments més difícils.

Catalan Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food Welcome Ms. Meritxell Serret i Aleu, Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food El sector forestal català, gràcies a la seva diversitat i multifuncionalitat, és actualment un dels principals productors de matèries primeres del sector primari: la superfície ocupada per boscos és de més del 60%, i amb un 42% de superfície arbrada, Catalunya es troba al nivell de països nòrdics. És una responsabilitat de país, mantenir viu aquesta economia i aquest sector forestal, així com garantir-ne i assegurar-ne la viabilitat a llarg termini, en termes ecològics, econòmics i socials. Aquest sector forestal i els seus boscos en concret, no deixen d’ésser una infraestructura vital de qualsevol estat, que garanteix biodiversitat, mosaic paisatgístic i ecològic, força productiva i possibilitats d’integració poblacional. Fortaleses de vital importància, més si cap en un estat mediterrani exposat a les amenaces de canvi climàtic que s’albiren, com l’augment de risc de incendi forestal i la pèrdua de biodiversitat entre d’altres. Només amb una integració dels riscos amb les fortaleses del sector, i una aposta clara i valenta envers la economia forestal, es podrà fer front a les amenaces que afecten i afectaran un sector clau per al país. 27

14th International Wildland Fire Safety Summit

Content:

International Congress on Prescribed Fires

14th International Wildland Fire Safety Summit BARCELONA, 31 JANUARY

Organisers

#2017FSS

14th International Wildland Fire Safety Summit

Since 1997, the International Wildland Fire Safety Summit has been the gathering place for members of the global wildland fire community to focus on safety: to discuss significant events and trends in safety, to promote best practices in safety training and operations, to reveal safety related research findings, and to explore new approaches to safety. This 14th International Wildland Fire Safety Summit is themed on Decision Making in High Risk and High Consequence Environments. In a world that is increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous, key decisions, made in time pressured environments, often have far reaching consequences on our people and on the community.

Organising Committee EUAN FERGUSON, CO-CHAIR

PAULO FERNANDES

Director, Euan Ferguson Pty Ltd Board of Directors International Association of Wildland Fire Victoria, Australia

Associate Professor Universidade de Trรกs-os-Montes e Alto Douro Board of Directors International Association of Wildland Fire Vila Real, Portugal

ALAN GOODWIN, CO-CHAIR National Resource Sharing Centre Australasian Fire Authorities Council Victoria, Australia

CHUCK BUSHEY Owner, Montana Prescribed Fire Services Past President International Association of Wildland Fire Billings, Montana, USA

KATHERINE CLAY Fire Marshal, Battalion Chief Jackson Hole Fire/EMS Board of Directors/Secretary International Association of Wildland Fire Jackson, Wyoming, USA

#2017FSS

GUILLERMO REIN Senior Lecturer Imperial College London, UK Board of Directors International Association of Wildland Fire London, UK

MIKEL ROBINSON Executive Director International Association of Wildland Fire Missoula, Montana, USA

TOM ZIMMERMAN President International Association of Wildland Fire Boise, Idaho, USA

Oral Presentation Abstracts

Venue: Pedralbes Royal Palace Located in the northwest of the city, the Pedralbes Palace complex was build in 1919 on land owned by the Count of Güell who wished to bequeath the land to King Alfonso XIII. The architectural project led to the transformation of this area of Barcelona and the immediate extension of Diagonal Avenue. The architects commissioned for the project were Eusebi Bona and, subsequently, Francesc de Paula Nebot. The garden surrounding the palace is the work of the landscape architect Nicolau Maria Rubió i Tudurí. The engineer Carles Buïgas i Sans designed the three illuminated fountains and Antoni Gaudí conceived the fountain of Hercules and the shade house, in Modernista (Catalan Art Nouveau) style. During the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), the Palace of Pedralbes became the Barcelona residence of the dictator Francisco Franco. In 1947, María Eva Duarte de Perón travelled to Spain; during her time in Barcelona she sojourned at the Palace of Pedralbes. In 1963, Franco would also received the future President of the United States, Richard Nixon, in the palace. At present the Government of Catalonia uses the Pedralbes Palace as one of the Government headquarters and to hold events of institutional nature. Located in the city’s most exclusive district, the Palace of Pedralbes has borne witness to Barcelona’s urban growth and transformation as well as major events that have come to pass in the city. METRO STATIONS: L3 (Stop: Palau Reial) BUS STATIONS: Lines H6, 7, 33, 67, 113 TRAM T1, T2, T3 - Palau Reial

FROM THE AIRPORT By Metro L9S + 10 min walk. Station: Zona Universitària. Frequency, every 8 min from 5a.m. to midnight / 50 min journey time approx. / 5,50€ single trip. By AeroBus + L3. Aerobus Company (www.aerobusbcn.com). Frequency, every 5-10 min from 6a.m. to 1a.m. / 45 min journey time approx. / 5,90€ single trip. Transfer in Espanya Station, L3 (Palau Reial Station). By Taxi: Official taxis in Barcelona are black and yellow, with their license number in the door, and have the exclusivity of the airport service / 25€ - 30€ (22 km)

Photo: Pau Costa Foundation

14th International Wildland Fire Safety Summit

Lunch

ROOM 2

Social dinner & coffee break Registration

Cloakroom Sponsors & Exhibitors

MAIN ENTRANCE Coworking Room VIP Room

W.C.

Platinum & Global Sponsors Gardens of the Royal Palace. Public gardens with free access

ROOM 1

#2017FSS

ART&FIRE Exhibition ‘Incandescent Memories’

14th International Wildland Fire Safety Summit

Program Tuesday, January 31 2017 8:00 / 9:00 Arrival Tea and Coffee 8:00 Registration Opens 9:00 / 9:30 Welcome and Opening Remarks 9:30 / 10:20

Keynote Presentation: Safety as a Culture of Decision Making Marc Castellnou, Chief of Forest Fire Area, Catalan Fire and Rescue Service

10:20 / 10:50 Networking Break & Tea Concurrent Sessions ROOM ONE 1. The Fire Episode of Funchal (Madeira) in August 2016 – 10:50 / 11:10 An Extraordinary Event of WUI and Fire Safety Risk Luís Mário Ribeiro 11:10 / 11:30

2. Harmonization of Information for Operational Collaborative Firefighting Events Miguel Almeida

11:30 / 11:50

3. Fire Extremes Beyond Firefighter Experience Timothy Brown

11:50 / 12:10

4. Crew Mobility Analysis in Wildland Firefighting Joaquin Ramirez

5. Transition to Life-First: After the First Year, a Field-based Review 12:10 / 12:30 of Policy and Practice after the First Year of Life-first Engagement Ron Steffens 12:30 / 12:50

6. Smoke: A Safety Threat to Fire Personnel and the Public Peter Lahm

12:50 / 14:15 Lunch 14:15 / 15:05

Keynote Presentation: Fire Survival Systems - The Future Dr. Richard Thornton, Chief Executive Officer of the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC

15:05 / 15:20 Transition to Concurrent Sessions

ROOM TWO 7. When Simplified Communication Doesn’t Match Lived Complexity: Best Practices and Creative Work-Arounds Rebekah Fox 8. National Response Framework in the United States – How the Firefighting Can be Supported through Collaboration with Emergency Response and Vice Versa Jenna Sloan 9. Improved Security in Fighting Forest Fires in Valencia Comunity. Towards a High Reliability Organization Raúl Quílez 10. A Real-time Extreme Fire Behavior Risk Assesment System to Improve Wildland Firefighter Situational Awareness W. Matt Jolly 11. Reviewing High Risk and High Consequence Decisions: Finding a Safer Way Michael Eburn 12. A Tool for Monitoring Teamwork During Emergency management Chris Bearman

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14th International Wildland Fire Safety Summit

Program Tuesday, January 31 2017 Concurrent Sessions ROOM ONE 13. After Action Reviews: A Safety Tool. Lessons Learned from the Interdispositivos 2014: 15:20 / 15:50 ‘La Riba de Saelices’ Fire After Action Review José Luis Duce Aragüés

15:50 / 16:10

14. Reflective Interview as an Authentic Resource in Rural Firefighter Training Richard Parker

16:10 / 16:30

15. Wildland Urban Interface: Wildland Firefighting Safety Problems and Challenges Clara Quesada-Fernández

16. Wildfire are Local Fires: Training and Operations Needs 16:30 / 16:50 of US Municipal and Rural Fire Departments Michele Steinberg 17. Municipal Fire Departments in the United States and their Level of Preparedness 16:50 / 17:10 in the Event of a Wildfire – a Quantitative Perspective Hylton Haynes 17:00 / 17:30 Networking Break and Tea Keynote Presentation: The History and Development of the Fire Shelter 17:30 / 18:15 Anthony Petrilli, Fire and Aviation Program, US Forest Service, Missoula Technology and Development Center (MTDC) 18:15 / 19:30 Social Hour and Poster Presentations 19:30 Institutional Reception, Awards and Social Dinner

ROOM TWO 18. Fire Scenarios: A New Concept for Fire Management at the Landscape Scale Cristina Montiel Molina

19. Using Wildfire Prediction Technology on the Fireground George J. Milne

20. How Does Wind Impact Firefighter Safety Zone Size? Bret Butler 21. Identifying Defensible Spaces at the Micro and Meso Scales: Some Examples in Mediterranean WUI David Caballero 22. Application of New Technologies: Drones in the Extinguishing of Fire Meritxell Codina

#2017FSS

14th International Wildland Fire Safety Summit

Keynote Speakers Safety as a Culture of Decision Making Marc Castellnou1; Marta Miralles1

Catalan Fire and Rescue Sevice

BIO Marc Castellnou is an expert fire analyst in planning but also strategic and tactic operational IC. He has introduced fire ecology into decision making on wildfires in Spain and also a operational prescribed burning program, fire analysis as a tool linking prevention and suppression, and has promoted a lessons learnedbased concept in the fire service. Marc is also the president of Pau Costa Foundation, a platform for capitalizing on knowledge and experience gathered by specialists in fire ecology and management at national and international level. Marc has experience in managing fire in Catalonia, USA, Portugal, France, Scotland, England,â&#x20AC;Ś He has a degree in forest engineer and in agriculture. Marc is also the winner of 2015 Wildland Fire Safety Award. ABSTRACT In the wildland fire world, safety is a must: a set of rules to remember and apply when operating inside the wildfire environment. Those rules come from experience trough thousands of fires and firefighters, and are lessons learnt to remember. But wildfire is often an environment of fear, of uncertainty, and risk becomes subjective inside them. Due to that sometimes safety of is either seen or used as an excuse to leave or resume fighting and position our organizations on a defensive mode. So, the more we confront fires with increasing intensities and rates of spread, the more we turn our approach to wildfires from aggressive firefighting to passive and defensive one. The safety discussion has been built inside a culture of attack or defense, so it has been developed inside a scenario of thinking a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;war against fireâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. In that mindset, safety is a set of rules that precondition your operations world. What about thinking out of the box and try to make safety not a process of refinement of our strategy but a process of definition of our strategy. Fire is no longer fought to reduce losses; fire is managed to gain certainty; to provide an scenario to the firefighters where safety protocols and normal tactics can work. We will expose what that means in terms of resources deployment, strategy and tactics and operational results in 4 big fires since 2012 in Catalonia.

Fire Survival Systems - The Future Dr. Richard Thornton, Chief Executive Officer of the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC (Australia) BIO Dr Richard Thornton is the Chief Executive Officer of the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, a position he has held since the start of the CRC in 2013. He is responsible to the Board for the day-to-day management of the centre. He has overall responsibility for the direction and performance of the centre. He led a team to develop the CRC following the Prime Ministerial announcement in February 2013. Prior to that Richard was Deputy CEO and Research Director of the Bushfire CRC, a role he held since 2004 where his responsibilities included leadership and oversight of the research program. Richard is a highly-experienced Research Management Executive with over 20 years in the field, both with the Bushfire CRC and Telstra previously. Richard has a physics background and has worked in science fields including nuclear and semiconductor physics, computational fluid mechanics, IT and telecommunications engineering, and online services, primarily in the private sector. Richard has expertise in IP management, contract negotiation and development, and commercialisation of research. Until January 2016 Richard was a member of the Board of the International Association of Wildland Fire and the Chair of the Editorial Advisory Committee of the International Journal of Wildland Fire. Richard is current a Board Member for the CRC Association. ABSTRACT The aim of this talk is to raise some questions that will enable the audience to take a bigger picture view of their business. It may challenge some to consider why do we fight fire, why do we place firefighters in the way of unstoppable fires, what role do communities have in their own protection. It starts from a perspective of what is a fire survival system asks many questions, about whether it is a system, and how it is constructed. The talk will go on to examine objectives and through to an examination of the system through a familiar lens of the hierarchy of controls. The talk will challenge the audience to question why, what and how their business is being conducted today and in fact, are we really safer as a whole as result of all of the advances we have seen over the last fifty years.

#2017FSS

14th International Wildland Fire Safety Summit

Keynote Speakers

The History and Development of the Fire Shelter Anthony Petrilli, Equipment specialist for the Fire and Aviation Program at the USFS Missoula Technology and Development Center (MTDC) BIO Tony Petrilli is an equipment specialist for the Fire and Aviation Program at the US Forest Service’s Missoula Technology and Development Center (MTDC). He holds a bachelor’s degree in education from Western Montana College. Tony began working for the Forest Service in 1982 as a firefighter for the Lewis and Clark and the Beaverhead National Forests. He became a smokejumper in Missoula for the Northern Region in 1989. In 1992 he began working wintertime details at MTDC; he then joined the Center full time in 2000. He has been the fire shelter and firefighter clothing project leader since 2005. Tony maintains fire qualifications as a Division/ Group Supervisor and Incident Commander Type III and has served on more than 25 fire entrapment safety review or investigation teams as a PPE specialist.

ABSTRACT A fire shelter is an aluminized cloth tent that offers protection in a fire entrapment situation by reflecting radiant heat and providing a volume of breathable air. Firefighters are trained to avoid entrapment, but shelters are used in the very rare entrapment situation. Developed in the early 1960’s it first saved firefighter lives in 1964. Since then, hundreds of firefighter lives have been saved. Fire shelters are not fail safe. There have been more than 40 firefighter deaths where fire shelters were deployed. The shelter has been through a few design changes. Currently the U.S. Forest Service is testing potential fire shelter materials that can improve protective performance without increasing weight and bulk of the current shelter.

Photo: EmplaĂ§ament de vehĂcles (2016), Josep Serra i Tarragon. Incandescent Memories, Art&Fire Project

14th International Wildland Fire Safety Summit

Oral Presentation Abstracts 1. The Fire Episode of Funchal (Madeira) in August 2016 – An Extraordinary Event of WUI and Fire Safety Risk Presenter: Luis M. Ribeiro, Researcher, ADAI/LAETA – Dep. Mechanical Engineering, University of Coimbra, Portugal Additional Authors: Domingos Viegas, Professor, Mechanical Engineering Department, ADAI/LAETA – Dep. Mechanical Engineering, University of Coimbra, Portugal Miguel Almeida, PhD Researcher, ADAI/LAETA – Dep. Mechanical Engineering, University of Coimbra, Portugal David Caballero, Researcher, METEOGRID Davi Lucas, MSc. student, Univ. of Coimbra Ricardo Oliveira, PhD student, ADAI/LAETA – Dep. Mechanical Engineering, University of Coimbra, Portugal

ABSTRACT The international panorama of forest fires in 2016 was definitely marked by the fires in Madeira Island (Portugal) where about 130 dwelling houses were totally destroyed and 4 lives were lost due to fire. Besides the total loss of the houses, around 100 buildings were partially destroyed and more than 1000 people were displaced some of them of two major Hospitals and from touristic resorts in the city. Other strategical infrastructures like water reservoirs, schools, roads and industrial and touristic assets were dramatically affected and more than 50% of the Funchal Ecological Park was burnt. In spite of the fact that the burned area in the Funchal fire was below 2000 hectares, representing 2.2% of Madeira Island, the impact of this fire on the population and on the environment was very great. The fire started on August 8th in the neighbourhood of Funchal (main city of Madeira) heading towards the southeast, along the ridge of the mountain above Funchal. Due to a period of very high temperatures and low humidity the vegetation was very dry. Forced by a strong wind from Northeast the fire spread towards lower altitudes into the WUI of Funchal in which houses are mixed with dense vegetation in a very rough topography that is marked by very steep slopes cut by deep water lines or “Ribeiras” as they are known locally. During the late afternoon of the 9th when the fire reached the water line “Ribeira João Gomes”, due to the canyon configuration and the high fuel load of this area, a sudden increase of the fire intensity driving to the abundant release of firebrands was observed. This phenomenon not only led to the burning of a large urban area in a very short period of time, endangering hundreds of inhabitants and killing four of them as it caused the ignition by spotting of several buildings in the downtown, about 1.5km from the main fire front. This fire event was operationally considered as closed on August 13th, 2016. KEYWORDS

WUI, Fire Safety, Extreme Fire Behaviour, Fire Fatalities

2. Harmonization of information for operational collaborative firefighting events Presenter: Miguel Almeida, PhD, ADAI - Associação para o Desenvolvimento da Aerodinâmica Industrial Additional Authors: Domingos Xavier Filomeno Carlos Viegas, Professor, ADAI - Associação para o Desenvolvimento da Aerodinâmica Industrial Luis Torres Michelena, Eng., Meteogrid Maria Yolanda Luna Rico, Eng., AEMET, Ilda Maria Sanfins Domingos Novo Villa Simões; MSc; IPMA - Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera Marco Filipe Simão Martins; Deputy Commander; ANPC - Autoridade Nacional de Proteção Civil

ABSTRACT The transboundary area along the 1200km of the international border between Portugal and Spain is frequently affected by fire events driving to operations involving the civil protection forces of both countries. The importance of collaborative and concerted operations is well recognized by the operational and political entities that led to the protocol established in 1992 by the Portuguese and Spanish authorities in which the firefighting forces of both countries may act in any fire event in the range of up to 15km on each side of the border with no special permission from the authorities where the fire event is occurring. The efficiency of this multinational operations will certainly be improved if the data used by the two national forces and their interpretation is common. An important information to be shared by all operational agents acting in a given event is related to the fire risk indexes and to the different methodologies to assess fire risk. A methodology aiming the harmonization of the fire risk determination and understanding by Portuguese and Spanish Civil protection authorities is hereby presented. The fire risk index used in this work is the Canadian Fire Weather Index (FWI) which is exclusively based on meteorological data and consequently the meaning of its values is different from region to region. In this work, a methodology for FWI calibration based on the number of fire occurrences and on the burnt area in the transboundary regions of Portugal and Spain, in order to assess and categorize the fire risk based on calibrated FWI values, is proposed. Moreover, a platform to share all this information in real time was produced considering several requirements defined by operational agents involved in this process. This platform is continually updated by the input of meteorological data produced by the meteorological services of both countries. Several reports and maps with planning, operational and other purposes can automatically be produced, according to the type of end-user. This work is integrated in the ECHO project SpitFire - Spanish-Portuguese Meteorological Information System for Transboundary Operations in Forest Fires. KEYWORDS

Data harmonization, FWI, international collaboration, transboundary wildfires

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14th International Wildland Fire Safety Summit

Oral Presentation Abstracts

3. Fire Extremes Beyond Firefighter Experience Presenter: Timothy Brown, Desert Research Institute Additional Authors: Tamara U. Wall, Associate Research Professor, Desert Research Institute

ABSTRACT Statements by fire personnel claiming unusual fire behavior beyond training or experience levels have been increasing in recent years. Concurrently, extreme climate and weather events have been increasing, fuel loads have increased due to both natural occurrence and land management practices, and human populations have been expanding the wildland and rural interfaces. All of these factors are intersecting causing an increase in “extreme” fire events based on a fire triangle of climate, land and people. This intersection highlights firefighter safety concerns from a number of perspectives: 1) Is wildfire behavior becoming more extreme (outside of historical boundaries)? 2) Are firefighters being surprised by “extreme” wildfire behavior? 3) Is firefighting safety training sufficiently accounting for this new era of fire extremes? Linking physical environmental aspects of fire to human perceptions of extreme fire and the fire environment is challenging. It requires both qualitative and quantitative analyses of fuels, weather, climate and fire behavior. The overall goal of our project is to examine the convergence of fire extremes within the triangle of climate, land and people—understanding the connections between these elements. Ultimately, we desire to understand how current and future fire events may exceed firefighter experience, and hence potentially requiring new paradigms and approaches in firefighter training and leadership. This presentation will provide discussion of project results from the U.S. in the context firefighter safety, and encourage conversation from global perspectives on fire extremes and safety impacts. KEYWORDS

Fire extremes, firefighter safety, climate, fuels, fire behavior, risk

4. Crew Mobility Analysis in Wildland Firefighting Presenter: Joaquin Ramirez, Principal Consultant, Technosylva, Inc Additional Authors: Santiago Monedero, Principal Researcher, Technosylva, Inc Bret Butler, USFS, Fire Lab, Missoula

ABSTRACT The ability to select convenient routes in a forest in order to reach a given location is an important element in firefighting. This capacity may be used on an everyday basis for optimizing working times and/or fuel consumption, or in emergency situations to search for possible escape routes for crew members, in combination with safety zone calculators. Fastest routes between locations are estimated using the expected traveling velocity through a given vegetation type and surface slope of a crew member or vehicle. This analysis is done using a minimum cost algorithm over the whole domain that has been adjusted to be able to run on mobile devices. The developed application is able to find the usual fastest routes from a given location to anywhere in a map, but it is also able to find a set of most convenient routes (most traveled and least time cost) linking two locations.

KEYWORDS

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escape route, safety zone, crew travel rate

14th International Wildland Fire Safety Summit

Oral Presentation Abstracts

5. Transition to Life-First: After the first year, a field-based review of policy and practice after the first year of “life-first engagement Presenter: Ron Steffens, Green Mountain College ABSTRACT Prior to the 2016 fire season, the US Forest Service asked all firefighters, including managers and line officers, to engage in a “Life-First” engagement initiative. The impact of this initiative is being analyzed at an organizational level, but a ground-up analysis of firefighter and public safety initiatives, circa 2016 The impact of institutional-scale initiatives have a range of impacts on field-level firefighters. To analyze these impacts, I compare and contrast: (1) the structural language and policy of safety, as disseminated in institutional documents (in the United States, the 2016 “Redbook” that offers interagency guidelines); (2) field-based safety guides, as codified in the 2014 “IRPG Pocket Guide”; (3) the application of a “doctrine” approach to safety, with the Life-First initiative being the most complete incarnation of this approach to date; and (4) observations from the perspective of a fire manager, planner and communicator during a range of wildfire events in the Rocky Mountain and Great Basin regions (US) during the 2016 fire season. In this holistic review, I’d also suggest that a complete transition to a “Life-First” organization will benefit from a perspective that includes the many audiences we serve (from firefighter to fire manager, from line officer to community leader and the public), and may require a landscape-scale revision of accumulated policies and past practices. Additionally, I seek to compare the transition in the US to lessons learned in a global perspective, including research and fireline instruction in Spain, France, Malawi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Australia. KEYWORDS

safety initiatives, life first, training

6. Smoke: A Safety Threat to Fire Personnel and the Public Presenter: Peter Lahm, USDA, Forest Service, Fire and Aviation Management, Washington, DC ABSTRACT Where there is wildland fire, there is smoke. Seen as a common and expected element of wildland fire, smoke can pose a threat to both the health and safety of fire personnel and the public. The challenge lies in balancing smoke exposure with the need to fight wildfire and use fire through prescribed burning. Perceptions about smoke create part of the challenge. The public can be very permissive and tolerant of wildfire smoke while most concerned for their health around prescribed fires. Wildland fire personnel routinely consider smoke exposure, whether direct inhalation or driving in dense smoke, as part of the job. In the United States, the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) establishes training standards for fire personnel and incident command positions. An analysis of training material provided by NWCG shows that smoke exposure and mitigation training is minimal until an individual is training to become a prescribed fire burn boss and they take a course on smoke management techniques. Training on the hazards of smoke, short and longer-term, as well as mitigation strategies is not a routine part of every fire position. Recent efforts have created guides and even a video on the smoke challenge to safety. But specific responsibility for addressing the hazards of smoke whether basic firefighter through incident leadership, has been predominantly focused on the threat of Carbon Monoxide solely. What changes could be made to better train and prepare all fire personnel to address the smoke safety threat will be explored. Concepts of exposure management which are important to addressing public smoke exposure can help guide some of these efforts to protect fire personnel from the hazards of smoke.

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14th International Wildland Fire Safety Summit

Oral Presentation Abstracts

7. When Simplified Communication Doesn’t Match Lived Complexity: Best Practices and Creative “Work-Arounds” Presenter: Rebekah Fox, Associate Professor, Texas State University Additional Authors: Elena Gabor, Associate Professor, Bradley University David Thomas, Retired Forest Service, Renoveling Jennifer Ziegler, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, Valparasio University Anne Black, Researcher, Rocky Mountain Research Station

ABSTRACT The goal of this paper is to present findings from our Joint Fire Science grant funded project on radio communication. Our project sought to understand barriers and facilitators related to effective radio communication and how communication contributes to, or distracts from high reliability organizing mindfulness (Weick & Sutcliffe, 2001, 2007; Thomas, Fox & Miller, 2014). Our work falls into a growing body of research aimed at operationalizing the principles of HRO mindfulness and bridging theory and practice (e.g., Black & McBride, 2013; Bearman, Paletz, Orasanu & Thomas, 2010; Weick & Sutcliffe, 2001, 2007). Part of building this bridge is recognizing the importance communication plays in safety outcomes. Accident investigation reports, Facilitated Learning Analyses, and After Action Reviews cite complex communication situations as contributing factors to unintended safety outcomes (see Yarnell Hill [2013]; South Canyon [1994]; Cramer [2003]; and Lost Ridge [2014]). In this paper we present findings from semi-structured interviews, textual analysis, and field observations concerning communication policies, practices, and training. We present data that reflect simplifications as they relate to communication training, the nature of communication, message framing, and communication technology. Our interviewees reported a perceived lack of experiential learning in the classroom, a lack of practice opportunities while on the job but not on a live fire, and a lack of recognition by fire overhead and trainers about communication anxiety related to using the radio. While these three themes were common among interviewees, some interviewees also provided creative workarounds they have used to meet the demands of the complexity in the communication environment, such as both private and public practice techniques. We conclude by sharing a selection of these creative solutions. KEYWORDS Communication, high-reliability organizing, training

8. National Response Framework in the United States â&#x20AC;&#x201C; How the Firefighting Can be Supported through Collaboration with Emergency Response and Vice Versa Presenter: Jenna Sloan, Bureau of Land Management Additional Authors: Byran Rice, Director, Department of the Interior, Office of the Secretary, Office of Wildland Fire.

ABSTRACT Submitted on the behalf of the Department of the Interior, Office of Wildland Fire. The Office of Wildland Fire is a member of the DOI Emergency Management Council who collaborated on Emergency Support Functions across DOI and with other Federal, State and Local Entities. Updated in 2016, the National Response Framework describes not only how the Federal government organizes itself to respond to natural disasters, terrorist attacks, and other catastrophic events but also the importance of the whole community in assisting with response efforts. The Framework provides context for how the whole community of stakeholders in the United States can work together and how response efforts relate to other parts of national preparedness. It is one of the five documents in a suite of National Planning Frameworks. Each Framework covers one preparedness mission area: Prevention, Protection, Mitigation, Response or Recovery. The updated National Response Framework incorporates critical edits in the refreshed Nation Preparedness Goal, including lessons learned from real world events and continuing implementation of the National Preparedness System. These edits include the addition of one new core capabilityď&#x20AC;Fire Management and Suppression. Firefighting is one of the 15 core capabilities needed to achieve the National Preparedness Goal. The Response Framework describes each of its and lists critical tasks for each one. For Fire Management and Suppression, the critical tasks are briefly described as: conduct expanded or extended attack firefighting and support operations through coordinated response of fire management and specialized fire suppression resources. A discussion of the other relevant components of the core capabilities for the emergency response can provide valuable insight and learning for the national and international audiences who are looking to achieve emergency management goals including but not limited to wildland fire. KEYWORDS National Response Framework, Emergency Response

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14th International Wildland Fire Safety Summit

Oral Presentation Abstracts

9. Improved security in fighting forest fires in Valencia Comunity. Towards a High Reliability Organization Presenter: Raúl Quílez, Ph.D. Wildlanfires Officer in Valencia Firefighters Consortium ABSTRACT Spain is one of the countries where forest fires are more frequent, becoming one of the world’s epicenters, even when compared with other countries in size larger. This reality has demanded that exist means to control, and by 1869 the specific forest camps are created to combat them. Unfortunately, this activity has taken many lives throughout history, in fact Spain has recorded 241 deaths in the period 1980 -2010, absolute figure, which relativized to other activities is huge, because in this period in many areas he has worked only in times of increased risk. Following accidents with 11 deaths Guadalajara 2005 and the Horta de Sant Joan 2009, with 5 deaths, I began a profound process of reflection that could improve safety in firefighting operations. In addition, it is having been involved more or less directly in research or conclusions on some accidents in recent history of forest fires in Spain, available real and detailed information. This process of reflection was born Safety Course Operations Fire Fighting, eminently practical, where he has spent all operational forest fire of Valencia in 2011, and it paid off in so hard episode fires of 2012, where entrapments involved in different units, following the training received, they resolved these situations without suffering any misfortune. This encouraged me, and growing security by addressing the human factor through the Advanced Safety Course, where aspects of psychology are treated in emergency leadership and High Reliability Organizations. The result of all this work, the safety manual was published in operations extinguishing forest fires in 2014. KEYWORDS Safety, forest fires, training, High Reliability Organizations. Lesson Learned

10. A real-time extreme fire behavior risk assesment system to improve wildland firefighter situational awareness Presenter: W. Matt Jolly, Research Ecologist, USFS, RMRS, Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory Additional Authors: Patrick H. Freeborn, Research Physical Scientist, USFS, RMRS, Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory

ABSTRACT Wildland firefighters engaged in fire response must be able to assess expected fire behavior in order to develop appropriate strategies and tactics that will safely meet the required objectives. Realized fire behavior is a combination of fuels, weather and topography, but of the three, weather is the most dynamic. Surface weather-derived fire danger indices quantify both fuel moisture and wind variations and therefore should be closely related to observed fire behavior. These indices could better inform wildland fire management strategies and tactics if they were linked directly to observed fire behavior. Here we present a simple framework for linking fire danger indices to observed wildland fire behavior. It uses straightforward ordinal logistic regression (OLR) techniques to calculate the probability of five distinct fire behavior categories and combines those probabilities into a Fire Behavior Risk rating that can plotted over time and spatially mapped. We demonstrate its development and use across three adjacent US National Forests and we link these OLR models with spatial fire danger maps to demonstrate the utility of this approach for landscape-scale fire behavior potential assessments. This approach can assess worst-case potential fire behavior ahead of time and it could significantly improve wildland firefighterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ability to develop risk-mitigating strategies that meet required objectives while keeping people safe. KEYWORDS fire behavior, fire danger, safety, weather

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14th International Wildland Fire Safety Summit

Oral Presentation Abstracts

11. Reviewing High Risk and High Consequence Decisions: Finding a Safer Way Presenter: Michael Eburn, Associate Professor, Australian National University ABSTRACT Decisions that are made in high risk, high consequence environments are subject to extensive post event reviews. Official inquiries, political demands for answers, commentary in both mainstream and social media and litigation take their toll on responders and decision makers. Taking months, or years, to conduct a forensic ‘second by second’ review of decisions that were made in an instant create false impressions of what could be achieved and lead to inevitable blame for not making what, in hindsight, appears as the ‘ideal’ decision. Research has shown that emergency responders fear the post inquiry process and that the process can lead to adverse impacts on responder’s health. A belief by responders that admitting doubts, problems and unplanned outcomes will be used against them means that decision makers are less willing to give a full and frank account of events. Although the modern post event inquiry may salve a desire to find someone to blame or restore a community’s faith in government control they do little to advance safety for responders or communities. A new way is required. This paper will report on research, supported by Australia’s Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre, on developing a new approach to post event inquiries. It is argued that the fire and emergency service community would benefit by adopting inquiries based on the principles of restorative justice that allow ‘‘all the parties … [to] come together to resolve collectively how to deal with the aftermath of the [event] and its implications for the future”. Drawing from other areas of community that have adopted restorative justice techniques this paper will consider what a restorative justice inquiry into a fire or other natural hazard event might look like and how such an inquiry could lead to true learning and the development of shared responsibility for future hazard management. KEYWORDS inquiry, post-event review, restorative justice

12. A tool for monitoring teamwork during emergency management Presenter: Chris Bearman, Research Fellow, Central Queensland University, Appleton Institute & Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC Additional Authors: Sophia Rainbird, Research Assistant, Central Queensland University Benjamin Brooks, Senior Research Fellow, University of Tasmania Christine Owen Steven Curnin

ABSTRACT Teamwork is an essential component of an effective emergency response. However, in complex dynamic environments (such as those presented by many emergency management situations) teamwork will on occasions break down. If a team is suffering from breakdowns they are less likely to manage an emergency effectively so it is important to be able to detect and resolve problems within a team at an early stage. However, there is often limited guidance within many emergency management agencies about how best to monitor a teamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ongoing performance. This presentation reports the development and evaluation of a tool to detect and resolve problems in teams. This tool consists of two checklists, one of which can be easily integrated into the ongoing flow of operational activities to provide a health check for the team, and the other checklist provides a more detailed examination of team processes. To develop the tools we have adopted an iterative design methodology, where the tools are developed and evaluated in a cycle of activity with end users. Two evaluation studies conducted in Australia are reported. One study where experienced observers (m= 24 years of experience in managing fire) used the tool to evaluate regional level teamwork during five separate simulated wildfires and the second study where regional coordinators were interviewed about their teams using the tool during ongoing storm and flood events. Across the two studies 8 participants (7 male, 1 female) provided 15 sets of teamwork evaluations using the tool and feedback on the tool itself. Overall, participants were positive about the effectiveness of the tool, rating it on average as 4.33 out of 5. The participantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s feedback was analysed qualitatively and this was used to continuously improve the tool, with modifications including removing, rewording and changing the order of some of the questions. While further evaluation of the tool is necessary, the tool shows promise as a way of providing an evidence based way of monitoring emergency management teams. This facilitates early detection of problems in teamwork allowing emergency managers to ensure that the teams are responding in the most effective manner possible. KEYWORDS teamwork, breakdowns, performance, monitoring

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14th International Wildland Fire Safety Summit

Oral Presentation Abstracts

13. After Action Reviews: A Safety Tool. Lessons Learned from the Interdispositivos 2014: ‘La Riba de Saelices’ Fire After Action Review Presenter: José Luis DUCE ARAGÜÉS, Universidad de Lleida ABSTRACT There are safety protocols, most of them related with a good situational awareness, prior to deciding whether to implement a direct or indirect attack. There are also great prevention programs that help fire managers, supervisors or incident commanders, to take the right decision when in critical operational windows. But sometimes we, fire professionals, do not enough importance and see the relevance of After Action Reviews, when not even hidden. The ‘La Riba de Saelices’ Fire, in Guadalajara in 2005, left 11 fatalities after affecting around 10,000 hectares in central Spain. After the incident, many political, personal, professional controversy arose, without giving the opportunity to firefighter, managers and public in general, to learn from it. In December, 2014, an independent group of fire students met in the ‘Interdispositivos 2014’ event, with the main objective of reviewing and studying the possible different aspects that led that fire to its fatal consequences, with the intention of letting people in general and firefighters in particular, know them, learn them and avoid them in future similar situations. What we present here is a summary of the previous work, the actions and activities this group developed and some of the conclusions and lessons they extracted and learned to be shared among the members of the fire community. KEYWORDS After Action Review, Guadalajara, Fire

14. Reflective Interview as an Authentic Resource in Rural Firefighter Training Presenter: Richard Parker, Senior Scientist, Scion (New Zealand Forest Research Institute) Additional Authors: Karen Bayne, Senior Scientist, Scion Veronica Clifford, Fire Scientist, Scion Brionny Hooper, Human Factors Scientist, Scion H. Grant Pearce, Senior Fire Scientist, Scion

ABSTRACT It is difficult to authentically train for the real fire fighting environment. Rural (wildland) firefighters must work, often in chaotic circumstances, in a coordinated way to ensure their own and their colleague’s safety. They must communicate with each other and make decisions while battling to extinguish the fire. However, without actually attending a fire, it is difficult for the trainee to understand the rich complexity of the fire fighting environment. Training in a non-fire environment is a poor substitute for real fire situations. Conversely training at real fires places the novice firefighter in a high risk environment. We suggest the use of technology and viewing reflective interviews can help prepare firefighter trainees for the real fire environment. To better understand the work environment of the rural firefighter we collected video from helmet mounted cameras worn by firefighters at real fire events. After the video collection we asked the firefighters to view their video and describe what was occurring in the video scenes (auto-reflective interview). We also got more experienced firefighters to view the same video and describe what events were occurring (allo-reflective interview). The video and audio recording captured the sights and sounds of the real rural fire fighting conditions. A comparison of the commentaries from the auto and allo-reflective interview was used to evaluate the behavioural and physical responses of the firefighters. By reflecting on the video, and by viewing one’s own work or the work of others, a greater depth of understanding of the work and one’s own performance is achieved. The reflective interviewing technique appears to provide an authentic training resource for a new firefighter, exposing them to the sights and sounds of actual fire scenes and decision making implications; as well as providing a means of reflecting on the events and responses of firefighters. KEYWORDS Firefighters, Human Factors, Training

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14th International Wildland Fire Safety Summit

Oral Presentation Abstracts

15. Wildland urban interface: wildland firefighting safety problems and challenges Presenter: Clare Quesada â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Fernandez, Forest Engineer (INGENIERA DE MONTES) Additional Authors: Daniel Quesada â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Fernandez

ABSTRACT Wildland fires are an increasing problem affecting more areas and are present in Mediterranean areas and not only. The fire season is now exteded to a lapse of time longer within the year. In addition, disordered growth of towns in the limits with forest and rural areas and the abandonment of rural villages and the territory are joined to the lack of management of forests from the point of view of human-territory - landscape. In this context the use of fire in wildland and rural areas as a tool, in most of cases poorly used by ignorance, causes problems of ignitions and fires involving people, properties and environment. These emergencies increase risks to wildland firefighters, finding themselves involved in added risks to theirs work. This paper aims to show a panoramic view of the situation of safety and added risks fighting fire at the WUI. KEYWORDS Wildland urban interface, Safety, Wildland Firefighting, Risk

16. Wildfire are local fires: training and operations needs of US municipal and rural fire departments Presenter: Michele Steinberg, NFPA Wildfire Division Manager, NFPA Additional Authors: Hylton Haynes, Senior Research Analyst, National Fire Protection Association

ABSTRACT Brush, grass and forest fires make up 75% of all local fire department calls in the United States â&#x20AC;&#x201C; more than 900 per day in an average year. In spite of media coverage of large wildfires in the Western US, and the emphasis on the challenges faced by federal firefighters in the wildland arena, there are more wildfires reported each year in the Southern US than in the western region, and many more fires are attended and suppressed by first responders who are from state or local fire departments. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has mined the data provided in the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS), the largest fire database of its kind in the world, to explode a number of myths about the state of wildland and wildland-urban fires and firefighting in the US, as well as begin to explore the needs of firefighters responding to these incidents. Multiple surveys since 2001 have shown a large gap in training for local fire departments that respond to wildfire incidents, with approximately half of all local departments reporting that not all of their staff who may respond have adequate training. This presentation will draw on NFPAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s data analytics from NFIRS, its surveys of US fire departments from 2001 to 2015, and a recent qualitative study exploring the experiences and needs of local fire departments. A special emphasis on volunteer and rural fire departments will help illustrate the needs of these first responders, as 85% of US fire departments are volunteer or mostly volunteer. These departments tend to serve the more rural areas of America (1/3 of the population vs the 2/3 of the population covered by the 15% of career fire departments) and are challenged to provide the equipment, gear, and training available in larger, funded departments. Many rural areas also pose special challenges in terms of their topography, distribution of population and infrastructure, requiring different strategies and tactics in order to safely and effectively suppress fires than traditional structure protection techniques and training provide. KEYWORDS wildfire, firefighting, rural, local, US, NFPA, statistics, research, data, wildland-urban fire, safety, suppression,

operations

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14th International Wildland Fire Safety Summit

Oral Presentation Abstracts

17. Municipal fire departments in the United States and their level of preparedness in the event of a wildfire â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a quantitative perspective Presenter: Hylton Haynes, Senior Research Analyst, National Fire Protection Association ABSTRACT Since 2001, the National Fire Protection Association has conducted a United States national survey of over 26,000 municipal fire departments. In 2015 this survey was modified for the first time to address the lack of understanding in municipal fire department wildfire capabilities and preparedness. This presentation will focus on quantifying United States fire department personnel and their capabilities including and not limited to training, personal protective clothing and the use of auxiliary roles when responding to wildfire events. For the first time fire department performance thresholds for maximum number of structures and area burned will be examined with the objective of characterizing and describing how municipal fire departments are able to handle unusually challenging wildfire fire incidents. KEYWORDS wildfire, preparedness, capabilities, municipal fire departments, United States, performance thresholds

18. Fire Scenarios: A New Concept for Fire Management at the Landscape Scale Presenter: Cristina Montiel Molina, Professor, Complutense University of Madrid Additional Authors: Luis Galiana Martin

ABSTRACT Humans and fire form a coupled and co-evolving natural-human system in Mediterranean-climate ecosystems. In this context, recent trends in landscape change such as urban sprawl or the abandoning of agricultural and forest land management in line with new models of economic development and lifestyles, are leading to new fire scenarios. A fire scenario refers to the contextual factors of a fire regime, i.e. the environmental, socio-economic and policy drivers of wildfire initiation and propagation on different spatial and temporal scales. This is basically a landscape concept linking territorial dynamics (related to ecosystem evolution and settlement patterns) with a fire regime (ignition causes; spread patterns; fire frequency, severity, extent and seasonality). The aim of this presentation is to identify and characterize these land-based fire scenarios in Spain on a national and regional scale, using a GIS-based methodology to perform a spatial analysis of the area attributes of homogenous fire spread patterns. To do this, the main variables considered are: land use/ land cover, fuel load and recent fire history. The final objective is to reduce territorial vulnerability to forest wildfires, and facilitate the adaptation of fire policies and land management systems to current challenges of preparedness and uncertainty management. KEYWORDS Geography, landscape character assessment; landscape units; land management; territorial dynamics; Spain

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14th International Wildland Fire Safety Summit

Oral Presentation Abstracts

19. Using Wildfire Prediction Technology on the Fireground Presenter: George Milne, Professor, The University of Western Australia Additional Authors: Dr Joel Kelso

ABSTRACT The Australis wildfire simulation system is used for predicting the spread of all large wildfires in Western Australia (WA), a region unique in having wildfires throughout the year. The size of WA, (similar to Western Europe) and the presence of multiple lightning strike fires during periods of extreme fire conditions has prompted development of Australis-in-the-Cab. This autonomous wildfire prediction technology can be used on the fireground to determine optimal suppression tactics, and provide early warnings to improve the safety of remote communities and firefighters. The system is self-contained, runs on a high-end touch-screen tablet device mounted in the cab of a fire truck. The current fire location is entered on the touch-screen map along with current and forecasted fireground weather. The system automatically calculates fire spread using algorithms that account for fuel load, type, wind direction, speed and slope as in (Johnston et al., 2008), and rapidly generates maps with future fire perimeters overlayed. We demonstrate this technology using a large-scale wildfire in WA (January 2016) and show how itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s availability on the fire ground would have given a 10 hour warning of arrival of the fire front. This would have allowed early evacuation of a community via safe evacuation routes and may have prevented the two deaths which occurred. Performing wildfire prediction using a simulation system in-the-field has advantages over a centralised service, as currently used in Australia. These include use by wildfire brigades with local knowledge and awareness of current fire location, and avoidance of communication of fire location to a central service and return of predicted spread maps. The high-performance feature of the Australis prediction technology also allows alternative weather scenarios to be evaluated rapidly i.e. in minutes, allowing variation in forecasted wind shift or speed and direction to be examined. Australis has been validated using historical fires where high-quality post-fire data was available, see (Kelso et al., 2015). A wildfire replication will be presented and discussed from the perspective of how Australis-in-the-Cab may be used operationally by rural firefighters. JOHNSTON, P., KELSO, J. & MILNE, G. J. 2008. Efficient simulation of wildfire spread on an irregular grid. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 17, 614-627. KELSO, J. K., MELLOR, D., MURPHY, M. E. & MILNE, G. J. 2015. Techniques for evaluating wildfire simulators via the simulation of historical fires using the AUSTRALIS simulator. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 24, 784. KEYWORDS Wildfire prediction technology; wildfire simulation modelling; increasing fireground awareness

20. How Does Wind Impact Firefighter Safety Zone Size? Presenter: Bret Butler, Research Mechanical Engineer, US Forest Service ABSTRACT One of the primary challenges faced by wildland firefighters is to estimate fire behavior prior to implementing tactics and then continually adjust estimates as conditions change through the burning period. When conditions suddenly change to increase fire behavior, firefighters may be required to move to areas that provide refuge from burn injury. These areas termed safety zones can be characterized by distance from significant fuels. In this study measurements of energy release collected in a series of experimental burns and natural and prescribed fires are used to estimate the distance required to prevent burn injury. The data suggest that the distance should be adjusted depending on the fire intensity. Fires burning in shallow fuels show a very large change in energy release as winds increase, while fire burning in deep fuels (i.e. tree canopies) are not as susceptible to changes in wind speed. The results suggest that while large fuel loads result in higher energy release rates and the need for greater safety zone sizes, it may be that lower fuel loads present a greater risk to firefighters because of the large change in energy release with changes in wind speed. These data are assessed in the context of recommended modifications to the safety zone guidelines currently used in the United States and elsewhere. KEYWORDS Wildland firefighter safety, wind, fire behavior

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14th International Wildland Fire Safety Summit

Oral Presentation Abstracts

21. Identifying defensible spaces at the micro and meso scales: some examples in Mediterranean WUI Presenter: David Caballero, Head of Forest Fire Department, MeteoGrid ABSTRACT Some of the last forest fires in Europe (Madeira, Valencia, Marseille etc.) show that Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) has a complex interpretation in the Mediterranean reality: houses are essentially built with unburnable materials (stone, brick, mortar, iron, glass etc.); vegetation surrounding houses are a mix of forest, shrubs, grass and agricultural patches; gardens and green hedges, with an heterogeneous degree of maintenance and irrigation, participate frequently in the propagation of fire inside settlements; much of the materials burning and entailing houses destruction are not vegetal, but objects accumulated around the buildings; PLG tanks are directly exposed to flames and radiation, due to a lack of explicit safety regulation in fire-prone areas; population is heterogeneous and with a very uneven perception of risk. According to this an extension and adaptation of the defensible space concept is needed, for which two time and space scales are considered: the micro (house) and meso (settlement) scales. Factors linked to the risk identified at each scale are described and tools and methods for their measurement presented. Criteria such as firefighters safety are included in the calculation of intensity and extension of treatments on vegetation, ground accessibility and water availability. Some examples of practical application are presented for discussion. Importance and effect of micro scale treatments to achieve an internal safe meso scale are underlined with some examples; some important domino effects, such as PLG tanks are exposed and discussed. Particular treatments of lots in the perimeter, as part of the fire break area, are also underlined. These approaches and methods are currently being considered as baseline for WUI safety regulation adaptations in some EU countries (Spain). Results and findings are part of the international WUIWATCH project funded by the European Commission, Directorate General of Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid (EC-ECHO). KEYWORDS wildland urban interface, prevention, planning, risk analysis, risk mapping, regulations

22. Application of New Technologies: Drones in Fire Extinction Presenter: Codina Meritxell, Consultora & Perito Aeronautico, Eurania ABSTRACT In recent years, we are witnessing the great growth of the unmanned aircraft or drones sector, especially since its use is allowed beyond military operations and can be used in the field of civil air operations. The drones are suitable for aerial filming and photography, for precision agriculture, for the review and maintenance of sustainable energy infrastructures, increasingly abundant, among many other examples. But if something is drawn in the immediate future, it is that these aircraft have among their development strategies, the important mission of targeting firefighting, rescue, civil protection or disaster relief. Situations that involve serious risks for the human beings who are the protagonists and their rescuers. The hard task we face in the near future is on the one hand, the development of clearly effective technologies to be used in these areas, but we must also work on the design and implementation of protocols of action in such situations. That our Administrations equip our teams with professionals of this type of tools, will be a clear sign and evidence of the bet of the public sector by this technology and in turn a bet to guarantee the safety of the human teams and to minimize their exposure to the risk. In turn will be an opportunity for relocation of professionals who for different reasons have been depleted of their abilities and skills to carry out their usual work in the forefront of action. The use of drones in the field of forest fires, not only allows us to know details of places difficult to access by land or air, but also gives us the opportunity to know information in real time, for example at night Or in complex situations in which the use and operation of traditional airborne means with crew on board is discouraged. In addition, the application of unmanned aircraft in the forestry sector will not only be useful when there is an active fire, but may also be used for the monitoring, observation and surveillance of foci, the carrying out of treatments for vegetation and Even in the case of prescribed burns.

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14th International Wildland Fire Safety Summit

Abstracts Posters P1. Nightime Aerial Firefighting Solutions: NITROFIREX Project Presenter: Luis Bordallo ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION: The maturity of the technologies for the guidance and control of UASs allows proposing innovative operational options such as the ability to spray (a liquid) or spread (a powder) a significant amount of an agent of any sort at a pre-established point in the atmosphere. This is the case of NITROFIREX, an innovative project that integrates available technologies from the defense industry to achieve this operational capability. Of all possible applications the forest-fire fighting is where NITROFIREX places its highest priority. This is because of the ecological damage these fires bring forth, the cause social alarm they generate and the human and economic losses that take place whilst fighting them. NITROFIREX at last offers the long awaited nighttime firefighting capability and also allows direct support to the ground crews in their relentless fight against forest fires. THE NITROFIREX CONCEPT: The ability to transport large amount of payload in the minimum time to the area of operations is performed by heavy transport aircraft (Launcher Aircraft L A) designed to do this at the most efficient economical way. What NITROFIREX does is to transport this payload from the transport aircraft to the programmed release point. This is achieved by using unmanned Autonomous Gliders Containers, AGCs that are released through the rear ramp of the LAs. The AGCs fly autonomously to the programmed release point in the source of the fire realizing their contents with utmost precision and then returning to base for reuse. Once the AGG drops the extinguishing agent it performs its escape maneuver using its remaining speed and big weight loss to attain as much altitude as possible. Upon reaching the highest point it returns to its base of operations, empty now, so as to be reused as soon as possible. The base of operations is an airport close to the fire to which the Nitrofirex system is moved when called for. REFLECTION: The amount of countries hit by forest fires is numerous. The heavy financial and human losses generate social unease and political concern. The impact on the environment incurs in a direct manner in harm to biodiversity and indirectly with the release of big amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Paradoxically in the sector of aerial firefighting no modern aeronautic technologies have been implemented up to now, especially if we compare it to all other sectors of aviation where the innovations have been really significant.Because of all that has been mentioned the NITROFIREX project raises the application of modern technology in the aviation sector with the goal to improve to improve the operative efficacy, the economical efficiency, the crews flaying safety and above all to offer nighttime operation, which is the main shortcoming of current aerial means. 64

P2. Accurate Fire Localization in Real Time Video Surveillance Presenter: Azarm Nowzad, Specialist For Image Processing, IQ WIRELESS Additional Authors: Andreas Jock, Senior Engineer and Chief Developer Firewatch

ABSTRACT Every year, millions of hectares of forest are destroyed by fire. Early detection of forest fires can reduce the potential damages and has been a major research topic for many years. Detecting real smoke with low false alarm and high detection rates is still a challenging problem, especially in natural complex environments such as forests. Real time video surveillance of forest areas using terrestrial systems is currently the most promising technology for automated and reliable fire detection. State of the art detection algorithms extract smoke features from candidate regions in the images and automatically recognize the presence of smoke. Two critical factors to realize a high efficiency system are detection speed and fire location. The start of a fire and the smoldering process may last from a few minutes to several hours depending on a variety of factors such as the burning material, oxygen quantity, etc. Suppression of forest fire at an early stage is the key of a successful performance of an automatic fire detection system and keeps the resulting damage as low as possible. Knowing the precise location of a fire is essential for a real-time monitoring surveillance system. This information is very important for a fire-fighting center. To assess the feasibility of such an approach, a mathematical method for calculating terrain model projections was developed and implemented for a camera using terrestrial based detection system. After assigning the transformation parameter of the camera, the real distance of each pixel in the scene is determined. The precise location of potential smoke is then ascertained using calculated projections from the Digital Elevation Model (DEM), computed using the camera viewing direction. In this paper, a novel approach for determining an accurate localization of a forest fire as well as other objects in the image is proposed. The efficiency of the method is demonstrated by a statistic report on real wildfire detections from a forest fire prevention center. KEYWORDS Fire Localization / Detection / Video Surveillance

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Abstracts Posters

P3. Complex Adaptive Systems Thinking: A Tool for Understanding and Adapting in the Face of Incidents and Accidents Presenter: Ivan Pupulidy, Director, US Forest Service Additional Authors: Sara A. Brown, US Forest Service

ABSTRACT This poster shares the concept of complex adaptive systems. It is important to understand how simple and complicated systems differ from those that are complex. Because organizations are complex adaptive systems, they are likely to encounter major discontinuities. These discontinuities may be seriousâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;such as fatal accidents or major losses to infrastructureâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;or less severe in nature. Discontinuities may threaten either the organization, its agents, or both. These tragic incidents indicate that organizational responses have constrained sensemaking, learning, and improvisational capabilities needed for adapting effectively to discontinuities. Facilitating relationships at all levels of the organization has served to build capabilities essential for adapting to these discontinuities. Based on rigorous study, we share three propositions that organizations and researchers should consider as they address discontinuities: In order to adapt effectively to discontinuities, we need to consider practices of (1) sensemaking, (2) learning, and (3) improvisation. We believe that understanding the concept of complex adaptive systems and paying attention to these three propositions could contribute to organizationsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; more successfully adapting to discontinuity. KEYWORDS Leadership, Change, Complexity

P4. New Technologies to Automatically Track Fire Perimeters and Forecast Fire Spread in Real Time Presenter: Mario Valero, Researcher, Center for Technological Risk Studies, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, UPC - BarcelonaTech Additional Authors: Oriol Rios Rubiras, Researcher, Center for Technological Risk Studies, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, UPC – BarcelonaTech Elsa Pastor Ferrer, Faculty Member, Center for Technological Risk Studies, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, UPC – BarcelonaTech Eulàlia Planas Cuchi, Professor, Center for Technological Risk Studies, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, UPC – BarcelonaTech

ABSTRACT Situational awareness is crucial when we address decision making in high risk environments such as wildland fire management. Errors made during time pressured situations are commonly not due to lack of experience, knowledge or crew capacities but to the lack of accurate and up-to-date information. While forest fire propagation dynamics are not yet completely understood by the scientific community, new phenomena such as eruptive fires or fire whirls appear more and more commonly leading to unforeseen and unexpected, potentially dangerous situations. Nevertheless, at the same time technological development has made available new tools which can provide additional insight into wildfire dynamics and be the base for decision support systems. Namely, infrared (IR) cameras, which have become light, cheap and robust, can be installed aboard surveillance aircraft, including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and used to film the fire evolution even when heavy smoke columns are present. Hereby we present a methodology which combines IR fire detection and inverse modelling to track the fire perimeter in real time and emit reliable fire spread forecasts. Firstly, it applies image analysis and computer vision techniques to aerial IR footages in order to provide, automatically, the geographical location of the fire front and the fire perimeter. Flames are filtered so that the actual fuel burning interface is detected. This information is then imported into a Geographic Information System (GIS), projected onto a topographic map and a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and used to derive a number of second-level data products such as rates of spread (ROS), which are related to fire line intensity. Subsequently, observed fire perimeter evolution is used to adjust the internal parameters of a fire behaviour simulator which is capable of predicting the future fire development. If the monitored data are constantly available, this simulator updates itself continuously. The whole system has been tested in experimental large-scale scenarios with successful results. Nonetheless, in order to be turned into a useful operational tool, it should be challenged under real incident conditions and the user interface should be adapted to meet emergency responders’ requirements. KEYWORDS Decision Support System (DSS), Infrared (IR) imaging, tactical monitoring, spread forecast

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14th International Wildland Fire Safety Summit

Abstracts Posters

P5. A New Firefighter Safety Zone Calculator Presenter: Bret Butler, Research Mechanical Engineer, US Forest Service Additional Authors: Joaquin Ramirez, Principal Consultant, TECHNOSYLVA INC

ABSTRACT Wildland firefighters continue to be injured and killed on wildland fires. Some data suggest the cause of accidents is almost equally spread between aircraft failures, driving accidents, heat attacks, and firefighter entrapments. In the context of entrapments, the current guideline for determining adequate safety zone size requires that firefighters estimate flame height. Proposed changes to the guideline suggest a rule based on vegetation height and wind and slope. However, the complexity of the calculation increases with these changes. A new digital device APP is under development that provides firefighters with the capability to calculate safety zone size. Ultimately it will also provide a calculation of transit times for possible escape routes. This tool is intended for release in 2017. KEYWORDS firefighter safety, fire behavior, escape routes

P6. Empowering fireline awareness with mobile technology: opportunities and challenges Presenter: Joaquin Ramirez, Principal Consultant, TECHNOSYLVA INC Additional Authors: SANTIAGO MONEDERO, PRINCIPAL RESEARCHER, TECHNOSYLVA, DAVID BUCKLEY, VP, TECHNOSYLVA KRISTEN ALLISON, Fire Planner, Angeles National Forest JORGE PERDOMO, FOUNDER, GOTENNA

ABSTRACT Mobile revolution is providing a wealth of opportunities in terms of empowering decision making for units on the field. Traditional approach of ICSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Situation Units as providers of intelligence support and situational awareness is being widened with the actual and next mobile technology. Opportunities come from several sides: high performance computing which allows complex fire behavior analysis, integration of data sources as weather and incident events, sensoring both from fire environment and crew members and equipment, tracking of units even under no connectivity situations. Some examples of actual use in several agencies in Europe, US and Canada will demonstrate we need to be ready to adapt our decision making process to this new tools. KEYWORDS situational awareness, ICS, mobile technology

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14th International Wildland Fire Safety Summit

Abstracts Posters

P7. Goal Seduction Presenter: Bearman, Research Fellow, Central Queensland University, Appleton Institute & Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC Additional Authors: Peter Bremner, PhD Candidate, Central Queensland University

ABSTRACT Humans are motivated to achieve goals and this is an important aspect of human behaviour. However, on occasions these goals can exert too much influence, leading to poor decisions being made. This phenomenon is known as goal seduction. Goal seduction has been identified in situations where people are faced with time constraints, financial pressures, the desire to meet a partner, and trying to rescue another person. In emergency management given the important and urgent nature of the goals that people are trying to achieve it might be expected that goal seduction would be a particularly salient pressure on decision making that needs to be managed. This paper explores the types, consequences and management of goal seduction in volunteer fire brigades in Australia. Ten experienced (m=22 years) volunteer incident commanders (all male) participated in a semi-structured interview on challenging situations they had experienced. Interviews were analyzed using a bottom-up thematic analysis technique. Goal seduction could affect both the incident controller and the crew and occurred in three different phases of the emergency response: getting to the fire station quickly; getting to the incident quickly; and dealing with the incident straight away. The consequences of goal seduction included: road accidents; violating policy and procedures, violating orders, missing important information, and crews putting themselves at risk. Ways to manage goal seduction include: mentally isolating oneself from the situation, reinforcing the need for crews to obey procedures and orders, monitoring and replacing unsafe crew members and physically constraining the actions of crew members. However, if an incident controller or team leader is experiencing goal seduction then they may be less likely to manage this effectively in their crew. It is important then that emergency management agencies are aware of the effects of goal seduction and seek to manage its influence. KEYWORDS decision making, pressure, goals

P8. Communicating Emotion Over the Radio Presenter: Elena Gabor, Associate Professor of Organizational Communication, Bradley University Additional Authors: Rebekah Fox, PhD, Associate Professor, Texas State University Dave Thomas, Renoveling, Ogden Utah Jennifer Ziegler, PhD, Associate Professor and Dean of Graduate School, Valparaiso University Anne E. Black, PhD, Social Science Researcher, Rocky Mountain Research Station

ABSTRACT The goal of this paper/poster is to present preliminary findings from a research study sponsored by JFSP on radio communication practices in wildland firefighting. Our research team took an inductive approach and triangulated field observations, interviews, and analysis of organizational training materials to identify current practices, challenges, and creative solutions in radio communication and their implications for high reliability organizing. Although we did not initially set out to study emotions, they emerged as a salient theme from interviews and field observations. We observed that while the wildland fire organization trains members that “good” communication is emotion-free, emotions continue to be relevant to participants in firefighting and are a component of the totality of information gleaned from radio interactions. Participants reported trying to speak without emotion or using a very narrow range of emotional expressivity in their tone of voice, but intently listening for emotion to get a fuller picture of the interaction context. We found that fear, anxiety, panic are the most highly censored emotions, because they are associated with loss of command presence, and might show to the firefighters listening that the speaker’s decision-making abilities are flawed resulting in a higher likelihood of a negative outcome. We also found that significant non-verbal information is transmitted via emotional communication. Our data show that speaking competently on the radio involves a great deal of emotional labor or control of one’s emotions, as required by the organization. Occasionally, confusion may arise from the inability to communicate an appropriate sense of urgency, as when someone sounded “too calm” on the radio. The opposite was also reported – when firefighters “waste emotional bullets” on non-urgent situations. While more research needs to be conducted on the specific place of emotion in radio communication in wildland firefighting, potentially useful implications arise in regard to introducing conversations about emotions in training, studying how to prepare messages for the emotional impact on the listener, as well as practicing appropriate ways for expressing urgency over the radio. KEYWORDS radio communication, emotion, high reliability organizing, urgency

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14th International Wildland Fire Safety Summit

Abstracts Posters

P9. eMap Tree Hazard Layer Presenter: Sam Hillman, GIS Analyst, Department of Environment Land Water and Planning - Forest Fire Management Additional Authors: Stephen Grant, Senior Fire Management Operation Officer, DELWP, Rory McKenzie, Senior Fire Management Operation Officer, DELWP

ABSTRACT Hazardous Trees have proven to be a significant OH&S risk for Department of Environment Land Water and Planning over the last few years. Our objective remains that every firefighter we send to a fire comes home to family. The recent spate of large landscape fires has created enormous potential for tree hazard into the next decade and beyond. One of the steps taken to assist first attack responders prepare for potential Hazardous Trees is the eMap Tree Hazard Layer. Consultation with experienced forest staff across the State of Victoria assisted in defining the species and events that create hazardous trees. This engagement formed the basis of a GIS analysis to combine fire severity, species sensitivity, logging treatments and other environmental facts that influence the tree hazard. The deployment of this layer and associated joint standard operating procedure has assisted in the detection and awareness of Tree Hazard during first attack situations. KEYWORDS Hazardous Trees, Mapping, safety, risk awareness

P10. BURNOUT: a Rapid Mapping burnt area extraction tool Presenter: Mathilde CASPARD, Remote sensing engineer, ICube - SERTIT Additional Authors: HAOUET Sadri, Remote sensing engineer, ICube – SERTIT CLANDILLON Stephen, Head of Rapid Mapping Service, ICube - SERTIT

ABSTRACT “Burnout”© is a burn scar mapping tool which was developed at SERTIT-ICube (Strasbourg, France) within the ESA GSTP ASAPTerra (Advanced SAR and optical Methods for Rapid Mapping) project in order to improve, automate and speed-up geo-information extraction in rapid mapping. The ASAPTerra project itself encompasses work on landslides, floods and fires. The tool was elaborated to respond to the need of firefighters and the fire management community, including foresters, to receive precise and near real-time information concerning the fire extent and fire severity. A secondary application is systematic burn scar mapping using high resolution imagery in an activity complementary to the European programme Copernicus EMS EFFIS. The development focuses on free data available at a high spatial resolution from 10m to 30m with repeat cycles between 6 and 16 days. Consequently, “Burnout”© uses USGS’s Landsat8 optical imagery and the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-2 missions. The concept is to compare pre-event and post-event images in order to extract the burn scars and indicate the severity of the wildland fire. A fully-automatic algorithm based on free Orfeo Toolbox and GDAL libraries allows Burnout to produce a result in a few minutes. The technical results were evaluated and demonstrated in real case applications and in different environment around the globe including fires in California (USA), France, Greece, Portugal and Spain. Furthermore, validation was conducted by comparing the tool result’s with that of the Europe Union’s Copernicus Emergency Management Service (EMS) photo-interpretation derived results from very high resolution image sources. It shows a global accuracy above 90%. This operational tool demonstrates that through new satellites and IT technologies near real-time decision making can be helped during and after a wild-fire. Combined with damage assessment seen on satellite imagery and furthermore in the field, it highlights the environmental consequences and risks induces by these fires. Finally, this tool merges within the one platform very high spatial and high temporal resolution imagery and could help provide an important resource to whole crisis management cycle. KEYWORDS Fire, Remote sensing, burn scar, severity, free data, rapid mapping, free IT libraries

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Abstracts Posters

P11. Remote Sensing Products Wildland Fire Support in the United States Jenna Sloan, Bureau of Land Management Additional Authors: Bryan Rice, Director, Department of the Interior, Office of the Secretary, Office of Wildland Fire

ABSTRACT Today, there are many products developed and disseminated to support Emergency Stabilization and Rehabilitation (ESR) efforts, but are applicable for a wide range of pre-fire, incident management, and post-fire management applications. The Bureau of Land Management, National Operations Center for example is currently providing several remote sensing products to fire and natural resource management, including high and moderate spatial resolution imagery and image derivatives. High resolution (5-m) RapidEye products (commercial, limited number of fire collections) and the new moderate resolution (10-m) Sentinel 2A products (publicly available, no cost) are proving to be an asset to land and resource managers to make data driven and science informed decisions pre- and post-fire. Products include pre-fire imagery; Post-fire imagery; Burned/unburned classification products and are published as image and map services, respectively, which can be viewed in EGIS Portal, ArcGIS, and/or Google Earth. These products offer tremendous value to fire management officials requiring freely available satellite imagery, at a spatial resolution useful for assessing vegetation condition (burned/unburned areas), and for assisting with pre- and post-fire landscape treatment to reduce risk during wildland fire management operations. KEYWORDS Remote Sensing, Drones, imagery, technology

P12. Efficiency of portable water cannons in the reduction of the rate of fire front spread near a WUI zone Presenter: Luís Mário Ribeiro, ADAI/CEIF Additional Authors: Domingos X. Viegas, David Caballero, Ferran Dalmau, Jorge Raposo, Joel Teixeira

ABSTRACT The proposed work describes and documents the tests performed to assess the efficiency of a portable water cannon system (SIDEINFO), designed for perimetral defense of structures in the wildland urban interface, during the passage of a wildfire. It is a modular solution of water cannons that can be installed whenever and wherever necessary. Water supply is assured by any sufficiently large reservoir and a water pump. Field experiments were performed in Central Portugal, in the Gestosa mountains, in a shrubland area. Three water cannons were installed in a rectangle shaped plot with 100m x 30m, with a 98% fuel coverage. The main species present were Chamaespartium tridentatum, Erica umbellata (dead and alive), Erica australis (dead and alive) and different herbaceous. The plot was oriented facing north and had an average slope of 29º. Fuel moisture content was measured before the test started. The test of the system comprised two stages, first pre-moistening the vegetation (before ignition) and secondly activating the cannons when the fire reached their actuation area. The rate of spread evolution of the fire front was assessed trough thermal imagery and the rate of water consumption, by the cannons, was measured. The fire front intensity was estimated based on field measurements of fire indicators. The system was considered to be efficient to reduce, and even stop, a fire propagating upslope, in the conditions tested. The objective of such a system is to reduce the risk and consequences of the approaching of a fire front on residential areas, campsites, warehouses, industries, high environmental or commercial value areas. Although this is a portable system, that can be installed in few minutes, a permanent solution also exists, with increased capabilities. KEYWORDS Wildland urban interface, rate of spread reduction, perimetral wildfire protection, risk reduction

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14th International Wildland Fire Safety Summit

Abstracts Posters

P13. Using Smartphones for Situational Awareness when Network Connectivity is Unavailable Presenter: Jorge Perdomo, co-Founder, goTenna ABSTRACT Situational awareness is perhaps the most important part of any incident response. The criticality of this is reflected in the diverse array of new situational awareness and incident management tools that are offered in the market today. These tools are incredibly powerful, and have spread out of the command center out to the edge of the operating field thanks in large part to the ubiquity of smartphones. However as powerful as these tools are, they are all critically dependent on the availability of central infrastructure to function. Without cellular or satellite connectivity, which is either rare or expensive/bulky in the environments commonly facing wildland firefighters, these tools are rendered near useless. Brand new technology offered by goTenna starting only in 2015 solves a large part of this problem by enabling smartphones to communicate data anywhere in the world without central connectivity at low cost, size, weight, and with no recurring costs. This discussion intends to share the specific applications and lessons learned by U.S. Special Forces and other mission critical operators such as wildland firefighters in Colorado who have used the goTenna tech to re-enable their situational awareness and incident management tools in austere comms-denied environments. The discussion will discuss a variety of application architectures with real world examples of successes in the field that are directly applicable to wildland fire. They include: -Off-grid localized blue force tracking to ensure awareness of all operators in the field -Sharing of locations of danger such as snipers in Iraq, but similarly applicable to hotspots and fire line perimeters -Air/Ground communications without vehicle modifications, as executed by the State of Colorado’s Center of Excellence for Advanced Aerial Wildland Firefighting -Hub-and-spoke models to multiple the value of other legacy communications systems -”Bread crumbing” equipment to enable long-range mesh networking -Integration with the Android Tactical Assault Kit // Integration with Firesponse KEYWORDS situational awareness, communication systems

P14. FIRE-RS System â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Integrating Land Sensors, CubeSat Communications, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and a Situation Assessment Software for Wildland Fire Characterization and Mapping Presenter: Franco Perez-Lissi, Telecommunication Engineer, AeroSpace Research Group, University of Vigo, AeroSpace Group Additional Authors: Antonio Vazquez, Pablo YaĂąez, Simon Lacroix, Joao Tasso de Figueirido, Andre Guerra, Fernando Aguado Agelet

ABSTRACT The Wildland Fire Remote Sensing (FIRE-RS) project, developed within the Interreg Sudoe Programme, implements an innovative system for prevention, detection and mapping of natural disasters, centred on wildland fires. This objective is achieved through the synergy of four technologies: forest based infrared land sensors for fire in-situ detection, CubeSat spacecraft for early warnings and communications coverage, UAVs for high-accuracy fire mapping and real time data acquisition, and a situation assessment tool for performing efficient risk assessments and coordination strategies, both during and after the wildland fire emergency. The infrared land sensors are responsible for the early detection and initial analysis of the extension and location of the fire spots. These devices will generate alert messages to be broadcasted to the microsatellite and to the UAVs. The spacecraft (LUME-1) will receive the alert message, and will relay it to the ground facilities, using the on-board SDR communications payload. The Payload Operations Centre is in charge of the live distribution of the alert messages to the Data Distribution and Control Centre, whose main goal is to implement actuation protocols based on the alert messages received from the satellite. It will forward the specific actuation guidelines to the UAVs Control Centres located within the specific emergency zone, where the alert message was originated. The UAVs will fly over the emergency area to perform a more detailed mapping and characterization of the zone. They will use on-board optic payloads, wind sensors and a SDR communication system to gather detailed data. The data will be integrated within a Situation Assessment software suite, providing centralized access to relevant information for the emergency departments to apply decision-making protocols. KEYWORDS Wildland-Fire, CubeSat, UAVs, IR-Sensors, Assessment

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14th International Wildland Fire Safety Summit

Abstracts Posters

P15. Prescribed burning or mechanical clearcutting management options to reduce shrub encroachment into mountain grasslands: effects on woody cover, plant richness and pastoral value Presenter: Pere Casals, Centre Tecnològic Forestal de Catalunya Additional Authors: Marc Taüll, Ana I. Ríos

ABSTRACT Woody proliferation into grasslands increases fire hazard and reduces pastoral interest. Prescribed burning or mechanical thinning are commonly applied to restore pastures in the Pyrenees. The present work aims to assess the effects of these two widely-used management options on plant richness or pastoral value three years after management. In a sub-alpine xero-mesic grassland (Pyrenees, 1829 m a.s.l.) we arranged a split-plot design (1.2 ha) with the two management options (20 x 50 m each experimental unit) split into four blocks: two located in the upper part of the slope and the other two in the below part. Clearcutting was carried out by a roller chopper in July 2012 and burning in November 2012. Plant composition and structure were surveyed before and on three occasions after treatments (2012, 2014 and 2016). Plant richness was recorded in a modified-Whittaker nested plot (20x50m) and pastoral value is estimated by onelinear transect (20m) in each plot. Shrubcover was estimated in a band transect (20 x 0.5 m) parallel to the linear one. Both treatments are effective in reducing woody cover and volume but negatively impact the pastoral value of grasslands. Plant richness was not affected or even increaseds due to the proliferation of several invader species. Three years after, the recovery of pastoral value was higher in burned plots than in the mechanically managed ones but the woody recovery was also faster. The results suggest that in moderate to high slope pastures, the intensive disturbance of the soil by mechanical scarification reduces grass recovery and favors the establishment of early transitional species. Mechanical treatments may be a solution when the fuel load reduction is a priority and when fire cannot be used. KEYWORDS alpine grasslands, plant invaders

P16. 10 Things Every Fire Leader Should Have Been Trained In Decision Making Presenter: Domingo Villlalba, SEILAF Head of Forest Fire Training, SEILAF Additional Authors: Piluca Carmona Arango, Psychologist emergency specialist, facilitator in CRM, SMS security expert

ABSTRACT SEILAF is located in Seville (Southern Spain), it is a simulation centre where fire fighting professionals can receive training within an environment of maximum realism and immersion, as well as being able to compare and evaluate strategies, understand and test new methods, and most importantly help achieve more efficient and safer decision making in wildfire suppression. In the last 4 years more than a thousand of different organization fire leaders have trained at SEILAF. Now we have the experience and the records of simulation missions in the worst cases. We are optimistic by nature and it is always hard to think that certain circumstances can happen to us. That is why we are often not sufficiently prepared when things get complicated. We have been taught always to be rational is important, that logic is the opposite of the emotions and intuition. If we really want to know that behind all that we have to break some things and to value others. –– Knowledge, procedures and checklists, is address the lack of experience with simulated practice and is a good help when there is no other way to train. –– Know that it is important to put the first stone and where to base. –– The importance of situational awareness, the ability to perceive and make the relevant knowledge of a situation. –– Management error. Go wrong in a controlled environment is more bearable and it almost always occurs in a safe environment as well. –– All you have to do with the emotional, learn to control, overcome fears, shyness, self-confidence, reduce aggression .... they are slower process and should start a personal conviction. And the real truth of the matter:“If you want something you never had, you have to do something you´ve never done”. KEYWORDS Training descision making, technology to improve situational awareness, human factors

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14th International Wildland Fire Safety Summit

Abstracts Posters

P17. Assessing Impacts of Climate Change and Human Population Growth on Forest Fire Potential in the Tropics - A Case Study of the Tain II Forest Reserve in Ghana Presenter: Eric Osei-Kwarteng ABSTRACT The increase in human population pressure especially in forest fringe communities and the accelerated change of land use in tropical vegetations i.e. conversion of forested ecosystems into farming and pastoral ecosystems have led to an increase in the use of fire. While certain tropical dry forests and savannahs have been adapted to anthropogenic fire use over the years and show typical features of sustainable fire ecosystems, the opening and fragmentation of tropical evergreen forests has increased the risk of wildfires and this has destructive impacts on biodiversity and sustainability of these forest ecosystems. An assessment of potential impacts of climate change on fire regimes in the Tain II Forest Reserve of Ghana was carried out using the GCMs and a GCM derived lightning model (Goldammer and Price, 1997). Impacts of human population increase on forest fire potential in and around the forest reserve was also undertaken through the use of primary and secondary data sources. Primary data was obtained through interviews of community members and other stakeholders with the use of semi-structured questionnaires, field observations and focus group discussions. Secondary data was also obtained from existing literature relevant to the study. Considering the potential impacts of climate change on fire regimes in the Tain II Forest Reserve, the study concluded that, there is a high degree of certainty that land use and climate features under conditions of a 2xCO2 atmosphere will influence fire regimes in the area. In terms of impacts of human population increase on forest fire potential, the study concluded that, the potential for fire to occur in and around the reserve is high due to increased farming and grazing impacts which leads to the formation of open and sparse vegetation cover influencing a high potential for wildfires to occur in and around the reserve. Stakeholders in wildfire management and for that matter climate change issues need to be prepared for managing situations which, in the near future, may require the development of innovative technologies and the preparedness of administrations to accomplish tasks that may differ from todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s situation. KEYWORDS climate change, forest fires, human population growth

P18. Operational Awareness and Reporting via Asset Telemetry and Tracking Presenter: Victor Trotter, President/CTO, Trotter Controls, Inc. Additional Authors: David Coward, Product Manager / Senior Developer, DataVault /Trotter Controls, Inc., Marc Gerth, Operations Manager, DataVault /Trotter Controls, Inc., Stephen Holding, Business Manager, Field Air, Hugo Arceo, Sales Manager, Air Tractor Europe, S.L

ABSTRACT The need for real time information during fire fighting operations is critical when coordinating aerial or ground based assets quickly during ever changing conditions. Fleet information must be available and visualized quickly during fire fighting operations and is also required for accurate post analysis of the event. Real time asset configuration, location, and operational data is a critical part of overall coordination and management of firefighting assets. Real time available data and telemetry technology has evolved as follows: –– THE DISTANT PAST – rudimentary tracking, not necessarily all collated in a single system –– NEAR PAST – satellite tracking based on time or distance collated into a single system –– NOW – advanced tracking (such as retardant line start and end, coverage level, volume, and asset status) collated into a single system with historical information available –– NEAR FUTURE – dispatch text messaging to the aviation asset by the agency with automated guidance to target, mission data, reporting of product dropped. and daily logon/logoff by pilot/aircraft (the electronic FOR becomes a reality) This presentation will focus on the following areas: –– Briefly introduce an advanced telemetry and data acquisition system that monitors aircraft position, fire gate parameters, and provides real time data to operations and discuss the recent NAFC implementation of advanced tracking technology –– Describe a near future, two way messaging system that allows the pilot and authorities to share mission data bi-directionally –– Present some the advantages of real-time data for operational decision making and asset management –– Operator Benefits –– Agency Benefits –– Show some examples of post analysis reporting of the captured data to study the efficiency of various assets as well as for assistance in accounting and asset management. KEYWORDS data analysis, telemetry, operational effectiveness

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14th International Wildland Fire Safety Summit

Wildland Fire Safety Awards Ceremony The IAWF WILDLAND FIRE SAFETY AWARD is given to someone in the wildland firefighting community who has made a significant contribution to wildland firefighter safety, either directly on the fireline, or indirectly through management or cultural changes. Their contribution is frequently beyond their normal everyday job expectations - sometimes at the potential risk to their own career, and their example can encourage others to act in a similar manner. Nomination will be open in years corresponding with the Safety Summit.

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83 Photo: Pau Costa Foundation

International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Content:

International Congress on Prescribed Fires

International Congress on Prescribed Fires BARCELONA, 1-3 FEBRUARY

Organisers

Supporters

Institutional support

Conference supported by: Project: Evaluaciรณn de la calidad del suelo, control de la erosiรณn y recuperaciรณn de la cubierta vegetal en distintos escenarios y manejos postincendio. CGL2013-47862-C2-2-R. Project: Estrategias de gestiรณn forestal y manejo postincendio orientadas a la conservaciรณn y mejora de la calidad del suelo. CGL2016-75178-C2-2-R

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International Congress on Prescribed Fires

ICOPFIRES is the first international congress on prescribed fires in Europe. We aim to connect the diverse stakeholders involved in forest management (e.g. local authorities, firefighters, foresters, land managers and owners) with researchers from several fields, as biology, geography, ecology, sociology, meteorology, climatology, engineering, soil scientists, physicists among others. It is important to transfer knowledge among the physics and provide a space for sharing and learning from the experiences of all the experts about the use of prescribed fire and land management.

Organising Committee UNIVERSITY OF BARCELONA Xavier Úbeda Meritxell Alcañiz Marcos Francos

PAU COSTA FOUNDATION Jordi Vendrell Mariona Borràs Oriol Vilalta Núria Prat Helena Ballart Jordi Pagès

CATALAN FIRE AND RESCUE SERVICE Marta Miralles Asier Larrañaga Edgar Nebot Étel Arilla

MYKOLAS ROMERIS UNIVERSITY Paulo Pereira

FOREST SCIENCE CENTER OF CATALONIA Pere Casals Teresa Valor

Scientific Committee UNIVERSITAT DE VALÈNCIA Artemi Cerdà

UNIVERSITY OF SWANSEA Stefann Doerr

UNIVERSIDADE DO MINHO Antònio Bento Antònio Vieira

UNIVERSITY OF BOLONIA Giovanni Mastrolonardo

UNIVERSIDAD DE MÁLAGA Juan Francisco Martínez Murillo UNIVERSIDAD DE SEVILLA Antonio Jordan Lorena Zavala UNIVERSITY OF SWANSEA Cristina Santín

UNIVERSIDAD COMPLUTENSE DE MADRID Cristina Montiel

UNIVERSIDAD DE LA LAGUNA José R. Arevalo

UNIVERSIDAD DE LLEIDA Domingo Molina

INSTITUT NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE AGRONOMIQUE Eric Rigolot

U. S. FOREST SERVICE Matthew Dickinson Joe O’Brien

UNIVERSIDAD MIGUEL HERNÁNDEZ Vicky Arcenegui Jorge Mataix-Solera Elena Lozano

IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON, UK Guillermo Rein

UNIVERSIDAD DE ZARAGOZA David Badia

CENTRE TECNOLÒGIC FORESTAL DE CATALUNYA José Ramón González-Olabarria Eduard Plana Jordi Garcia-Pausas Miriam Piqué

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Deborah A. Martin UNIVERSIDAD DE SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA Luís Outeiro UNIVERSIDAD DE CHILE Pablo Sarricolea

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CENTRO DE ESTUDIOS AMBIENTALES DEL MEDITERRÁNEO, UNIVERSITAT D’ALACANT Jaime Baeza

WAGENINGEN UNIVERSITY Saskia Keesstra

UNIVERSITAT DE BARCELONA Beatriz Duguy

CENTRE D’ECOLOGIE FONCTIONNELLE ET EVOLUTIVE CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE Roger Prodon UNIVERSITY OF TORINO Davide Ascoli SAPEURS POMPIERS DES BOUCHES DU RHÔNE Sebastien Lahaye DISPOSITIVO INFOCA, ANDALUSIA Francisco Senra FOREST SERVICE DAFM Ciaran Nugent

UNIVERSITAT DE LLEIDA Cristina Vega-Garcia

Oral Presentation Abstracts

Venue: Universitat de Barcelona (UB) In the very centre of city stands the University of Barcelona’s most emblematic complex: the Historic Building. Constructed in 1863 by the architect Elies Rogent, the building was one of the focal points in the new layout of the Catalan capital. This renowned architect and mentor to Gaudí designed both the Historic Building of the University of Barcelona and the city’s Conciliar Seminary. Standing side by side, the buildings have numerous architectural and artistic treasures, yet these are largely unknown to the general public. We invite you to discover them by yourselves. The UB is above all an urban university, outward-reaching and cosmopolitan like the city in which its campuses live. And because of this, it plays a direct and active part in the urban Barcelona, becoming a hub of cultural activity for the city itself. The UB campuses are spread out across the entire inner-city area, thus fostering a series of close ties between the institution of our University and the city around us. These ties contribute to the human and cultural environment of certain parts of Barcelona and enables university’s community to enjoy both the city’s services and those of the UB .

METRO STATIONS: L3 and L1 (Stop: Plaça Catalunya) L1 and L2 (Stop: Universitat) BUS STATIONS: Lines 54, V13, 50, 59, H12, 66 (Stop: Plaça Universitat) Line 63 (Stop: Pl. Universitat/Balmes) Lines 24, 91, H16, 41, 55 (Stop: Pl. Universitat/Pelai)

FROM THE AIRPORT By AeroBus: A1 or A2. Stop: Plaça Universitat. Aerobus Company (www.aerobusbcn.com). Frequency, every 5-10 min from 5:35 a.m. to 1 a.m. / 35 min journey time approx. / 5,90€ single trip By Taxi: Official taxis in Barcelona are black and yellow, with their license number in the door, and have the exclusivity of the airport service / 25€ - 30€ (22 km)

Photo: Universitat de Barcelona

International Congress on Prescribed Fires

FIRST FLOOR

VIP Meeting Room

Poster sessions

Coffee break & meals WC Registration desk AULA MAGNA Parallel sessions

Sponsors & Exhibitors

PARANINF. Plenary Sessions MAIN ENTRANCE

ART&FIRE Exhibition ‘Incandescent Memories’

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International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Program Wednesday, February 1st 2017 08:00 / 09:00 Registration Opens 09:00 / 09:30 Welcome and remarks Opening Session 1 09:30 / 10:30 Marc Castellnou. Chair: Cristina Montiel 10:30 / 11:15 Coffee Break 11:15 / 14:00 Oral Sessions AULA MAGNA Parallel Session 1: Chair: Rosa Maria Canals & Paulo Pereira Post-fire evolution of soil organic matter content and biological properties 11:15 / 11:30 after prescribed shrubland burning in Tella, Central Pyrenees, ARMAS-HERRERA, Cecilia M. et al. 11:30 / 11:45

Optimizing the use of prescribed fire for managing wildland fuels in Catalonia, ALCASENA, Fermín J.

Optimization of fuel reduction burning for carbon and water outcomes – 11:45 / 12:00 An Australian perspective, GHARUN, M, POSSELL, M.and BELL, T.L. Effects of prescribed fire for pasture management on soil C-related properties: a 12:00 / 12:15 1-year study case in Buisán, Central Pyrenees. GIRONA-GARCÍA, Antonio et al. Prescribed fire experiences as a tool to crop residue removal 12:15 / 12:30 for forest biomass management, MOLINA, Juan Ramón et al. 12:30 / 12:45

Evaluating Wildland Surface Fuels for Potential Prescribed Fires in the Netherlands OSWALD, Brian P. et al.

Prescribed fires effects on runoff quality and quantity and soil losses 12:45 / 13:00 in Mediterranean forest PLAZA-ALVAREZ, Pedro Antonio, et al. Evaluating Seasons of Prescribed Burning in Coastal Prairie and Interior Coastal 13:00 / 13:15 Plains Rangelands of Southern Texas, USA. RIDEOUT-HANZAK, Sandra, et al. 13:15 / 13:30

Prescribed fires effects on soil and plant properties in a Mediterranean forest SAGRA Javier et al.

13:30 / 13:45

Fire induced rock-flakes as long term containers for trapped ash SHTOBER-ZISU, Nurit, et al.

Effects of prescribed burning on litterfall biomass in mixed stands of Pinus nigra and 13:45 / 14:00 Pinus pinaster and pure stands od Pinus nigra in the Cuenca Mountains ESPINOSA, Juncal et al. 14:00 / 15:30 Lunch 90

PARANIMF Parallel Session 2: Chair: Ciaran Nugent & Jordi Oliveres From fire as a threat to the burning program. The introduction of prescribed burning in one of areas with the most natural forest fires in Europe ALMODÓVAR ARÁEZ, José Prescribed fires as practices of complex forest fire-fighting operations COLLELL, Francesc Practical use of aerial ignition for controlled fires in South Africa CONNOLLY, Bob, De BRUNO AUSTIN, Chris Prescribed burning on heathlands with military history FIŠER, Bohumil, MAYEROVÁ, Hana* The journey of introducing prescribed and tactical burning to the south wales valleys- sowing the seeds. HOPE, Craig, et al. The journey of introducing prescribed and tactical burning to the south wales valleysstriking whilst the iron is hot. HOPE, Craig, et al. Where There is Prescribed Fire, There is Smoke LAHM, Peter The practice of prescribed burning in France MASSAIU, A (2) Prescribed fire voluntary guidelines in Spain. Standardization of protocols, competences and training. HERNÁNDEZ PAREDES, Elena et al. Adequacy of prescribed burns to wildfires statistics. EPRIF Program experience LÓPEZ SANTALLA, Antonio, et al. --

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International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Program Wednesday, February 1st 2017 15:30 / 18:00 Oral Sessions AULA MAGNA Parallel Session 3: Chair: Cristina Santín & Saskia Keestra

15:30 / 15:45

Prescribed fire as a tool to conserve heathlands in North West of Spain CALVO, Leonor et al.

Restoration of gorse-dominated shrublands by combining prescribed burnings with 15:45 / 16:00 horse-guided grazing in temperate protected habitats, CANALS, Rosa M, et al. 16:00 / 16:15

Understory woody resprouting strategies after prescribed fires CASALS, Pere et al.

Short-term effects of a spring prescribed fire on the understory vegetation of Pinus 16:15 / 16:30 halepensis Mill. forests in Northeastern Spain FUENTES, Laura and DUGUY, Beatriz Drought increases fire severity and alters vegetation regeneration in Calluna heathlands 16:30 / 16:45 and peat bogs GRAU, Roger, et al. Prescribed burning to enhance Mediterranean pine species natural regeneration in pure 16:45 / 17:00 and mixed forest stands. LUCAS-BORJA, Manuel Esteban, et al. Assessing the effectiveness of mechanical thinning and prescribed burning on fire 17:00 / 17:15 behavior in Pinus nigra forests in NE Spain PIQUÉ, Míriam et al. Restoring reindeer lichen pastures after fire in boreal Sweden: an experimental approach 17:15 / 17:30 to link indigenous and academic knowledge, ROTURIER, Samuel et al. 17:30 / 17:45

Prescribed burning effects on Mediterranean pine growth and terpene storage VALOR, Teresa et al.

Fire regime dynamics in two unevenly developed coupled human and natural 17:45 / 18:00 Mediterranean chestnut forest landscapes since the beginning of industrialization, SEIJO, Francisco Plenary Session 1 18:00 / 19:00 Scientific support to prescribed underburning in southern Europe: what do we know? Paulo Fernandes: Chair: Domingo Molina

PARANIMF Oral Sessions: Chair: Cathelijne R. Stoof & Eduard Plana Klamath River TREX: Community Based and Cultural Burns Prescribed Fire Example of Fire Protection and Land Management. DUCE ARAGÜÉS, José Luis Experimental data on the use of long term retardant in prescribed burnings and preventive applications MANS, Vicens, et al. Can we find patterns of flammability in grass? POSSELL, Malcolm, BELL, Tina L. Shaded fuelbreak areas maintenance with prescribed burnings: effects on crown fire behavior. SENRA RIVERO, Francisco Analyses of permeability and pressure-drop in South Eastern Australian woody debris fuel bed WANG, Houzhi, et al. Las quemas controladas y prescritas de pastos en la alta montaña pirenaica: ayudando a la ganadería y colaborando en la gestión del territorio COS d’AGENTS RURALS La tramitación administrativa de una quema prescrita de vegetación en Catalunya TERÉS, José Ángel

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International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Program Thursday, February 2nd 2017 08:00 / 09:00 Registration Opening Session 2 09:00 / 10:00 Filter bubbles, wishful thinking and prescribed fires Tina Bell. Chair: Jorge Mataix-Solera 10:00 / 11:00 Poster Session 11:00 / 11:45 Coffee Break 11:45 / 14:00 Oral Sessions AULA MAGNA Parallel Session 5: Chair: Vicky Arcenegui & Artemi Cerdà

11:45 / 12:00

Passing the Torch: Prescribed Fire Education in Kansas, U.S.A. BLOCKSOME, Carolyn E, et al.

Prescribed fire used as a tool for forest management in Catalonia (Spain): 12:00 / 12:15 forest owners point of view ALCAÑIZ, Meritxell et al. Fire as a contentious issue in productive land management in New Zealand: perceptions 12:15 / 12:30 and reality of fire use BAYNE, Karen, et al. 12:30 / 12:45

Grassland Fires in Lithuania. Public perception and legal barriers. PEREIRA, Paulo

12:45 / 13:00

Prescribed burning and cooperation for eco-innovation projects; multifunctional management of landscape value in the Pyrenees of Lleida, OLIVERES, Jordi,

13:00 / 13:15

The Dutch and Wildland Fires- A study of Public Perception OSWALD, Brian et al.

The need for more experimental fires: the ethe example of the Canadian Boreal Com13:15 / 13:30 munity FireSmart Projectxample of the Canadian Boreal Community FireSmart Project, DOERR, Stefan 13:30 / 13:45

The Value of Prescribed Burn Associations FAWCETT, Jennifer Evans et al.

Communication tools for enhancing “good fire” concept and wildfire 13:45 / 14:00 risk social’s awareness PLANA, Eduard, et al., 14:00 / 15:30 Lunch 94

PARANIMF Parallel Session 6: Chair: Marta Miralles & Adam Watts Prescribed burn program by firefighters: operational novelties and research challenges. NEBOT, Edgar Cristina and GALIANA MARTÍN, Luis, From fire regime to wildfire regime and vice versa MONTIEL MOLINA Open Ended Fire Breaks - New Technology for Creating Extensive Fire Breaks in Challenging Landscapes TROLLOPE, Lynne A, et al. Guidelines for Prescribed Burning for Range Management for Livestock Production and Wildlife Management in African Grasslands and Savannas TROLLOPE, Winston et al. Prescribed burning as a method for active conservation of heathland SZCZĘŚNIAK, Ewa et al. Fuel Management and Fire Risk Reduction with Prescribed Fire in Wildland Urban Interface in South-Central Spain FERNÁNDEZ ORTIZ, Juan J, GARCÍA ALONSO, Juan P. Prescribed fires as a tool for silvicultural management applied in plots of LIFE projects and in strategic points of management for prevention of wildfires. DALMAU, Emili Partnership working in the UK to prevent, prepare for and respond to wildfires a case study of the Northumberland Collaborative Burning Project STACEY, Robert J and MILLER, Andrew --

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International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Program Thursday, February 2nd 2017 15:30 / 18:00 Oral Sessions PARANIMF Parallel Session 4: Chair: Stefan Doerr & Francisco Senra

15:30 / 15:45

Prospect on prescribed burning development in France RIGOLOT, Eric, LAMBERT, Bernard

15:45 / 16:00

Prescribed burning practice and research in Italy ASCOLI, Davide

16:00 / 16:15

Integration of Prescribed Burning in Corsica’s land management. MASSAIU, A (1)

Historical and cultural roots of controlled burning practices 16:15 / 16:30 in the province of Cáceres (Spain) GALIANA MARTÍN, Luis and MONTIEL MOLINA, Cristina 16:30 / 16:45

Project Life Taiga – reintroduction of forest fires in Swedish boreal forests WEDMAN, Andreas and ROVA, Johan

16:45 / 17:00

Prescribes Fires in Valencia Community QUÍLEZ, Raúl and ALCARAZ, Roberto

17:00 / 17:15

'Is Fearr an Tine Bheag* '- Developing a Prescribed fire Culture in Ireland NUGENT, Ciaran

Oregon’s Prescribed Fire Council: working in the future with prescribed burning 17:15 / 17:30 and managed wildfire through partnerships STAMPER, Amanda C, BAILEY, John D Plenary Session 2 17:30 / 18:30 Building capacity to use fire, an all-hands all-lands approach Jeremy Bailey. Chair: Luís Galiana 18:30 / 18:45

Introduction to A.F.E. WATTS, Adam & SEIJO, Francisco

18:45 / 19:00

Closing ceremony Remarks for Fieldtrip

Photo: Inici dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;un cicle (2013), Josep Serra i Tarragon. Incandescent Memories, Art&Fire Project

International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Pre-Conference Fieldtrip Prescribed burnings as a tool for wildfire risk reduction Trip leaders: Pere Casals (CTFC1), Teresa Valor (CTFC1) and Asier LarraĂąaga (GRAF2) 1

Forest Sciences Centre of Catalonia

Forest Fire Area of the Catalan Fire and Rescue Service

TOPIC The pre-conference Fieldtrip will focus on the use of prescribed burnings as a tool for wildfire risk reduction. The trip leaders, CTFC researchers and GRAF firefighters, will present the behavior of one of the most extreme wildfire that occurred in the Central Catalunya (SolsonĂ¨s, 1998) and which shifted the strategies of wildfire prevention and extinction. Highlights include discussions in the field about the pros-and-cons of understory fuel management of Submediterranean black pine (Pinus nigra ssp. salzmannii) forest. The visit will show different understory management options such as mechanical clearing or burning and discuss the factors determining the resprouting vigor of different shrub species. The effects of prescribed burning on P. sylvestris and P. nigra will also be analysed.

THE TRIP WILL DEPART FROM BARCELONA EARLY IN THE MORNING AND RETURN TO THE CITY LATE IN THE AFTERNOON

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99 Photo: Pau Costa Foundation

International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Keynote Speakers Prescribed Fire Marc Castellnou, Chief of Forest Fire Area, Catalan Fire and Rescue Service (Spain) BIO Marc Castellnou is an expert fire analyst in planning but also strategic and tactic operational IC. He has introduced fire ecology into decision making on wildfires in Spain and also a operational prescribed burning program, fire analysis as a tool linking prevention and suppression, and has promoted a lessons learnedbased concept in the fire service. Marc is also the president of Pau Costa Foundation, a platform for capitalizing on knowledge and experience gathered by specialists in fire ecology and management at national and international level. Marc has experience in managing fire in Catalonia, USA, Portugal, France, Scotland, England,â&#x20AC;Ś He has a degree in forest engineer and in agriculture. Marc is also the winner of 2015 Wildland Fire Safety Award. ABSTRACT The use of fire to manage the landscape it is not new in the old Europe. However, the first time firefighters prescribed a fire, it was rejected. Traces of fire can be found throughout millennia, for example in the Iberian Peninsula it has contributed in the creation of unique landscapes: the dehesa. In fact, right now there are several celebrations using fire, torches and bonfires. All those are reminiscences form a nomadic past. Our elderlies used mid and low intensity fires to manage forests, equivalent to lightning fires. But this economy disappeared and so did those traditions. The grandchild of those who used fire, are now firefighters working on the forests as their ancestors, yet this time supressing flames. Along the way we have lost values and knowledge, that we are now trying to get back: the fire paradox, the piroecology and the species and diversity depending on open spaces. Our current ecosystems are not fire-resistant, many species and their biodiversity values cannot compete in the contemporary dense forests. At some point, we thought that dense forests were desirable because appeared in unmanaged landscapes. However, we transformed vital 120000-year spaces into recreation areas for modern-world societies. Even after 30 years of suppression improvements, large wildfires started becoming a threat. Fuel management, nutrient cycle and natural regeneration brought the opportunity to restore the traditional use of fire. Not because it was desired, but because it contributed to simplify the wildfire issue. For the last 20 years, we reintroduced prescribed burning, in the Pyrenees to maintain traditional grazing, shrub burning and control ignitions or in other regions to control large wildfires that had the capacity to overwhelm firefighting services. But this is the start of the end of the road. We need to better know the effects of fire and no-fire on the ecosystems while the ecosystem is rapidly changing, diversifying and adapting. We are part of the process, but we shall not govern it. We shall avoid getting lost in the ecosystemâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s evolutions, and find the path to follow in order to avoid damaging the ecosystem while trying to saving it.

100

Scientific support to prescribed underburning in southern Europe: what do we know? Paulo M. Fernandes, Researcher, PhD in Forest Sciences, University of Trรกs-os-Montes e Alto Douro (Portugal) BIO Paulo Fernandes is a Forest Sciences Ph.D. on prescribed burning in pine stands (2003) with experience in various national and international projects mostly on field-based and management-oriented fuel and fire behaviour modeling topics. He played coordinating and supervisory roles in the EUFIRELAB (2002-2006) and FIRE STAR (2002-2005) European cooperative research initiatives. He managed the scientific activity of the 6th FP FIRE PARADOX project within the coordinating team (2006-2010) and was a member of the steering and management committees of COST Action FP0701 - Post-fireForest Management in Southern Europe (2008-2012). He presently coordinates the BONFIRE project (2016-2018). Paulo Fernandes is regularly involved in prescribed fire training courses and collaborated in setting the basis of prescribed burning planning and monitoring in Portugal (2004). He holds an Associate Professor position at UTAD since 2013, where he lectures on wildland fire. He currently serves in the board of directors of the International Association of Wildland Fire and in the supervisory board of the Pau Costa Foundation and chairs the editorial advisory committee of the International Journal of Wildland Fire. As a result of his scientific activity Paulo Fernandes authored or co-authored 70 papers in international peer-reviewed journals and 23 book chapters. ABSTRACT Pine stands were the initial target of prescribed burning research and operations in southern Europe. However, resistance to forest underburning is (and has been) notorious, regardless of the fact that the pay-off of hazard-reduction burning is expected to be higher for forest than for shrubland. Thus, prescribed burning has expanded mostly in open vegetation types, which account for more than 90% of the total area treated. Is insufficient R&D a factor involved in the poor development of prescribed underburning (PUB) in the Mediterranean basin? PUB research started by addressing the effects on soil properties, vegetation and fuels, in order to establish whether it could be used to decrease fire hazard without negative impacts. Subsequent research focused on quantitative relationships linking site and weather conditions, fire behaviour and fire effects, with the goal of providing sounder decision support to PUB operations. However, R&D on the hazard-reduction (fuel dynamics, effects on fire spread, intensity and severity) and cost effectiveness of PB, as well as on the cumulative effects of treatments, remains underdeveloped and difficult to generalize. The analysis of data collected by both managers and researchers in the frame of PUB monitoring can decisively foster the sustainability of PUB practices. Adequate knowledge transfer and outreach to managers, decision makers and the public would then increase the acceptance and adoption of PUB.

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101

International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Keynote Speakers

Filter bubbles, wishful thinking and prescribed fires Tina Bell, Researcher, PhD in Botany, University of Sydney (Australia) Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney NSW 2006 Australia. Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre, East Melbourne VIC 3002, Australia.

BIO Tina Bellâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s research career began with a PhD at the University of Western Australia in the Department of Botany. Her postgraduate research investigated the fire response and nutrient acquisition of southern heaths. During postdoctoral studies in the Department of Botany at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, her research broadened to encompass the fire response of northern heaths and nutrient acquisition of rushes and grasses. She has been working in Victoria in the areas of fire ecology and plant physiology, firstly with the Department of Environment and Sustainability and more recently in the School of Forest and Ecosystem Science at the University of Melbourne. She was appointed as Senior Lecturer in Fire Ecology at the University of Sydney in March 2010. ABSTRACT The concept of a filter bubble comes from the social media where algorithms are used to personalise information presented to the user based on their past interactions with the internet. The information offered is according to a set of preferences and is thought to reinforce particular beliefs through confirmation bias. This presentation will examine community perceptions about prescribed burning in light of such psychology. People living in fire-prone areas of Australia are well aware of the dangers of uncontrollable bushfires yet they have conflicting insights about the effects of prescribed fires. This is despite prescribed burning being used extensively in Australia for the past 50 years for fuel reduction and environmental management on public land. People living in forested areas have the feeling that the amount of prescribed burning done in the forest is adequate for protection of life and property, a perception that may affect their preparedness in the event of an uncontrollable bushfire. In addition to this critical conflict in awareness, many people are still suspicious of prescribed burning being a suitable management practice for maintaining forest health and diversity. Even with the growing concern about an increase in frequency and severity of bushfires with climate change, the general public are not overtly changing their attitudes towards fire. Ecological, health and social research associated with fires has flourished in recent years and we have the opportunity to learn more with every new planned and unplanned fire event. This new knowledge must be used more effectively in educating the populace to break any filter bubbles that have been created.

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Building capacity to use fire, an all-hands all-lands approach Jeremy Bailey, Fire Learning Network Associate Director, The Nature Conservancy BIO Jeremy Bailey is The Nature Conservancyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Fire Learning Network Associate Director, who also serves as the Chair for the Coalition of Prescribed Fire Councils. He has worked as a firefighter, fire lighter and fire manager for the past 22 years as a volunteer firefighter, Emergency Medical Technician, Hotshot, Helitack crew leader, Fire Use Module supervisor and Division Supervisor. Currently Jeremy works as a Burn Boss, leading controlled burns and training others in the use of fire. Specializing in working with communities, Jeremy works closely with municipal, state, tribal and federal fire organizations as well as universities, NGOs, and private fire and forestry contractors. Jeremy trains others to enhance local fire use skills, integrate media and local community partners, and safely accomplish controlled burns adjacent to communities. The Training Exchange program that Jeremy manages is delivering thousands of acres of good fire and training hundreds of practitioners each year. ABSTRACT Hear how people who need to use fire are finding ways to achieve their goals. Learn how communities are putting the right kind of fire, in the right places at the right time; but also how they are limited by access to resources, knowledge or are prevented by policies and regulations. Be encouraged by success stories of determined individuals overcoming endless challenges and how they are networking with others to help share their lessons learned. Jeremy Bailey will discuss the Fire Learning Networkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Training Exchanges and how they are building cooperative burn teams comprised of numerous organizations which share personnel and equipment to accomplish priority prescribed burns. He will also discuss the Prescribed Fire Councils that have been created in 28 States and of how these organizations are changing the culture of fire in the United States.

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International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Oral Presentation Abstracts Prescribed fire used as a tool for forest management in Catalonia (Spain): forest owners point of view ALCAÑIZ, Meritxell1*, OUTEIRO, Luís2, FRANCOS, Marcos1 and ÚBEDA, Xavier1 1

GRAM (Grup de Recerca Mediterrània), Department of Geography, University of Barcelona, Montalegre, 6, 08001 Barcelona, Spain.

m.alcaniz@ub.edu* 2

Postdoctoral Fellowship Xunta de Galicia, Departament of Applied Economy, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Spain

ABSTRACT It is well known by the scientific community that fire can be considered a key ecological factor in some ecosystems as in the Mediterranean areas because humans have always coexisted with the fire in the landscape. However, the perception of the use of fire for forest management is not completely accepted yet because fire is considered as bad by most of the part of our society. Forest policies implemented (i.e. fire suppression) in the last decades, rural exodus and the increasing human pressure in urban-forest interface areas have helped to accumulate fuel in our forests increasing the wildfire risk. So, it is known that we need to do forest management to reduce forest fires and prevent its devastating effects. Prescribed fires have been used in Catalonia (Spain) for almost two decades in order to achieve different objectives as managing fuel accumulations, regenerating certain plant species, improving habitats for mammals, facilitating animal grazing of shrublands or improving soil fertility by the GRAF (Forest Action Support Group). In this study, we want to ask different stakeholders involved in prescribed fires about its perception of this technique used to avoid wildfires in our landscapes. Firstly, we have done interviews with some forest owners that use prescribed fires to manage his lands and other group of forest owners that use mechanical techniques. We can conclude that the owners that are familiar with prescribed fires are disposed to do more in order to reduce wildfire risk. However, it is also possible to notice that owners affected by a wildfire in the past are against the use of this management technique. KEYWORDS interview, social perception, forest management, fire suppression

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Optimizing the use of prescribed fire for managing wildland fuels in Catalonia ALCASENA, FermĂn J. 1*, AGER, Alan A. 2, SALIS, Michele 3 and VEGA-GARCĂ?A, Cristina 1, 4 1

Department of Agriculture and Forest Engineering, University of Lleida, Alcalde Rovira Roure 191, Lleida 25198, Spain, *ferminalcasena@

eagrof.udl.cat; cvega@eagrof.udl.cat 2

USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, 72510 Coyote Road, Pendleton, Oregon 97801, USA, aager@fs.fed.us

IAFES Division, Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change (CMCC), Via De Nicola 9, Sassari 07100, Italy, michele.salis@cmcc.it

Forest Science Center of Catalonia (CTFC), Pujada del Seminari s/n, 25280 Solsona, Catalonia, Spain

ABSTRACT Large wildfires that escape initial attack and overwhelm suppression capabilities continue to cause substantial losses to natural resources, forest socioeconomic services and human communities in Catalonia. These fires spread over long distances, burning through fuel breaks and spreading ember showers into communities. Rural exodus, the abandonment of marginal agricultural lands, lack of management in Mediterranean forests, wildfire simultaneity and increasing wildland-urban interface areas all contribute to a growing wildfire problem. We implement in Catalonia a wildfire modeling based quantitative assessment framework to manage forest fuels with the use of prescribed fire. Here, fuels are reduced in strategic locations to disrupt and contain wildfire major movements that, in concert with suppression activities can help reduce the size and losses from large wildfires. In this talk we present our work on spatial optimization to identify high priority planning areas and forest stands for prescribed fire. We first used simulation modeling to map wildfire risk and burned area transmission. We then used optimization to locate prescribed fire blocks to block major surface fire pathways, enable ember emission and mitigate risk to residential houses. To conclude, we examined major constraints to the implementation of optimal prescribed fire blocks in the study area due to legislation and fragmented land ownership. Our methods can contribute to improving the efficiency of fuel treatment investments in southern European landscapes and other fire-prone areas worldwide. KEYWORDS fuel treatment, spatial optimization, prescribed fires, fire modeling, wildfire risk mitigation, Mediterranean areas

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International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Oral Presentation Abstracts

From fire as a threat to the burning program. The introduction of prescribed burning in Cuenca province, Spain. ALMODÓVAR ARÁEZ, José.1* 1

Dirección Provincial de Agricultura, Medio Ambiente y Desarrollo Rural. Sección de Incendios Forestales. Calle Colón, 2 16004 Cuenca.

jalmodovar@jccm.es

ABSTRACT The forest area of Cuenca province, the Serranía, is located inside the Iberian system. This is the mountain range of the center-east part of the Iberian Peninsula, where the highest amount of natural forest fires (lightning origin) of Spain -and possibly Europe- are registered. This area is made of continuous woodlands, mainly pine stands between 800 and 1800 m above sea level, where sustainable forestry exploitations of wood harvesting and game hunting take place and are of relevant importance for the local economy. Despite the recurrence of forest fires, traditionally fire has been seen as a threat, as the enemy of the the forest, only used to burn slash piles during the coldest days and never for fire suppression. It is described the gradual process being followed in order to introduce the prescribed burning in the area as a key element in the forestry and fuel management tools. First stage consisted of training to forest fire suppression and prevention agency staff. Afterwards, as a second stage, explanatory lectures aimed to public forest managers were delivered including demonstration burnings. In the third stage, lectures were extended to public local entities owning forest land and fuel management burnings were carried out in their properties. Finally, it was achieved the integration of prescribed burnings into the fuel management program in the Cuenca province and they are considered as another fire hazard reduction treatment among the range of interventions that are being implemented. Nowadays, in conjunction with fuel management burnings, scientific burnings and civil protection burnings in wild urban interface are being performed. Moreover, the process of contacting private land owners have started in order to extend the use of prescribed burnings. Suppression fire is also becoming a norm in extinguishing. KEYWORDS prescribed burnings, forest fires, fuel management, training.

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Post-fire evolution of soil organic matter content and biological properties after prescribed shrubland burning in Tella, Central Pyrenees ARMAS-HERRERA, Cecilia M.1*, MARTÍ, Clara1, BADÍA, David1, ORTIZ-PERPIÑÁ, Oriol1, GIRONA-GARCÍA1, Antonio and MORA, Juan Luis2 1

Escuela Politécnica Superior, Universidad de Zaragoza, Ctra de Cuarte s/n, 22071 Huesca, Spain

Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de Zaragoza, Miguel Servet 177, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain

ABSTRACT Subalpine grasslands have largely decreased in the Central Pyrenees in recent decades in favor of shrublands with low biodiversity and pastoral value. The objective of this work was to evaluate the short and mid-term effects of prescribed burning on the contents of soil organic matter (SOM) and soil biological activity in areas encroached by Echinospartum horridum (Vahl) Rothm. in the Central Pyrenees (NE Spain). Soil samples were collected in triplicate before burning (unburned), a few hours after burning (burned T0), and one and five years later (burned T1 and T5), from the Ah horizon at 0–1, 1–2 and 2–3 cm depths. We analysed soil organic C (SOC), total N, soil respiration, microbial biomass C (MBC), and the β-D-glucosidase and acid phosphatase enzymatic activity. SOC and total N significantly decreased after prescribed fire at T0, which affected similarly the first 3 cm of soil (–40.2 and –26.3 %, respectively, as average for 0-3 cm depth), showing a trend to decrease at T5 (–50.3 and –46.5 %). This loss might be explained by an increase of soil temperature due to the disappearance of the plant cover, and/or the release of nutrients after burning, which might have stimulated SOM mineralization. Biological activity was also severely affected. Soil respiration (–54.5 %), MBC (–32.3 %) and enzymatic activity (–49.3 % -glucosidase-, –48.2 % -phosphatase-) decreased at T0. Most parameters barely showed signs of recovery with time. Only the MBC reached levels at T5 similar to those recorded before burning. These results describe a stronger impact of the prescribed fire on topsoil properties than usually reported. Monitoring their evolution is necessary to assess the suitability of this practice for pasture maintenance and for adapting the frequency of prescribed fires in order to minimize its impact on soil. KEYWORDS pastureland, shrub encroachment, prescribed fire, soil organic matter, soil biological activity

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International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Oral Presentation Abstracts

Prescribed burning practice and research in Italy ASCOLI, Davide Forest Fire Management Group of the Italian Society of Silviculture and Forest Ecology (SISEF)

ABSTRACT In Italy, prescribed burning (PB) could be a useful tool to address several land management issues. PB for wildfire hazard reduction could have a high leverage (>1) on wildfire extent, particularly in Italian areas where the wildfire incidence is high. The regulation of clandestine pastoral burns by PB could reduce wildfire suppression costs and ecological impacts of severe fire seasons such as the summer 2007 when the burned area was 228·103 ha. PB could be used to train firefighters and build expertise in suppression-fire. Nature conservation programs and “disturbance based” forest management could implement PB to enhance ecosystem resilience to global changes. For these reasons, in the last decade PB attracted a growing interest throughout Italy. PB was tested in Mediterranean, Temperate and Alpine forests, grasslands and shrublands, particularly in nature reserves. Knowledge of its effects on vegetation, fauna and soil was gained through experience and research studies. Several training programs were carried out by State and Regional Forest and Civil Protection Services, Universities, private enterprises, often in collaboration with both European and extra-EU experts. However, constraints hamper PB use in Italy, which are both connate to the technique (fire bans; environmental concerns; the effort required to build expertise; lack of knowledge) and of external origin (lack of interest in wildfire prevention and natural resources management; unclear legal framework; lack of funds; risk-adverse policies). Consequently, the regulatory process is slow and most management agencies are reluctant to acquire the competence. The “Fire Management Group” of the SISEF is supporting the networking between PB programs, to increase the fire management capability and expertise in Italy and facilitate the transfer of knowledge among land managers and researchers. The present contribution summarizes the state of art on Italian operational and research PB programs. KEYWORDS Silviculture, Fire Management, Nature conservation, Ecology, Training

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Fire as a contentious issue in productive land management in New Zealand: perceptions and reality of fire use. BAYNE, Karen1*, CLIFFORD, Veronica1, BAILLIE, Brenda2 and PEARCE, H. Grant1 (Corresponding author*) 1

Rural Fire Research Group, Scion (NZ Forest Research Institute Ltd), PO Box 29-237, Christchurch 8440, New Zealand. Karen.bayne@

scionresearch.com 2

Operational Systems and Risk, Scion (NZ Forest Research Institute Ltd), 49 Sala St, Whakarewarewa, Rotorua 3010, New Zealand.

ABSTRACT Using fire for land management operations is a traditional, but still contentious issue in New Zealand’s rural landscape. Land managers and the rural populace have very similar rationale for the use of fire as a tool; however, there are very different reasons why they don’t use fire or don’t want it used. We report on the results from New Zealand’s first comprehensive national study of the use of fire for productive land management. The survey of 696 land managers and the rural populace returned the sectoral, societal and political concerns regarding burning practices in New Zealand, alongside the benchmarking of current fire use. Fifty four percent of respondents indicated they undertook burning, with debris burns or vegetative rubbish removal (small piles) being the major uses. Fire, while being useful, does carry some risk, with about 20% of the nation’s 3000 wildfires resulting from burns escaping. From survey responses, it is apparent there are a number of actions where fire officers and land managers disagree on best practise to avoid escapes, which could be a reason for the accidental escapes, injuries and deaths being reported. There were also varied perceptions about the environmental impacts of fires, although a major concern around the practice appears to be the impacts of smoke due to rural burning practices. The negative impacts of smoke from burning need to be addressed, as they are a critical factor in rural support for use of fire as a tool. These areas of misconceptions highlight the need for comparing reality with perceptions, or “myth busting”, providing a base of evidence to rigorously test the range of viewpoints for and against fire use and the drivers behind major concerns regarding the use of rural fire in New Zealand, as well as in other parts of the world. KEYWORDS productive land management; prescribed burning

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International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Oral Presentation Abstracts

Passing the Torch: Prescribed Fire Education in Kansas, U.S.A. BLOCKSOME, Carolyn E.1*, HARTMAN, Jason2 and FICK, Walter H.3 1

Kansas State University. Department of Horticulture and Natural Resources, 2021 Throckmorton, 1712 Claflin Road, Manhattan, Kansas,

USA, 66506, blocksom@ksu.edu. 2

Kansas Forest Service. 2610 Claflin Road, Manhattan, Kansas, USA, 66502. hartmanj@ksu.edu.

Kansas State University. Department of Agronomy2004 Throckmorton, 1712 Claflin Road, Manhattan, Kansas, USA, 66506, whfick@

ksu.edu.

ABSTRACT Fire plays a natural, essential role in the formation and continued existence of rangelands. For 10,000 years, grazing and fire, both domestic and wild, have shaped the vast prairies of the central United States. Ranchers and landowners of private lands in Kansas continue the tradition of utilizing prescribed fire to maintain healthy native rangelands. There is a healthy fire culture in a part of the state, the Flint Hills, where high fire return intervals (less than 3 years) are common. But new landowners are not always familiar with the need to use fire and how to conduct a burn safely. Fire is more rarely used in dryer parts of the state, and ranchers and farmers there lack the knowledge, experience, and confidence to attempt prescribed burning. Ranchers with prescribed burning experience need updates on new legislation affecting the use of fire, emerging fire research,, and safety reminders. University students and agency staff need prescribed fire training to be competitive for jobs and to carry out job responsibilities. To address the prescribed burning education needs in Kansas, a comprehensive fire education program has been developed. A general classroom curriculum provides the basics of developing a burn plan for ranchers, students, and agency staff. More in-depth classroom and field experiences are provided for those with careers in prescribed fire through college curriculum and the National Wildland Fire Coordinating Group. Participatory training burns provide practice in conducting prescribed fires for all skill levels. Inexperienced burn crew members are mentored by being paired with experienced Prescribed Burn Association members, agency staff, and others on an actual burn, increasing confidence and capacity to burn more acres. Classroom and experiential training, along with the formation of burn cooperatives, all play a role in producing the next generation of those who will carry the torch. KEYWORDS prescribed burning, education, burn cooperatives

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Prescribed fire as a tool to conserve heathlands in North West of Spain CALVO, Leonor*, MARCOS, Elena, VALBUENA, Luz, TARREGA, Reyes; and LUIS-CALABUIG Estanislao. Department of Biodiversity and Environmental Management, University of Leรณn, Campus de Vegazana s/n, E-24071 Leรณn, Spain. leonor. calvo@unileon.es

ABSTRACT In Cantabrian Mountains the use of fire has a long history as a management tool in heathland landscapes. It has been used to increase the pastures that were used by transhumant flocks of sheep. However, in the last decades the decline of the transhumance, due to its low profitability and competitiveness compared to both lowlands intensive systems and industrial development, involved the loss of traditional management and the promotion of new land covers (coniferous plantations). These changes have induced deep transformations at the landscape level and mainly in the heathlands ecosystems with to the loss of its biodiversity values. As heathlands are of high conservation importance in Europe, and fire is a common management measure used for their conservation, it is important to obtain more detailed knowledge about how prescribed burning affects the functioning of these ecosystems and to compare with the use of other management strategies such as cutting. We carried out a long-term field experiment to analyse the effects of prescribed burning and cutting in the structure and functioning of two types of heathlands: (1) dominated by Erica australis and (2) dominated by Calluna vulgaris. We selected five study areas: two dominated by Erica and three dominated by Calluna. In each study area we performed experimental burning and cutting and we have monitored the regeneration of the vegetation for 10 years. In general, the community dominated by the typical resprouter species (Erica australis) showed high resilience with fast community regeneration, reaching the original situation after 9 years; however, the community dominated by the obligated seeder in these areas (Calluna vulgaris) showed slow regeneration due to the environment conditions, were it developed and the germination as strategy of response after fire. Even though, in both communities, prescribed burning is proposed as the main management strategy to maintain their structure and diversity. KEYWORDS Heathlands, Cantabrian Mountains, Prescribed burning, Erica australis, Calluna vulgaris.

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International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Oral Presentation Abstracts

Restoration of gorse-dominated shrublands by combining prescribed burnings with horse-guided grazing in temperate protected habitats in Western Pyrenees CANALS, Rosa M.1*, SAN EMETERIO, Leticia1, MÚGICA, Leire1, SAEZ, Jose Luis2 and VERGARA, Iosu2, ECHEVERRÍA, Luis2 1

Dpto. Producción Agraria. UPNA. Campus Arrosadia s/n. 31006 Pamplona (España). rmcanals@unavarra.es.

INTIA. Edificio de Peritos, Av. Serapio Huici 22, 31610 Villava (España). jsaez@intiasa.es.

ABSTRACT In European high mountain ecosystems, rural depopulation, land abandonment and pastoral practices reduction is fostering forest and shrub encroachment in grasslands. As a consequence, the risk of spontaneous fires is increasing due to landscape homogenization and lignin-fuel accumulation. In western Pyrenees, prescribed fire practices have been used as a traditional tool to prevent shrub encroachment and maintain and improve grasslands devoted to grazing. Global change, and particularly land use alteration, has modified the integrated management of these traditional practices, leading to a rapid shrub resprout in recently burned areas. Our aim was to study the process of restoration into grasslands of Ulex gallii shrublands, by using a pyric herbivorism approach combining prescribed burnings and guided grazing practices. We performed experimental fires in three gorse-dominated areas located at the SCI Roncesvalles-Selva de Irati (Western Pyrenees), and established a set of fences where a rotational grazing with autochthonous horses was organized. Short and mid-term fire effects (10 days, 7 months and 20 months) on soil physic and chemical properties at two soil depths (0-5 cm, 5-10 cm,) were studied by comparing burning areas and unburned controls. U. gallii resprout after burning was measured for three years at the end of the plant growing season, with the purpose to evaluate the effectiveness of the guided rotational grazing to control shrub resprout. Fire effects on soil depended on time and depth. In the short-term, fire promoted a temporal pulse of nitrate and affected negatively soil microbial biomass. Compared to soils in target grasslands, burned soils had a significant, slightly low urease activity in the last sampling date. During the second year, effects of guided grazing on U. gallii resprout control began to be detected, which indicates the value of combining fire and grazing practices to prevent and revert shrub encroachment. KEYWORDS high Mountain, pyric herbivorism, gorse shrubland, grazing and fire interactions, soil nitrogen

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Understory woody resprouting strategies after prescribed fires CASALS, Pere1,*, VALOR, Teresa1 and RĂ?OS, Ana1 1

Forest Sciences Centre of Catalonia (CEMFOR-CTFC), Ctra de St. LlorenĂ§ de Morunys, km 2, 25280 Solsona, Spain.

ABSTRACT The capacity of a plant species to resprout most of its aboveground biomass after destruction by fire is an important trait for its persistence. However, various mechanisms may operate at different levels after fire in order to reestablish individuals and better compete for the acquisition of resources. Trade-offs between growth investment for better light acquisition and resource allocation for resisting additional stress, such as recurrent fires, browsing or insect injuries, may determine the success rate of some species over others. Taking advantage of the richness of species in the Mediterranean forest understory, this study aims to discuss the effects of the expression of different functional plant traits on resprouting vigor after prescribed underburning in relation to the specific characteristics of shrub individuals, microsite light availability, intensity and season of fire. At an individual level, in addition to pre-fire shrub size, light availability seems to be a strong driver of resprouting vigor three years after underburnings. Furthermore, the bark investment index at the species level explains the performance of resprouts. Hence, leaf area, specific leaf area and bark investment are inter- and intraspecific traits were studied and clear relationships could be established with the expression of resprouting vigor. At the plot scale, the number and performance of resprouts of the studied shrub species were lower in fall burns than in spring ones. To conclude, our study suggests that the phenological and physiological status of shrub individuals at the time when the perturbation occurs may be crucial for their reestablishment. This knowledge may assist in the decision-making process for the management of understory forests in relation to site characteristics and plant composition and structure. KEYWORDS bark thickness; fire season; light acquisition; plant traits; fire severity

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113

International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Oral Presentation Abstracts

Prescribed fires as practices of complex forest fire-fighting operations COLLELL, Francesc GRAF Girona Unit (Cos de Bombers de la Generalitat de Catalunya).

ABSTRACT During wildfires there are many types of operational, professional and voluntary personnel and of different organizations. Within firefighters de la Generalitat a Catalunya the firefighters officers are divided into generalist (park) and specialist personnel (GRAF), who receive extra training at the level of forest fires, in analysis and maneuvers with mainly technical fire, and change the schedule during Summer to meet the needs of operational response to this particular service. While these two collectives during the fire carry out their functions mainly separately, such as analysis, tracking opportunities, vehicle placement, protection of sensitive elements, simple hose-laying maneuvers, there are a number of complex maneuvers where are going to work together in which coordination and a fine gear of the different units and tools is required. These complex maneuvers of use of the technical fire combined with hose-laying, hand tools and aerial means discharges need a lot of previous practice for all the participants to know what objective is sought, and within the framework of what tactic these operations are implemented. The prescribed burnings are a very useful framework for these practices â&#x20AC;&#x153;in times of peaceâ&#x20AC;? with the people who will carry out the operations during the extinction of fires. The communication will explain some examples of these practices of complex maneuvers with firefighters personnel taking advantage of the execution of prescribed burns. KEYWORDS practice, extinction, technical fire, complex maneuver, specialist firefighters.

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Practical use of aerial ignition for controlled fires in South Africa CONNOLLY, Bob1*and De BRUNO AUSTIN, Chris2 1

Working on Fire South Africa. 1 Club Street, Old Nelspruit Airfield Mbombela 1210 South Africa, bob.connolly@wofire.co.za

Kishugu Group 1 Club Street, Old Nelspruit Airfield, Mbombela 1210, South Africa, chris.austin@kishugu.com

ABSTRACT Aerial incendiary device imported from Australia for under canopy burning to reduce the pine litter layer in South African pine plantations. Aerial Incendinary device implemented for other controled fires , large prescribed burns in African savanahs take advantage of the narrow weather window to implement large burns safely. Long distance fire breaks to fully utilize the limited prescribed burning days available annually. Open ended fire break using ideal fuel and weather conditions to implement long distances fire breaks in difficult terrain. A single or double line of incendiary capsules dropped from a helicopter to create a burnt fire break that would be extinguished by dew fall or low temperatures at night.High intensity prescribed block burns. Large blocks burns up to 12,000 hectares ignited under high “fire danger” weather conditions High intensity fires under moderate “fire danger” conditions that within parameters set for the issuing of burning permits from fire protection associations using multiple ignition to create “hotter fires” to combat invasive vegetation. Fire suppression igniting a long back burn to remove fuel in front of an approaching wild fire using aerial ignition. KEYWORDS Aerial ignition, high intensity fires, open ended fire breaks, controlled Fire

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International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Oral Presentation Abstracts

Las quemas controladas y prescritas de pastos en la alta montaña pirenaica: ayudando a la ganadería y colaborando en la gestión del territorio. COS D’AGENTS RURALS (DEPARTAMENT D’AGRICULTURA, RAMADERIA, PESCA I ALIMENTACIÓ. GENERALITAT DE CATALUNYA) ABSTRACT El Cos d’Agents Rurals incluye la colaboración en la gestión y los trabajos de prevención de incendios forestales como una de sus misiones fundamentales. En la alta montaña pirenaica los incendios forestales con causa antrópica han estado tradicionalmente ligados a quemas negligentes o intencionadas con el objetivo de mantener i mejorar los pastos para la ganadería doméstica y cinegética. En los últimos 50 años el descenso de la cabaña ganadera domestica unido a una creciente regulación del uso del fuego ha aumentado la superficie de terreno forestal ocupado por matorrales y arbolado. Actualmente el Departament d’Agricultura, Ramaderia, Pesca i Alimentació ejecuta quemas controladas a través de equipos mixtos de Agents Rurals y del Grup Especial de Prevenció d’Incendis Forestals (GEPIF), la mayor parte de las cuales en las comarcas del Pirineo y con la finalidad de mantener y mejorar los pastos y como un apoyo al mantenimiento de la tradicional ganadería de estos territorios. Estas quemas están solicitadas previamente por los propios ganaderos y Agents Rurals visitan periódicamente las zonas de quema evaluando el aprovechamiento de la zona. Desde el año 2010 se han realizado 151 quemas controladas con la finalidad de mantener y mejorar los pastos en comarcas del Pirineo, incluyendo un total de 1940 hectáreas de superficie gestionada. Esta superficie gestionada es similar a la superficie incendiada en estas mismas comarcas durante este mismo tiempo. Desde los años 80 el número de incendios causados por quemas de pasto negligentes ha pasado de ser la principal causa de incendio forestal a ser testimonial. Buena parte de esta reducción es atribuible a más de 20 años de ejecución de quemas por parte de la administración y la conciliación de intereses con los ganaderos. PALABRAS CLAVE quemas, pastos, ganadería, Pirineo, Agents Rurals.

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Prescribed fires as a tool for silvicultural management applied in plots of LIFE projects and in strategic points of management for prevention of wildfires DALMAU, Emili GRAF Barcelona Unit (Cos de Bombers de la Generalitat de Catalunya).

ABSTRACT The study of forest fires, both historical and contemporary, and the observable evidence in the landscape, show the presence of points or doors of expansion of these fires. In this context, the extinction operation in Catalonia needs to anticipate the fire by deactivating and closing the gates through the silvicultural treatment of these strategic points to increase its extinction capacity. The availability of specialized personnel in the management of the technical fire, makes the proposal presented to those responsible for territorial management is to use the prescribed fires, for this work, as a viable alternative tool to the traditional silviculture of mechanical methods, to be used as excellent training scenarios in the management of technical fire and study of the ecology of fire. The discrete current size of the specialist firefighting staff units conditions the volume of work that is affordable and forces efforts to focus on areas where multiple objectives can be met at the same time. As an example, priority has been given to plots involved in LIFE projects of various kinds with a high ecological value (LIFE Montserrat, LIFE Pinassa ...) which also meet the requirement of being strategic management points. KEYWORDS Forest fire, landscape, expansion door, anticipation, prescribed burns, specialized personnel, technical fire, territorial management, traditional forestry, alternative tool, training scenario, fire ecology, high ecological value, strategic management point.

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117

International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Oral Presentation Abstracts

The need for more experimental fires: the example of the Canadian Boreal Community FireSmart Project DOERR, Stefan1*, SANTÍN, Cristina1, AULT, Ray2, NIXON, Larry3‡, STEED, Westly3 Department of Geography, Swansea University, Swansea, United Kingdom. s.doerr@swansea.ac.uk*

1 2

Wildfire Operations Research, FPInnovations, Hinton, Canada

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Government of Northwest Territories, Fort Smith, Canada

ABSTRACT At a time in which the need to co-exist with fire is becoming more widely accepted and policies are starting to move away from 100% fire suppression, a thorough understanding of fire is vital. This cannot be achieved without a solid scientific basis and close interactions between fire researchers and managers. Experimental fires that reproduce wildfire conditions are extremely valuable, but also very rare opportunities to develop both of them. In this contribution, we aim to (i) highlight their value and operational challenges and (ii) encourage fire researchers and managers to consider using them. We focus, as prime example, on the Canadian Boreal Community FireSmart Project (CBCFP), the world’s only long-term series of dedicated experimental stand-replacing forest fires. A 600-hectare forest research site in the Northwest Territories (Canada) was initially set up to support the International Crown Fire Modelling Experiment (1994-2001). Since 2002, it is home to the ongoing CBCFP, overseen by the Government of the Northwest Territories and with FPInnovations in the lead research role. Numerous research organizations, wildfire agencies, universities, private contractors and industry partners from many different countries have conducted research at this site. They have generated a vast amount of information in the form of technical reports, scientific papers, case studies, theses, equipment evaluations, and video material for TV broadcasting, technical training and education use. In addition, the fires provide invaluable hands on training opportunities for wildland firefighters and managers. In this presentation, we will show the impact this research has had on the wildfire community, including fire researchers, land- and fire managers, firefighters and the public. We provide a summary of the research initiatives conducted on the site since its inception, describe the main challenges faced when running these types of experimental fires and how they are overcome. Experimental fires of this type are rare, but extremely valuable. The CBCF provides a highly successful example of how these types of long-term experiments reproducing wildfire conditions can generate a wealth of insights, which not only advance our scientific understanding of fire but also directly inform wildfire preparedness schemes and safe wildfire management. KEYWORDS

118

high-intensity fire, wildfire conditions, basic research, applied research, boreal forest

Klamath River TREX: Community Based and Cultural Burns Prescribed Fire Example of Fire Protection and Land Management. DUCE ARAGÜÉS, José Luis 1* 1

The Nature Conservancy Collaborator and External Consultant. jlducearagues@yahoo.es.

ABSTRACT Forests cannot longer be managed by agencies in a landscape scale with the same tools, mindset, and strategies than before, even less in the social-cultural-economical context we are living in. The results of the policies implemented by land managers, private landowners, public institutions or other organizations, seems to have difficulties to coexist with a changing reality: climate change, fire cultural environment, wildland urban interface development, new uses of the forests, rural migration. There are different approaches and solutions to face some of the consequences of bad fire, and those solutions and approaches need to focus on that changing reality. We could explain the term ‘Fire Socialization’ as the responsibility that all the affected parts should have to offer solutions and work together towards healthier forests, balanced ecosystems and safer professionals. The community based programs are not new all around the world and small proactive projects seems to be like one of the most hopeful and promising approaches. The Klamath Mountains in Northern California, has been experiencing fire every 3 to 10 years. Fire suppression policies and the prohibition of the use of fire by local native Tribes, has resulted in a huge fuel accumulation in the Western part of this mountain range. The Orleans/Somes Bar Fire Safe Council, The Nature Conservancy and other public organizations and private individuals, are trying to bring fire back to this area. In 2012, a crew of fire professionals from Spain visited Orleans and helped to prepare some landowners properties for controlled burns. Since then, the Mid-Klamath Watershed Council, has hosted the Klamath River Prescribed Fire Training Exchange (TREX) in fall, and incredible example of community based and cultural fire program, with the intent of protecting people and restore this land. KEYWORDS prescribed fire, community based projects, cultural burns.

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119

International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Oral Presentation Abstracts

Effects of prescribed burning on litterfall biomass in mixed stands of Pinus nigra and Pinus pinaster and pure stands od Pinus nigra in the Cuenca Mountains (central Eastern Spain) ESPINOSA, Juncal1*, De la CRUZ, Ana Carmen1; MADRIGAL, Javier1,2, GUIJARRO Mercedes1,2, DÍEZ Carmen1, CARRILLO Cristina1 and HERNANDO Carmen1,2 1

INIA, Centro de Investigación Forestal, Dpto. Selvicultura y Gestión de los Sistemas Forestales. Ctra. Coruña Km 7,5 28040 Madrid.

*lara@inia.es 2

iuFOR, Instituto Universitario de Gestión Forestal Sostenible uVA-INIA

ABSTRACT Fire severity, defined as the magnitude of fire effects in an ecosystem, is a key factor to consider in planning management strategies aimed at protecting forest stands against fire. Although prescribed burning has been widely used as a fuel reduction tool in forest ecosystems, its inclusion in forest management activities in the Mediterranean remains uncertain. Furthermore, little is known about how tree crowns are affected by prescribed burning under canopy aimed at reducing fire severity in conifer stands. With the aim of evaluating the effects of prescribed burning on the tree canopy, litterfall is being monitored in a network of experimental plots located in mixed (Pinus nigra and Pinus pinaster) and pure (Pinus nigra) stands (El Pozuelo and Beteta, respectively) located in the Cuenca Mountains (Castilla-La Mancha, Spain). The study area includes 18 plots (50 m x 50 m), and a completely random experimental design has been applied to determine the effect of the season of burning, by considering 3 treatments (with 3 replicates of each): spring burning, autumn burning and no intervention (control). The spring burning was conducted in May 2016 and the autumn burning in November 2016. In each plot, 8 litterfall traps were installed at regular intervals, according to international protocols (ICP Forests). All the biomass that falls into the traps is being monitored monthly (from 2016). The main aim of the study is to assess how the different treatments affect the rate of generation of foliar and non-foliar litterfall biomass via the convection processes generated by the fire. This information could be used to help minimize the negative impacts of prescribed burning on the leaf surface. To our knowledge this study represents the first of its kind carried out in Europe to evaluate the effect of prescribed burning on litterfall biomass. KEYWORDS tree crown, fire severity, ICP Forests, leaf surface, defoliation.

120

The Value of Prescribed Burn Associations in USA FAWCETT, Jennifer Evans1*, DIAZ, John M. 1 and WEIR, John R.2 1

North Carolina State University. Campus Box 8008, Raleigh NC, 95008, jlevans3@ncsu.edu

North Carolina State University. Campus Box 8008, Raleigh NC, 95008, jmdiaz2@ncsu.edu

Oklahoma State University. Stillwater, OK, john.weir@okstate.edu

ABSTRACT Fire is used as tool for forest management by private landowners in many regions of the world.Â Although a majority of the forest ownership in the United States is privately held, increased prescribed fire use for forest management on private lands across the nation is being hindered by impediments such as lack of resources, capacity, training, and experience. In an attempt to simultaneously address many of these obstacles, 63 Prescribed Burn Associations (PBAs) have been formed in nine states. PBAs are partnerships between a group of landowners and other local citizens that share time, resources and knowledge to help each other conduct prescribed burns on their land. While landowner objectives may differ from property to property, PBA members join together to help one another safely and effectively accomplish burns. Experienced burners teach upcoming generations and inexperienced members the value of fire in grassland and forestry management and conservation, and how to safely use it. The PBA movement began in the mid-1990s with small groups of landowners functioning independently across several states primarily to address woody plant encroachment, but the success of the PBA concept has allowed it to spread and become adopted by landowners in many new areas across the country. PBAs have been extremely effective in increasing the amount of burning being conducted on private lands. From a 2012 survey, it was found that 27 responding PBAs had conducted a total of 1,094 prescribed burns on 472, 235 acres since their establishment. The value of PBAs, an overview of a possible model for adoption, and discussion of how the development of new PBAs can provide an opportunity for increased use of prescribed fire as a land management tool will be provided. KEYWORDS landowner cooperatives, prescribed burn association

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121

International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Oral Presentation Abstracts

Fuel Management and Fire Risk Reduction with Prescribed Fire in Wildland Urban Interface in South-Central Spain FERNÁNDEZ ORTIZ, Juan José1, GARCÍA ALONSO, Juan Pedro2 1

GEACAM, S.A. UNAP. INFOCAM. Centro Operativo Regional de Lucha contra Incendios Forestales. Monte Público “Los Gavilanes”, vía de

servicio autovía A-42 (sentido Madrid) km. 64,800. 45071 – TOLEDO. juanjofernandez@geacam.com 2

Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha. Director Técnico Operativo Provincial. INFOCAM. Centro Operativo Provincial de Lucha

contra Incendios Forestales. El Chaparrillo. Ciudad Real. jpgarciaa@jccm.es

ABSTRACT Puertollano has a very high annual number of fires, mainly human caused, and located at the wildland-urban (and industrial) interface. In addition, the industrial area (petrol-chemistry industry) makes this a sensitive zone to fires. In 2014, 2015 and 2016 a 20 ha-area was managed with prescribed fire by the Regional Forest Fire Fighting Service. Fuel management in this area, which is covered by grass and shrubs, consists of fuel reduction at the early fire season. According to wildland area location, more frequent wind direction and historical fire behavior analysis, this zone has the larger potential fires in the study area.Fires between 2007 and 2016 were studied by analyzing their temporal and spatial distribution, comparing data before the prescribed fire program (2007-2013) and during it (2014-2016). Although an increase was predicted for the 2014-2016 period according to a trend line based on the number of fires for the 2007-2013 period, the account of fires decreased during the period of prescribed the fire program. Spatial distribution of the fires was studied using the Kernel Density method. Also, a geostatistical analysis (kriging method) was made in order to study the distribution of the burned forest surface. Density of ignition points decreased in a 500 meters-buffer close to the area managed with prescribed fire. Finally, using the kriging interpolation method, a prediction of the burned forest area was estimated. Results showed a decrease of the surface in areas treated during the prescribed fire program. Summarizing, a reduction of the number of fires was observed at the study area during years were prescribed fire was conducted; as well as a reduction of the density and size of the fires surrounding the prescribed fire area, what shows a fire risk reduction at the area managed with prescribed fire. KEYWORDS wildland-urban interface, geostatistical analysis, risk reduction, fuel management

122

Prescribed burning on heathlands with military history in Czech Republic FIŠER, Bohumil1, MAYEROVÁ, Hana1* 1

Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic, Regional Department Střední Čechy, Administration of Brdy Protected Landscape

Area, Jince 461, 262 23 Jince, Czech Republic. hana.mayerova@nature.cz

ABSTRACT Heathlands in central Europe are among the semi-natural habitats that are historically dependent on some form of management. Common practices include grazing, mowing, turf removal and also burning. The largest heathlands in the Czech Republic are in the Protected Landscape Area Brdy, which is a former military training area. Several hundreds of hectares used for decades as target areas now host unique communities dominated by heath (Calluna vulgaris). These sites experienced regular fires as a result of military activities – records show that during the last 10 years more than 150 fires of different size occurred. Fires prevented shrubs and trees encroachment and also rejuvenated heath populations. After the cease of military use of two target areas several decades ago, open heathland needs continued management to prevent its degradation. Along with cutting trees, prescribed burning is the method of choice. In May 2016, an area of 1 ha (divided in two patches) has been subjected to experimental burning during a fire practice. The locations were carefully selected to avoid nesting birds and weather conditions were taken into account to minimize the risk of uncontrolled fire. Before burning, vegetation survey was conducted on 1 m2 plots. Temperatures in the soil and above were also measured to assess the intensity of the fire. Repeated vegetation survey two months after burning shows abundant Calluna regeneration and also fast regrowth of grass and fern. However, vegetation data were also collected on nearby heathland patches that burned from 6 to 15 years ago, and evidence shows that after a few years, heath becomes dominant in the community. Prescribed burning has yet to win a place among commonly used management tools in the Czech Republic. The aim of the event was both to provide necessary experience for firefighters in an area formerly managed by the military and to show the necessity of burning for heathlands conservation. KEYWORDS heathland, fire practice, prescribed burning, military area

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123

International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Oral Presentation Abstracts

Short-term effects of a spring prescribed fire on the understory vegetation of Pinus halepensis Mill. forests in Northeastern Spain FUENTES, Laura1 and DUGUY, Beatriz1* 1

Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i CiĂ¨ncies Ambientals, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona. Av. Diagonal 643,

08028 Barcelona, Spain. Corresponding author: bduguy@ub.edu

ABSTRACT Under global change, the increase of large fires is a concerning topic in many ecosystems of the world. In the Mediterranean Region, where fire regimes were altered in the last decades due to human activity-caused landscape changes, climate change is predicted to enhance large fires risk.In fire-prone ecosystems, such as Pinus halepensis Mill. forests, fuel management actions are needed to control fire risk. Prescribed burnings can be used, amongst other treatments, to reduce fuel load and increase spatial heterogeneity at stand and landscape levels. Despite that, they are still poorly accepted and applied in the Mediterranean Region; in particular, because knowledge gaps about their effects on the ecosystem (soil, vegetation) are constraining their use. In this study, we assessed through field work the short-term effects of a spring prescribed burning on the understory vegetation of a P. halepensis forest located at El PerellĂł (Tarragona, Northeastern Spain). The understory shrubland is dominated by Pistacia lentiscus, Quercus coccifera, Erica multiflora, Rosmarinus officinalis and Ulex parviflorus. It was sampled in three plots both before (February 2013) and ten months after a prescribed burning that was conducted in May 2013 under the pine canopy. Our results showed no remarkable changes in speciesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; richness, diversity nor composition. Most vegetation structural characteristics were significantly modified, though: the burning reduced the shrub layer height and cover, the aerial shrub phytomass was reduced by half, and the relative abundances of the dominant woody species were modified towards a higher dominance of resprouter species. The treatment also proved to be effective for controlling in the short term the presence of Ulex parviflorus, a highly flammable seeder species. Although longer term studies are needed, our results showed that the burning reduced the fuel load and the fuel spatial continuity (thus the fire-proneness of the plant community), while promoted a higher resilience to fire through a larger presence of woody resprouters. KEYWORDS Mediterranean ecosystems, understory prescribed burning, species composition, vegetation structure

124

Historical and cultural roots of controlled burning practices in the province of Cáceres (Spain) GALIANA MARTÍN, Luis1* and MONTIEL MOLINA, Cristina2 1

Autonomous University of Madrid. Department of Geography, Campus de Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain, luis.galiana@uam.es

Complutense University of Madrid. Department of Regional Geographical Analysis and Physical Geography, Faculty of Geography and

History, c/ Profesor Aranguren, s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain, crismont@ucm.es

ABSTRACT Most current fire use practices in inland regions of Spain have their origin in the historical past. Government, police and judicial documentary sources from the 17th to the 20th century provide evidence of the recurrent presence of fire in rural areas, the result of the persistent widespread use of farming and herding systems which frequently resorted to burning to prepare the land. The 16th bylaws in some towns in Castille already refer to the regulated use of fire in controlled burning practices (e.g. in La Alberca, in the province of Salamanca; Gata, Santibañez, la Torre de San Miguel and Villasbuenas, in Caceres). The Extremadura region offers a uniquely valuable documentary source to demonstrate the historical origins of fire use in inland regions of Spain. This is a survey, the Interrogatorio de la Real Audiencia de Extremadura, dated 1791, which includes two questions to which all the towns in the region responded: 42. Whether some of the forest is allotted to the townspeople for cultivation and how this is carried out: if the trees are affected or if attempts are made to preserve them; 46. Whether the usual practice is to burn the forest, and to what ends: what the detrimental results of this are and how this excess is normally punished. The responses to this survey show the importance and variety of traditional fire-related practices in forest use by farmers and herders, their spatial distribution, and related conflicts. They are also evidence that the use of controlled burning sometimes developed into uncontrolled ‘wildfire’, resulting in loss of crops or damage to the forest vegetation. KEYWORDS fire use practices, geo-historical sources, historical fires, Extremadura.

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125

International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Oral Presentation Abstracts

Optimization of fuel reduction burning for carbon and water outcomes â&#x20AC;&#x201C; An Australian perspective GHARUN, M.1*, POSSELL, M.1 and BELL, T.L.1 1

Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney NSW 2006 Australia,

mana.gharun@sydney.edu.au Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre, East Melbourne VIC 3002, Australia

ABSTRACT Empirical evidence from Australia has shown that fuel reduction burning can significantly reduce the incidence and extent of unplanned fires. The most severe bushfires in the history of Australia have occurred in the southern part of the continent, where the forests are an invaluable source of fresh water to several large cities and millions of people. In south-eastern Australia, the priority for fuel reduction burning is for effective mitigation of risk to life and property, and environmental management objectives, including maintenance of high quality water, promotion of carbon storage, and reduction of CO2 emissions, can be constrained by this priority. Planning and implementation of fuel reduction fires is largely driven by the location and size of the area to be burnt. Impacts of fuel reduction burning on carbon and water stocks are also driven by the size of the area burnt, and such effects vary with position of the burns across the landscape. To assist land managers with fuel reduction planning, we assessed a number of medium to large (>100 ha) planned burns in south-eastern Australia using data collected from the field and modelling efforts. Measurements from more than 50 sampling plots included a comprehensive assessment of carbon pools in the overstorey, understorey, near-surface, and surface fuel load, and laboratory analysis of soil physical and chemical properties from the top 10 cm of the soil. Measurements of dead fuel moisture are used to form empirical model driven by site characteristics, time since fire, weather condition, and local steady-state water balance that relate variations in site condition to the fuel reduction outcomes. Our modelling efforts are used to assess the suitability of an area for fuel reduction burning in terms of water and carbon outcomes. KEYWORDS

126

carbon stock, water balance, catchment, fuel-reduction burning, eucalypt forests

Effects of prescribed fire for pasture management on soil C-related properties: a 1-year study case in Buisán, Central Pyrenees. GIRONA-GARCÍA, Antonio1*, BADÍA-VILLAS, David1, ORTIZ-PERPIÑÁ, Oriol1, MARTÍ-DALMAU, Clara1, MORA-HERNÁNDEZ, Juan Luís2 and ARMAS-HERRERA, Cecilia1 1

Escuela Politécnica Superior de Huesca, Universidad de Zaragoza, Ctra. de Cuarte s/n, 22071 Huesca, Spain. agirona@unizar.es

Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de Zaragoza, Miguel Servet 177, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain

ABSTRACT Prescribed burning is a technique that has been recently readopted in the Central Pyrenees (NE-Spain) in order to stop the regression of grasslands in favour of shrublands dominated, among others, by Echinospartum horridum. Nevertheless, its effects on soil properties are still uncertain. The aim of this work is to analyse the effects of these controlled burnings on topsoil C-related properties. Soil sampling was carried out in an autumnal low intensity prescribed fire in Buisán (NE-Spain, November 2015) at an altitude of 1760 masl. Soil temperature was simultaneously recorded during the fire via thermocouples placed at the surface level and at 1 cm, 2 cm and 3 cm soil depth. Three representative sampling points were chosen and topsoil was scrapped from 0-1 cm, 1-2 cm and 2-3 cm depth in each of them; before burning (U), ~1 hour (B0), 6 months (B6) and 12 months (B12) after burning. We analysed soil total C and N, organic C (SOC), microbial biomass C (MBC), basal respiration (SR) and β-D-glucosidase activity. A maximum temperature of 438ºC was recorded at soil surface while at 1 cm depth only 31ºC were reached. Burning significantly decreased soil total C (-47 %) and N (-44 %), SOC (-42 %), MBC (-57 %), SR (-72 %) and β-D-glucosidase activity (-66 %) at the first cm but no significant effects were detected in deeper layers. Six and twelve months after burning, no significant changes in the studied soil properties were observed as compared to the B0 samples. KEYWORDS prescribed burning, organic carbon, soil biological activity, pastures, shrub encroachment

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127

International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Oral Presentation Abstracts

Drought increases fire severity and alters vegetation regeneration in Calluna heathlands and peat bogs GRAU, Roger1*, DAVIES, G. Matt2 and WALDRON, Susan1, GRAY, Alan3, SCOTT, Marian4 1

School of Geographical and Earth Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow (UK) G128QQ. r.grau-andres.1@research.gla.ac.uk

School of Environment and Natural Resources, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio (USA) 43210. davies.411@osu.edu.

Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Penicuik, Midlothian (UK) EH26 0QB. alangray@ceh.ac.uk.

School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Glasgow, Glasgow (UK), G128QW. marian.scott@glasgow.ac.uk.

ABSTRACT Calluna vulgaris-dominated ecosystems in northern Europe have a high conservation value and store a substantial amount of soil carbon. The projected increased in summer drought due to climate change may alter fire regimes and threaten such ecosystem services. We used rain-out shelters to simulate drought in 2 × 2 m plots in two Scottish Calluna-dominated habitats: a dry heath with thin organic soils (approximately 10 cm) and moss and litter layers (average = 4 cm) and a raised bog with saturated peat > 1.5 m and thicker moss layers (7 cm). The shelters were removed immediately before carrying out experimental fires, each covering approximately 20 × 30 m. The drought treatment lowered the pre-fire moisture content of the moss and litter layer at both sites, and of the soil surface at the dry heath, leading to increased fire severity (higher moss consumption and soil heating) in drought plots compared to untreated. Drought-driven increase in fire severity was greater at the dry heath (e.g. maximum temperatures at the soil surface averaged 31˚C in untreated and 189˚C in drought plots) than at the raised bog (10˚C in untreated and 15˚C in drought), likely due to hydrological differences between sites. The increased fire severity in drought plots resulted in an altered post-fire community composition at the dry heath: higher fire-induced soil heating was associated with greater abundance of dominant ericoids (e.g. Calluna, Erica cinerea, Vaccinium myrtillus) and acrocarpous mosses (e.g. Campylopus introflexus, Ceratodon purpureus). At the raised bog, no clear patterns in post-fire community composition in response to the gradient of fire severity emerged. These results can inform managed burning strategies to achieve specific objectives (conservation, protection of soil carbon) in a context of potentially increasing fire severity. KEYWORDS managed burning, moorland, fire temperatures, soil carbon, vegetation community composition

128

Prescribed fire voluntary guidelines in Spain. Standardization of protocols, competences and training. HERNÁNDEZ PAREDES, Elena1*, ENRÍQUEZ ALCALDE, Elsa1, LÓPEZ SANTALLA, Antonio1, REJAS HERNÁN, Nuria2, RAMOS MAMBRILLA, Leticia2 1

Spanish Forest Fire Service. General Directorate of Rural Development and Forest Policy. Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment.

Gran Via de San Francisco 4, 5ª floor 28005 Madrid. ehparedes@magrama.es; adcif@magrama.es 2

Empresa de Transformacion Agraria. TRAGSA. nrejas@tragsa.es

ABSTRACT The use of fire as a fuel management tool in Spain is not new, is has very deep roots in our cultural heritage. At the same time, in the recent years, the use of fire under controlled or prescribed conditions has experienced a significant increase among the different agencies and administrations with competences in wildfire prevention. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment, with coordination and support competences on wildfire prevention and suppression in our country, is working with the Regional Governments in the standardization of preparation, planning, contingency, and action review protocols and in the establishment of training references for different positions through the development of these voluntary guidelines regarding prescribed burnings. The voluntary guidelines aim is to improve operation safety and efficiency as well as to improve coordination between different national, regional and local agencies working together. They have been also developed to provide a common framework for all the agencies involved in terms of serving as a reference in the implementation of competences and training standards for burn boss and ignition boss positions, within an emergency management system. Working under the same minimum common standards, speaking the same operational language and knowing the personnel capabilities depending on their position qualification, will make us able to take a step forward in prescribed burning operations in Spain, enriching all regions and personnel involved in the use of fire.In addition to the previous, these guidelines and standards would serve as a reference at Mediterranean and International level too.Guidelines, standard forms, professional competences and training modules will be presented to the audience. KEYWORDS

standardization, protocols, training, coordination,

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129

International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Oral Presentation Abstracts

The journey of introducing prescribed and tactical burning to the south wales valleys- sowing the seeds. HOPE, Craig.1*, Llewellyn, Delwyn2 and JENKINS, John (Corresponding author*) 1

SOUTH WALES FIRE AND RESCUE SERVICE

Tonypandy Fire Station, Llwynypia Road, Tonypandy, South Wales.CF40 2JQ c-hope@southwales-fire.gov.uk

ABSTRACT This presentation will show our long journey from 2007 to the summer of 2015 after we gained high level management and political support after a very busy fire season. 2007-wildfire project started to look at firefighter safety at wildfire events 2008- Partnership working with Northumberland fire service providing training and the introduction of wildfire training levels 2009-purchase by welsh government of dedicated off road wildfire vehicles 2010- 2 firefighters from south wales attend a UK organized prescribed burning course in South Africa run by working on fire. 2011/12- a small number of firefighters assist the Brecon beacons national park with prescribed burning. 2013- 10 firefighters from South wales attend a prescribed burning course in Catalonia run by the Pau Costa Foundation. Firefighters from South wales carry out a prescribed burning demonstration for the UK wildfire conference 2015-a prescribed fire break is burnt across the top of a mountain to stop fires spreading from scrubland to trees, this fire season is very busy with high profile media and political interest. A wildfire burns in the area of the firebreak and the fire break works, a presentation is made showing this which is shown to government ministers, local authorities and the media. A welsh Government project is started called healthy hillsides, the fire service are a key member whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s role will be to make fire breaks using fire.

KEYWORDS prescribed burning,government minister ,fuel reduction

130

The journey of introducing prescribed and tactical burning to the south wales valleysstriking whilst the iron is hot. HOPE, Craig.1*, Llewellyn, Delwyn2 and JENKINS, John 1

SOUTH WALES FIRE AND RESCUE SERVICE

Tonypandy Fire Station, Llwynypia Road, Tonypandy, South Wales.CF40 2JQ c-hope@southwales-fire.gov.uk

ABSTRACT This presentation will show our much faster journey to have dedicated hazardous fuel reduction teams after 2015 after we gained high level management and political support after a very busy fire season. 2016 January/February/march - 4 watches at Tonypandy fire station trained to be hazardous fuel reduction teams carrying out prescribed burns. March- launch of wildfire teams, equipment and prevention strategies by welsh government minister March- first tactical burn carried by one of the teams to stop a wildfire spreading to property May – debrief of 2015/16 fire season with the designing of the ‘wildfire toolbox’ June-presentation to senior management team who agree to implement hazardous fuel reduction teams at 4 fire stations, 16 teams to be trained and ready for 2016/17 season and the implementation of the wildfire toolbox covering prevention, response, education. November/ December –training of teams carried out January- march- prescribed burning of fire breaks KEYWORDS welsh government, progress, firefighter safety

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131

International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Oral Presentation Abstracts

Where There is Prescribed Fire, There is Smoke LAHM, Peter1 1

USDA, Forest Service, Fire and Aviation Management, Washington Office, 1400 Independence Ave SW, Washington, D.C. 20250 plahm@

fs.fed.us and pete.lahm@gmail.com

ABSTRACT Across the globe, the value of controlled use of fire is growing. Recognition of the benefits of fire for maintenance of many ecological systems, from forests to grasslands, is growing. With the stress of climate change and growing international understanding of the serious effects of air pollution, the challenges to using prescribed fire are growing. The most significant challenge is the smoke emissions from this progressive use of fire. Addressing this impact is crucial to maintaining prescribed fire use and a mandatory element of any effort to increase fire use. There are a number of tools and methods available to the individual burner to minimize impacts from a prescribed fire. On a more programmatic scale, development of smoke management strategies and communication messages will aid public acceptance of the smoke impacts. A discussion of the tools and strategies to address the significant challenge of smoke from control burning includes use of Basic Smoke Management Practices, a critical smoke management approach utilized in the United States. These practices are not costly but are a critical element of an integrated message about use of prescribed fire which addresses the smoke challenge directly. Adding information about the benefits of controlled burning versus wildfire in terms of smoke as well as the other environmental effects is also important. As every source of contribution to air pollution and possible addition to climate change is being scrutinized critically, proactive and progressive planning for managing smoke from prescribed fire is mandatory for long-term use of fire. KEYWORDS smoke management, fire use, climate change

132

Adequacy of prescribed burns to wildfires statistics. EPRIF Program experience LÓPEZ SANTALLA, Antonio 1*, HERNANDEZ PAREDES, Elena1, ENRIQUEZ ALCALDE, Elsa1, MONDELO FALCÓN, Rubén2 1

Área de Defensa contra Incendios Forestales, Dirección General de Desarrollo Rural y Política Forestal. Ministerio de Agricultura,

Alimentación y Medio Ambiente, Gran Vía de San Francisco 4, 5ª planta 28005 Madrid, alopez@magrama.es; adcif@magrama.es 2

Empresa de Transformación Agraria. TRAGSA.

ABSTRACT The Spanish Forest Fire General Statistic (EGIF), with data since 1960, shows a clear relation between wildfires and rural use of fire, especially targeted to farm, forest and livestock purposes (over 75% of fires in our country have their cause in negligence or arson, among which over 60% are related to rural uses). There are different situations according to different areas and territories. In order to reduce wildfires in Spain, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment launched in 1998 a specific program with integral prevention teams (EPRIF). Conciliation of interests is the key of their work which try to change fire use habits in conflict areas. They work with local people using prescribed burns to get a proper use of fire that reduce the wildfire incidence. This article study how EPRIF’s work has been adapted to the wildfire reality indifferent locations. They have modified targets, tools and results according to the variety of social, environmental and economic factors, both in the Atlantic and Mediterranean regions. It is concluded the importance of an adaptation of prescribed burn programs to characteristics of different territories according to information collected and analyzed in the General statistic (EGIF), which is a key element for decision making. KEYWORDS statistics, interest conciliation

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133

International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Oral Presentation Abstracts

Prescribed burning to enhance Mediterranean pine species natural regeneration in pure and mixed forest stands. LUCAS-BORJA, Manuel Esteban*, Pedro Antonio ALVAREZ-PLAZA, Javier SAGRA, Raquel ALFARO SÁNCHEZ, Daniel MOYA, Pablo FERRANDIS and Jorge DE LAS HERAS IBÁÑEZ. 1

Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Agrónomos y de Montes de Albacete, Universidad de Castilla La Mancha. Campus Universitario

s/n, Albacete, Spain. *ManuelEsteban.Lucas@uclm.es

ABSTRACT Prescribed fire has been widely used as a fuel reduction tool and silvicultural treatment in many Mediterranean forest ecosystems. However, this action may alter microsite conditions and there is a lack of knowledge about the role of prescribed burnings on Mediterranean pine species natural regeneration. The effects of prescribed burning in comparison with soil preparation (brushing) on Spanish black pine (Pinus nigra Arn. ssp salzmannii), Maritime pine (Pinus Pinaster Ait.) and Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis Mill)) initial recruitment were evaluated in both pure (Spanish black pine) and mixed (Spanish black pine and maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Ait.)) forest stands during one year (2014) at Cuenca Mountains, Central-eastern Spain. Results showed that seedling recruitment in both pure and mixed stands was negatively affected by prescribed burnings but was improved by soil preparation treatment. At the end of the experiment, no differences were found comparing different pine species. Also, seed protection was a very important factor for recruitment success. Thus, prescribed burnings should be carefully planned when regeneration purposes have to be achieved. The influence of fire on natural regeneration should be taken into account in order to develop proper guidelines for the management of black pine forests, mainly in the Mediterranean Basin. KEYWORDS: Initial recruitment; mixed and pure forest stands; Spanish black pine; prescribed burning.

134

Experimental data on the use of long term retardant in prescribed burnings and preventive applications MANS,Vicens 1; ENFEDAQUE,Alberto 2; ESPASA, Sheila 3 1

Budenheim Iberica. BL Wildfire GM. Extramuros s/n, La Zaida 50784 Zaragoza, Spain; vicente.mans@budenheim.com

Budenheim Iberica. Operations Head . Extramuros s/n, La Zaida 50784 Zaragoza, Spain; alberto.enfedaque@budenheim.com

Budenheim Iberica. Technical Dept. . Extramuros s/n, La Zaida 50784 Zaragoza, Spain; sheila.espasa@budenheim.com

ABSTRACT Long term retardants are widely used by air application in most of modern forest fire fighting organizations. The chemical effect and char formation vs flammable gas emissions are very well-known among firefighters community. However, ground application has still a low deployment among stakeholders mainly because of logistics issues. Prescribed burns offer an ideal scenario for the use of retardants to control spread of flame in the borders, reducing machinery works, manpower and risks. Experimental data were obtained in field winter burnings in Las Truchas mounts. The measurement of all parameters could end up in a estimated cost/Ha when retardants are used and was compared to the use of mechanical clearing tools. Additional experimental data on the duration of the effectiveness of the retardant when used as a preventive tool is showed. Preventive applications were done along 80 km on the sides of railway in different locations with different climates. Weather measurements from local stations correlated with the flammability of fuels could predict the minimum rain rate to wash out the retardant and hence the loss of expected performance. Finally, the state of the art for mixing and application equipment of retardants is comprehensively exposed. KEYWORDS

retardant, wildfire, ground, equipment

#iCOPFires

135

International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Oral Presentation Abstracts

Integration of Prescribed Burning in Corsica’s land management. MASSAIU, Antonella Office National des Forêts, Unité DFCI, DR Corse

ABSTRACT In Corsica the Defence against Forestry Fires (DFCI) policy has been defined in 2006 at a Regional plan development: the PPFENI (plan of Forests and protection of Natural Spaces against fire). This plan is drawn up under the responsibility of the Prefect of Corsica, in consultation with the local authorities and all partners having expertise in fire protection. The PPFENI is a document that identifies the risks, sensitivities and provides a general framework in which the authorities can intervene in connection with the services of the state. The general objectives are defined as follows: decrease in fire numbers, size reduction of the burned areas, fire risk prevention and limiting their consequences. This is in the interest of the security of people, property, economic and social activities as well as the protection of natural areas. The PFFENI offers throughout Corsica a homogeneous global strategy, and sets the priorities for action, including concrete actions to be implemented on the ground. The goals established by analysis of the operations to be carried out at the Forest Massif scale are perfected in the Plans of Fire Prevention premises (PLPI). These plans demonstrate, after careful analysis of the territory, the infrastructure and operations to be carried out. Multidisciplinary teams carry out the different plans and their reports cover the whole territory of the island. This allows the planning of infrastructure and other means to fight against the risk of fire as well as the identification of areas in which to implement silvicultural action, aimed at make auto-fire-resistant forest stands. The PPFENI foresees a specific action plan (II-7) that promotes actions that allow you to: - Reinforce the incisiveness of control infrastructure (ZAL- of Support to Fight Zone) and user safety by reducing the fuel in stands (the ZAL and adjacent areas), - Increase the forest stands capacity for resistance to fire. These actions are conducted in Corsica through the use of prescribed fire that has become a technique among others used for the construction and maintenance of control infrastructure (ZAL and Coupures Actives), and for the protection of forest stands. In Corsica there are different teams in prescribed burning (2 in South Corsica, 3 in Upper Corsica). Each department has a program that includes the set of operations required for the realization and maintenance of the prescribed burning. Burning is aimed at the control infrastructure, as well as the focus areas of forest stands. All teams agree upon this program; it defines the priorities whilst leaving a degree of freedom that allows them to use all the opportunities that arise to effectively implement prescribed burning. In this same spirit of optimization, the different service teams continue to work together on prescribed fire sites, whenever it is possible. Furthermore, in each department there exists a specialised unit in the use of fire against wild fires during the summer season. KEY WORDS

136

DFCI, number of fires, fire risk, size of burnt areas

The practice of prescribed burning in France MASSAIU, Antonella Office National des Forêts, Unité DFCI, DR Corse

ABSTRACT Numerous prescribed burning teams have existed in the south of France since the early 1990’s. Today, there are 15 Mediterranean departments each having one or more specialized teams composed of foresters, pastoralists and firefighters. These teams have perfected their skills through practice on increasingly complex sites and exchanges of experiences within the “Réseau des Equipes de Brûlage Dirigé”. Nationwide there are currently 24 prescribed burning teams operating on the French territory. In France, prescribed burning is protected by law as a measure to prevent forest fires. The public authority which puts it in place must ensure that the fire is conducted by a trained person from within a recognised institution. To meet the law requirements two institutions have been enabled in France. In the Mediterranean region was chosen the civil protection (ECASC- Ecole d’application de la Securité Civile) of Valabre releasing this training since 1996. The training consists of three modules, with a total duration of 16 days, combining theory and practice. This is complemented by seven days of practical exercise in different existing French teams. The prescribed burning technique is used by specialized teams in various fields to achieve the diversified objectives. It can be advantageously associated, in time and / or in space, with other intervention techniques to refine the expected effects on the environment. Prescribed burning helps to decrease the potential intensity of a fire by acting preemptively on fuel. In fact, it decreases the load, in particular by combating the finer elements in the layers that contribute to the spread of fire, and it breaks the horizontal and vertical continuity. Therefore, it is used both for the creation and maintenance of fire prevention infrastructure and to activate the self-sustaining patterns within valuable forest stands. The prescribed burning can ‘also be used to reduce the number of fires. The operations carried out in favour of the shepherds in some precarious areas, allowing, for example, to avoid the pastoral fire. Prescribed burning accompanies the traditional practice of pastoral fire, whose realization is increasingly difficult and delicate because of rural abandonment. This is realized through technical support to farmers who wish to participate in the fires, or, in other cases, creating the fires in their place. The operation has as its objective to clean up pastures with bushes ensuring their maintenance through the elimination of non-woody species consumed by livestock. There has been an increasing environmental demand that has aimed to limit the closure of the territory in order to protect certain habitats and maintain a greater diversity of both flora and fauna. Broadly speaking the use of patch mosaic burning allows, with a minimal cost, to ensure the maintenance of zoological, botanical and landscape diversity. KEY WORDS

Fire prevention, landscape diversity, pastures

#iCOPFires

137

International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Oral Presentation Abstracts

Prescribed fire experiences as a tool to crop residue removal for forest biomass management MOLINA, Juan Ramón1*, RODRÍGUEZ Y SILVA, Francisco2, GARCÍA, Juan Pedro3 and FERNÁNDEZ, Juan José4 University of Córdoba, Department of Forest Engineering, Campus de Rabanales. 14071, Córdoba (Spain). e-mail: jrmolina@uco.es

1 2

University of Córdoba, Department of Forest Engineering, Campus de Rabanales. 14071, Córdoba (Spain). e-mail: ir1rosif@uco.es

Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha. Consejería de Agricultura, Medio Ambiente y Desarrollo Rural. INFOCAM. Centro Operativo

Provincial de Lucha contra Incendios Forestales. El Chaparrillo, Ciudad Real. e-mail: jpgarciaa@jccm.es 4

GEACAM, UNAP, Centro Operativo Regional de Lucha Contra Incendios Forestales, Toledo (Spain). e-mail: juanjofernandez@geacam.com

ABSTRACT Renewable biomass energy occupies an important position and plays a decisive role in the present world energy future. Therefore, forestry is the most important source of woody biomass for direct energy exploitation or production of pellets. However, the selected exploitation per hectare of Mediterranean forest has high costs due to their periodic thinning operations. After these periodical operations, an important load of forest residues usually remains on forest ground, and as a consequence, it could spread fire into these forests. Prescribed fires have been successfully used in order to reduce fuel load, both conifer litter and woody residues in recent biomass exploitations. Fire spreads in an artificial hybrid model type: continuous conifer litter with dead and down woody fuel resulting of forest exploitation. Significant differences were found between “fuel model 9” and this artificial model in relation to fuel load and its spatial distribution, spread rate, flame length, fire intensity and heat per unit area. We adjusted fuel model parameters, such as fuel load by categories and depth, to improve fire behavior predictions based on twelve prescribed fire scenarios. Although not all large residues were consumed by fire, fuel reduction was outstanding for fire prevention management. However, differences were observed based on the fuel availability according to meteorological conditions and fuel moisture. The integration of thinning biomass exploitation and prescribed fires provides a series of advantages for forest biomass management: facilitating forest fire defense, training firefighting techniques and providing lower costs than mechanized reduction treatments. KEYWORDS fuel reduction; fire behavior; hybrid model; mechanical thinning; biomass exploitation

138

From fire regime to wildfire regime and vice versa MONTIEL MOLINA, Cristina1* and GALIANA MARTĂ?N, Luis2 1

Complutense University of Madrid. Department of Regional Geographical Analysis and Physical Geography, Faculty of Geography and

History, c/ Profesor Aranguren, s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain, crismont@ucm.es 2

Autonomous University of Madrid. Department of Geography, Campus de Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain, luis.galiana@uam.es

ABSTRACT Reconstruction of forest fire records since the 16th century from geohistorical sources, and data from the Statistics of Forest Fires (EGIFF) since 1968, have enabled documentation of how the fire regime has evolved in the Central System Mountain Range (Spain). These documental and statistical sources show that the historical presence of fire in inland regions of Spain changed abruptly from fire regimes involving controlled burning in rural areas (until the late 19th century and during the first half of the 20th century), to wildfire regimes, due to the prohibition or abandoning of these fire use practices in the context of policy and/or socioeconomic changes. Two pyro-transitions have been identified in regions of the Central System Range: in the late 19th century (due to socio-political changes and conflicts) and in the mid-20th century (due to socioeconomic changes linked to the energy transition to fossil fuels, urban development and new lifestyles). In contrast, regulated fire use and the introduction of prescribed burning in the early 21st century seem to indicate a new pyro-transition, in this case towards fire regimes, according to EGIFF data. The two historical pyro-transitions, from fire regime to wildfire regime, differ in time in the different mountains massifs (Ayllon, Guadarrama, Gredos, Sierra de Gata and Hurdes) according to the specific local characteristics of the terrain. The third possible pyro-transition, from a wildfire regime to a fire regime, may be linked to the date when the Autonomous Governments introduced regulation of traditional fire use practices and other social prevention measures. Six case studies selected on a local scale in different mountain massifs in three Autonomous Communities (Extremadura, Castilla y LeĂłn and Castilla La Mancha) reinforce this hypothesis. KEYWORDS

Fire history, Pyro-geography, pyro-transition, Central System Mountain Ranges, Spain.

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139

International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Oral Presentation Abstracts

Prescribed burn program by firefighters: operational novelties and research challenges. Edgar Nebot. Unitat Tècnica GRAF (Cos de Bombers de la Generalitat de Catalunya).

ABSTRACT The paper will focus on 2 topics: the prescribed burns as a tool for training fire use in fire and the Summer burning requirement for adult stands of Pinus nigra. The use of technical fire in extinction operations requires skill and practice. The prescribed burnings are an ideal scenario for the training and practice of using the tool, but few cases where a high intensity burn is applied. As is the case of flaring or fire fighting operations. Knowing how to read fire and flame behavior and how to use burning is one of the challenges for operational personnel. The fire burn cases of the Pobla de Montornés (Tarragona) and the Guingueta d’Àneu (Pallars Sobirà-Lleida) are discussed. The implementation of fire prescribed by burning in stands of Pinus nigra within the framework of the LIFE Pinassa (http://lifepinassa.eu/?lang=es), to give greater resistance to fire to these adult and stratified masses, is a challenge Complex because the burning window is concentrated in late Summer and early Autumn, when lightning fires are common and according to the seasonal nature of natural fires in these areas of the Catalan pre-coastal mountain range. Containing the need for burning while part of the territory has a high level of forest fire risk is complex, at the level of resources allocated and messages to society. KEYWORDS training, extinction, technical fire, fire ecology, Pinus nigra, LIFE project, prescription window.

140

“Is Fearr an Tine Bheag*- Developing a Prescribed fire Culture in Ireland” *“A small fire is preferable” NUGENT, Ciaran Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine

ABSTRACT Like many European States, in recent years Ireland has experienced an increased awareness of wildfire activity within its territory and the impacts and potential effects of wildfire on social, environmental and economic systems and services. Fire activity can be expected to further increase in future as a consequence of climate change impacts, demographic changes in fire-prone upland regions and changes to agricultural practice. In addressing the issues of wildfire, there is an increased understanding by Irish Authorities that prescribed fire has a key role to play in preventing and moderating adverse wildfire incidence and impacts, both as a component of integrated fire management, and as a cultural tool for the management and conservation of upland habitats and species which are most affected by fire. In this regard, Irish Authorities accept that a culture of traditional land burning exists in Irish cultural landscapes, and that the best approach is to update and empower existing burning traditions with modern technical fire doctrines, practice and regulatory controls. This paper/presentation will outline the approaches taken and practical experiences to date, and highlight some of the challenges faced by Irish practitioners attempting to create an acceptance of prescribed fire as a tool for sustainable land management and civil protection. KEYWORDS

Prescribed Fire, Ireland, Upland, Gorse Fire, Controlled Burning

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141

International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Oral Presentation Abstracts

Prescribed burning and cooperation for eco-innovation projects; multifunctional management of landscape value in the Pyrenees of Lleida OLIVERES, Jordi GRAF Lleida Unit (Emergency Cos de Bombers de la Generalitat de Catalunya).

ABSTRACT Although the Pyrenees of Lleida is currently associated more as a reference for snow tourism, it has traditionally been more appreciated by its green cover of forests and above all pastures. In this geography of medium and high mountain, the fire of the man has traditionally played a role as architect and modeler of the landscape, promoted or persecuted according to the interests and politics of each historical context. Beyond the ecological process that has represented fire in these natural anthropized systems, it is in the etymological origin of the Pyrenees where its relevance (Pyros) is traced. In this geography, the main common interest of the landscape has traditionally been pastures for extensive livestock farming, along with the productivity of forests for wood and other uses, such as the thermal use of biomass. Fire was used as a management tool, to regenerate pastures and to maintain an open landscape matrix, together with wooded tiles to guarantee other natural resources (wood, biomass, forest fruits, etc.). Since mid-20th century and due to diverse and complex socioeconomic reasons, the territory entered a drift of rural abandonment with side effects such as the progressive increase of forest cover. This plausible expansion of forest cover has led not only to a landscape reconfiguration but its recomposition: a closed forest with only a few open spaces. Simultaneously, the fire regime has changed, which in the midst of transition is catalyzed by changes in land use and also by the Climate Change. Over the last decade, a socio-economic regeneration based on a globalized services sector (rural tourism) and on a reinvented primary sector (organic farming with direct marketing) has become plausible. This new socio-economic reality, together with the recomposition of the landscape, demands the recovery of wooded pastures, especially in the surroundings of inhabited area . In the present context, prescribed fires under trees in the Pyrenees can play a key and synergic role to:(1) train the fire department staff, (2) improve collaterally societyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s self-protection, (3) recover, review and extend the fire ecology knowledge , (4) provide ecological resilience in relation to the context of Climate Change, and above all, (5) cooperation among territorial actors. KEYWORDS Good of common interest, landscape, synergy, cooperation, prescribed burning under woodland, forest pastures, self-protection, ecological resilience, adaptation to global warming and climate change.

142

Evaluating Wildland Surface Fuels for Potential Prescribed Fires in the Netherlands OSWALD, Brian P.1, Nienke BROUWER2, Ester WILLEMSEN2 1

Joe C. Denman Distinguished Professor, Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture, Stephen F. Austin State University,

Nacogdoches Texas USA 2

Nederlands Instituut Fysieke Veiligheid, Arnhem, The Netherlands

ABSTRACT With dramatic increases in area burned and the number of fires in the past few decades, the Netherlands has initiated field sampling of various ecosystems in the most hazardous areas of the country in order to estimate potential wildland fire behavior. Since 2012, a collaborative effort by Stephen F. Austin State University in Texas, USA and Nederlands Instituut Fysieke Veiligheid, The Netherlands has performed field fuel measurements in portions of the coast and the interior of the country to assess potential wildland fire behavior to assist in emergency preparedness in these areas prone to wildfires. The different areas were identified as to specific existing or custom fuel models in BehavePlus, and potential fire behavior (spread and intensity) predicted. In the future, these results could be used to assist natural resource managers and emergency agencies to reduce hazards and dangerous fire behavior if prescribed burning became an acceptable management tool. A status report of this 4 year project will be presented. KEYWORDS Forest management, fire behaviour

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143

International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Oral Presentation Abstracts

The Dutch and Wildland Fires- A study of Public Perception OSWALD, Brian1*, BRENNAN, Amy1. DARVILLE, Ray2, McCAFFREY, Sarah3, STEPHENS WILLIAMS, Pat1, OBERIJE, Nancy4 1

Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture, Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches Texas, USA, boswald@sfasu.edu,

brennanac92@gmail.com, stephensp@sfasu.edu; 2

Department of Anthropology, Geography and Sociology, Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches Texas, USA rdarville@sfasu.edu

Northern Research Station, USDA Forest Service, Evanston, Illinous, USA smccaffrey@fs.fed.us

Instituut Fysieke Veiligheid, Arnhem, The Netherlands Nancy.Oberije@ifv.nl

ABSTRACT The Netherlands, a country showing warmer and drier weather patterns, is facing a growing threat of wildfires. The purpose of this study was to identify public perceptions towards wildland fire in the forested Veluwe region of the country. Historically, the Netherlands has not had a significant wildfire problem. A collaborative effort between Stephen F. Austin State University and the Instituut Fysieke Veiligheid, the Dutch public safety agency, established a survey to reveal and quantify public opinions and perceptions regarding wildland fire and public expectations of government agencies in the event of a wildfire. Due to the lack of any significant historical context of wildfires, the initial assumption was that the Dutch do not think much about wildfires. However, this survey has revealed many more nuances in how the Dutch view wildfire. The results of this survey should assist land managers in the Netherlands on developing programs to educate the public on the value and use of prescribed burning for land management. KEYWORDS Dutch, survey, public, wildland fires

144

Grassland Fires in Lithuania. Public perception and legal barriers. PEREIRA, Paulo*1., MISIUNE, Ieva1., NOVARA, Agata2., Keesstra, Saskia3., UBEDA, Xavier4, CERDA, Artemi5 1

Environment Management Laboratory, Mykolas Romeris University, Ateities g. 20, LT-08303 Vilnius, Lithuania, pereiraub@gmail.com

Dipartimento dei Sistemi Agro-ambientali, University of Palermo, viale delle scienze. Italy,

Soil Physics and Land Management Group, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 4, 6708 PB. Wageningen, The Netherlands

GRAM (Mediterranean Environmental Research Group), Department of Physical Geography, University of Barcelona, Montalegre, 6. 08001

Barcelona, Spain, 5

Soil erosion and Degradation Research Group, Department of Geography. Universitat de ValĂ¨ncia, Blasco IbaĂąez, 28, 46010 Valencia,

Spain

ABSTRACT Fire is an important disturbance in many ecosystems, including the boreal. Despite this recognition from science, society and policy makers are very resistance to the use of fire as a tool for landscape management. As in several countries of Europe, in Lithuania the use prescribed fires in grasslands by farmers is not allowed, and constitute a barrier to the application of a type of management used for centuries. Farmers use fire to remove the dead grass after the winter time, facilitating soil tillage and increasing the amount of nutrients in the top soil. This is especially important because has a reduced cost and is important for the soil productivity during the spring and summer time when is possible to farm in this region of Europe. The restriction to the use of fire increased the use of heavy machinery, that have negative impacts on soil properties, such as the increase of soil compaction and reduction of the hydraulic conductivity. It is well known that the direct impacts of grassland fires are minimal, and the main changes that occur in soil are a consequence of ash deposition, which is short in time. In addition, vegetation recuperates very fast, showing the resilience of these ecosystems to fire disturbance. Regardless this evidence, there are an extreme resistance of Lithuanian society, land management, and policy makers to the acceptance of fire as a natural element of the ecosystems, and perceived it as a threat to nature, especially due to the media, that as in other countries transmit a negative image of fire. On the other hand, environmental education is very poor, contributing to the lack of understanding of fire role in the ecosystems. The aim of this presentation is to study the public perception and the legal barriers imposed regarding the application of fire for landscape management in Lithuania. Supported by RFBR 16-04-00796 KEYWORDS Land management, prescribed fires, public perception, policy makers, environmentl education

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145

International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Oral Presentation Abstracts

Assessing the effectiveness of mechanical thinning and prescribed burning on fire behavior in Pinus nigra forests in NE Spain PIQUÉ, Míriam1*, DOMÈNECH, Rut1, BELTRÁN, Mario1, CERVERA, Teresa2 and BAIGES, Teresa2 1

Forest Sciences Centre of Catalonia (CTFC). Ctra. de Sant Llorenç de Morunys, Km 2, 25280 Solsona, Spain, miriam.pique@ctfc.es.

The Forest Ownership Centre (CPF). Finca Torreferrussa Ctra. de Sabadell a Sta. Perpètua, km, 4,5 08130 Santa Perpètua de Mogoda,

Spain, tcervera@gencat.cat.

ABSTRACT Forest managers have in their scope different fuel treatments such as thinning and prescribed burning to mitigate potential wildfire severity, modify stand structure and restore forest functions. In order to choose the one that best suits their objectives at lower cost and for a longer period of time, it is needed the knowledge of the effectiveness of these treatments. Pinus nigra forests in Catalonia are considered a priority natural habitat for conservation by the Habitats Directive. In the past decades, some traditional management activities such as selective felling or grazing now linked with the rural abandonment and the effects of large forest fires have brought Pinus nigra forests to a degradation stage. Nowadays, it is common to observe these forests with destabilized structures, low regeneration capacity, scarce tree and shrub diversity, low levels of maturity and, therefore, strongly exposed to perturbations under the global change context. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of different thinning intensities and slash management techniques, including prescribed burning, on forest structure, forest fire behavior and fire risk and severity in Pinus nigra forests in the Pre-Pyrenean range of NE Spain. Fuel treatments were performed in two similar sites. In each of them two thinning intensities (light and heavy) with two slash management techniques (crosscut and prescribed burning) were combined: light thinning and crosscut, light thinning and burn, heavy thinning and crosscut, heavy thinning and burn, plus a control area. Sites were sampled before and after the treatment and fuel loads and forest structure data were obtained. BehavePlus software was used in order to simulate fire behavior. The most probable and representative fire conditions of the area were chosen, designing several simulation scenarios from less to more severe. Preliminary forest structure and simulation results are shown and discussed. KEYWORDS fire behavior modelling, slash management, fuel management, fire simulation. Acknowledgments: Funding was provided by the Life Demorgest project.

146

Communication tools for enhancing “good fire” concept and wildfire risk social’s awareness PLANA, E.1* ; FONT, M.1 ; SERRA, M1 ; BORRÀS, M.2 ; VENDRELL, J.2 ; VILALATA, O.2 ; VILARASSAU, C.2 ; CHAUVIN, S.3 ; GLADINÉ, J.3 ; MARTÍNEZ DE ARANO, I5 ; BELHAJ, S.6 ; MELIZI, M.7 *eduard.plana@ctfc.es 1

Forest Science Centre of Catalonia. Department of Forest Policy and Environmental Governance

Pau Costa Foundation

FORESPIR

EFIMED

DG Forest of Tunisia

University Hadj Lakhdar Batna, Algeria

ABSTRACT The high social vulnerability towards wildfire risk in the Mediterranean basin combined with the increasing extreme fire events trends, suppose an important challenge for fire risk practitioners and managers in ensuring the security of persons, infrastructures and environmental values. Nowadays society perceives fire as the major forest enemy, which has to be fought at any price without making any kind of difference. This inflexible perception, difficult the change of paradigm in a context where fire can be part of the solution instead of part of the problem. In fact, from all around expert’s knowledge pools, fire is well recognized as an intrinsic part of many forest ecosystems, playing an essential role for the forest health and dynamics, as well as effective tool for wildfire prevention and suppression. Despite all scientific evidences, it remains strongly complex for almost the entire population to understand how we can fight fire with fire. To face this dilemma, communication is presented as a powerful tool for social perception change, and to promote the well understanding of particular fire concepts essentials to differentiate between good fire and bad fire. In this sense, into the frame of the eFIRECOM project a set of communication tools for the Mediterranean context have been developed addressed to three different target audiences: youth and scholars, journalists and media, and communities and municipalities at risk. Specifically, the project seeks to enhance the resilience of citizens to wildfires through effectively promoting and increasing awareness and participation on the culture of risk with updated knowledge and best practices. A set of tools and products have been developed and are freely available in 5 languages (English, Spanish, French, Catalan and Arabic) at the web page: http://efirecom.ctfc.cat. KEYWORDS

communication tools, risk culture, social perception, fire ecology

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147

International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Oral Presentation Abstracts

Prescribed fires effects on runoff quality and quantity and soil losses in Mediterranean forest PLAZA-ALVAREZ, Pedro Antonio, Javier SAGRA, Manuel Esteban LUCAS-BORJA, Raquel ALFARO SÁNCHEZ, Daniel MOYA, Pablo FERRANDIS and Jorge DE LAS HERAS IBÁÑEZ 1

Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Agrónomos y de Montes de Albacete, Universidad de Castilla La Mancha. Campus Universitario

s/n, Albacete, Spain. *Pedro.plaza@uclm.es

ABSTRACT Wildfires have an important influence in many different elements of the forest ecosystems. In order to reduce fire risk and occurrence, prescribed fires with low intensity have been widely used as a fuel reduction tool and silvicultural treatment in Mediterranean forest ecosystems. However, other than the fact that fire may alter microsite conditions, little is known about the impact of prescribed burning on the soil losses and runoff soil quality and quantity. Contrary to high intensity fire, which generates tree mortality, soil erosion, changes in soil properties and so on, low intensity fires could do not alter such us quantity of soil and plant factors, being an interesting tool for reducing forest fires risk and promote natural regeneration or plant species renewal at the same time. In this study, we compared the effects of prescribed burning on runoff soil quality and quantity and soil loss during six months after a low intensity prescribed fire applied in twelve 16 m2 plot (6 burned and 6 control) set up in the Lezuza forest (Albacete, central-eastern Spain). Runoff water quality and quantity and soil losses were monitored after each rain event. Also, different forest stand characteristics (slope, tree density, basal area and shrub/herbal cover) affecting each plot were measured. Results showed that runoff quality was highly modified after the prescribed fire, promoting higher water pH, higher carbonates and bicarbonates water content and organic matter content. Also soil losses where highly related to precipitation intensity being canopy interception an important factor, which reduce soil losses and also runoff quantity. In conclusion and taking into account the exposed results, the influence of prescribed fires on water and soil properties should be taken into account for developing prescribed burnings guidelines. KEYWORDS Soil erosion, water quality, low intensity fires, runoff.

148

Can we find patterns of flammability in grass? POSSELL, Malcolm1*, BELL, Tina L.1 1

School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, NSW 2006 Australia. malcolm.possell@sydney.edu.au

ABSTRACT Although the flammability of fuel consists of four components (ignitability, sustainability, combustibility and consumability), there is currently no single scientific definition that can be used as a metric to assess fire hazard. Studies have shown that the choice of parameters measured when determining flammability can significantly change the assessment of the relative flammability of the fuel type being measured. In this study, we measured a variety of combustion responses from nine grasses from central Australia using a mass-loss calorimeter and examined these responses individually and collectively using multi-criteria analysis to rank the nine species on the basis of their relative flammability. Monte-Carlo simulations were used in conjunction with the multi-criteria analyses to test the robustness of the results of the multi-criteria analyses. The use of single measures of flammability resulted in inconsistent patterns among the nine species. When the individual measures were combined in a variety of multi-criteria analyses, where different measurements were used to represent the different flammability components, more consistent patterns emerged. The effect of component weighting in the multi-criteria analysis and the feasibility of using this methodology as a metric for assessing fire hazard are also discussed. KEYWORDS Flammability, ignition, mass-loss calorimeter, fire hazard assessment

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149

International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Oral Presentation Abstracts

Prescribes Fires in Valencia Community QUÍLEZ, Raúl.1*, and ALCARAZ, Roberto2 1

Ph. D. Master Fuego, Ciencia y Gestión Integral. Técnico forestal en el Consorcio de Bomberos de Valencia.46009 Valencia (Spain).

raulkillerm@hotmail.com 2

Técnico Superior de Recursos Naturales y Paisajísticos. Coordinador Forestal en el Consorcio de Bomberos de Valencia. C/Camino de

Moncada, 24. 46009 Valencia.

ABSTRACT Spain in general and Valencia in particular, are widely modeled Mediterranean areas by the passage of forest fires, especially during the last 40 years. The socioeconomic changes that have occurred in this period have transformed a largely agricultural society of the 70s of the twentieth century in an industrial society and services, forestry unfamiliar with reality and the risks involved in a Mediterranean environment. The huge fires that suffered recurrence of Valencia where in the period 1968 -2012 a total of 1,323,465 forest has more than 760,000 must have been covered by the fire, in areas with different recurrences. In answer is this reality, the authorities in the Valencia region, as in many other places, applied policies total suppression of fires, which led to greatly reduce the affected, especially in the period 1995-2012 surface. This change, coupled with the lack of management of forests and the progressive abandonment of agricultural activities led to a large accumulation of biomass that favors the fires are becoming more intense. In 2005 he began the introduction of burning to reduce the damage that pests produced crops, and is currently used to manage ecosystems and reduce population risk in different areas, having begun with the experimental burns under trees on fuel models very complicated, as a first step to introduce them as a tool for general management in the territory. Expectations are good, as organizations such as the Valencian Agency of Security and Emergency Response, responsible for fighting forest fires, or forestry departments responsible for conservation of wildlife, are very interested in their use to reduce the risk fire and create habitats for maintaining biodiversity. KEYWORDS Fire suppression, Risk, forest fires, biodiversity, .

150

Evaluating Seasons of Prescribed Burning in Coastal Prairie and Interior Coastal Plains Rangelands of Southern Texas, USA RIDEOUT-HANZAK, Sandra1*, WESTER, David B.1, BRITTON, Carlton M.2, ORTEGA-S, J. Alfonso1, CAMPBELL, Tyler A.3, ORTEGA-S, Jr., J. Alfonso3, GRACE, Joshua L.1, TOOMEY, Adam E.1 and HAYNES, Victoria L.1 1

Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute and Department of Animal, Rangeland and Wildlife Sciences, Texas A&M University-Kingsville.

700 University Blvd., MSC 218, Kingsville, TX, USA 78363, sandra.rideout-hanzak@tamuk.edu 2

Department of Natural Resources Management, Box 42125, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA, 79409

East Foundation, 200 Concord Plaza Drive, Suite 410, San Antonio, TX, USA, 78216

ABSTRACT The southern portion of Texas is included in a subtropical ecoregion that supports diverse habitats ranging from coastal marshes, prairies and barrier islands to interior shrublands and grasslands. These native habitats have been largely invaded by a wide variety of non-native invasive grasses beginning in the 1930â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s. Prescribed burning is an important management tool in southern Texas rangelands. It is used to improve forage quality for livestock, improve wildlife habitat and control woody plant invasion. However, land managers have little guidance on the appropriate timing of prescribed burning because information is lacking on effects of season of burning in these diverse habitats. We have compared effects of prescribed burning during summer (July-September) and winter (December-February) on vegetation in 4 separate studies in southern Texas to determine which season maximizes various benefits. Our study sites include a coastal barrier island, coastal prairie, inland native range and inland non-native invaded rangeland. We found season of burning affects mortality and recruitment dynamics of non-native, perennial grasses as well as native, but invasive, undesirable grasses. We have evaluated changes in nutritional forage quality (crude protein, fiber, lignin and succulence) after burning relative to non-burned forage. We will discuss effects of season of burning on vegetative composition, biomass, quality of forage for livestock and quality of wildlife habitat.

KEYWORDS forage, season of burn, southern Texas, vegetation, wildlife

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151

International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Oral Presentation Abstracts

Prospect on prescribed burning development in France RIGOLOT, Eric1*, LAMBERT, Bernard2 1

URFM, INRA, 84914, Avignon, France

SUAMME, 66500, Prades, France

ABSTRACT Prescribed burning (PB) has been developed in France for more than 25 years. A detailed analysis of the historical data base compiled by the French prescribed burning national working group (PBNWG) was carried out together with a survey among prescribed burning teams with the objective of understanding development constraints and possible levers for further extend of PB activities. Total annual PB area burnt doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t increase any more for more than 10 years despite a long-lasting and well structured practice promoted by the PBNWG and a well established institutional recognition through dedicated legislation and regulations. A first level of analysis was carried out on the relevant indicators for assessing PB practice. Statistics regarding quantitative indicators were produced (total area burnt, number of PB operations, mean area per operation) and discussed towards results from more qualitative indicators (PB difficulty, possibility of alternative fuel treatments). Results of the survey among PB teams identified several constraints on PB development: bad meteorological conditions, low availability of PB bosses, non optimal team organization, cumbersome procedures for operation planning, and recent reinforcement of regulation of air quality. Levers for PB extension in France are many, but none of then obviously imposed on, encouraging case specific and combined responses. Results brought to light an important gap between PB development in the forest and rangeland management contexts, the former being quite limited compared to the other. The recent recognition by the authorities of the burning needs of rural population for resources and land management, was a decisive pathway before launching several new measures and tools: organization of practitioners into local fire committees, new local fire regulation. On the contrary, PB in forested area is less developed and limited to State forests. Use of PB for private forest management needs first private owners awareness through existing professional networks. Finally, PB practice in France is evolving towards higher quality and professionalism as well as a better support of pastoral communities. Important improvements are possible to better fit PB offer to real needs, especially in the forestry domain. KEYWORDS Prescribed burning, France

152

Restoring reindeer lichen pastures after fire in boreal Sweden: an experimental approach to link indigenous and academic knowledge ROTURIER, Samuel.1*, WINSA, Hans2, NUTTI, Lars-Evert3, OLLIER, Sébastien4, and BERGSTEN, Urban5 1

Laboratoire Ecologie Systématique Evolution, AgroParisTech, CNRS, Université Paris Sud, Université Paris Saclay, F-91 400 Orsay,

France, samuel.roturier@u-psud.fr 2

Sveaskog, SE-952 23 Kalix, Sweden, hans.winsa@sveaskog.se

Sirges reindeer herding community, SE-962 22 Jokkmokk, Sweden, lassenutti@gmail.com

Laboratoire Ecologie Systématique Evolution, AgroParisTech, CNRS, Université Paris Sud, Université Paris Saclay, F-91 400 Orsay,

France, sebastien.ollier@u-psud.fr 5

Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Faculty of Forest Sciences, Department of Forest Biomaterials and Technology, SE-901 83

Umeå, Sweden, urban.bergsten@slu.se

ABSTRACT For the past 150 years commercial forestry in northern Sweden has greatly modified the fire regimes of the boreal forest to protect timber resources from uncontrolled fires. Fire suppression may have detrimental effects on the functioning of ecosystems and biodiversity, but also on the reindeer husbandry practiced by indigenous Sami people who depend on ground lichen for the survival of their reindeer. The reduction in annual burned area during the last 100 years has resulted in denser stands, higher productivity of forest soils and more extensive ground vegetation, creating less favourable habitats for reindeer lichens. Reintroducing burning is an option to restore reindeer winter pastures in the intermediate to long term. In 2008, a field experiment was established combining fire and reindeer lichen transplantation to gain a better understanding of the ability and the requirements of lichen thalli to establish on burnt surfaces following different post-fire treatments and transplantation methods. This was the first large-scale attempt to transplant reindeer lichen to burnt areas. Eight years after establishment, the results showed a continuous increase in lichen cover, reaching 75% of area of occupancy by established lichen fragments, on average. Post-fire treatments, doses and transplantation seasons had significant effects on lichen establishment. The experiment reveals useful results for the restoration of reindeer lichen and for specifying fire management regimes adapted to different land users. In addition, it initiated a learning process involving a Sami community and the forest company, which provided common ground for transmitting and creating new knowledge and management strategies. We believe that there are socio-ecological aspects associated with the restoration/rehabilitation of fire regime that must be tackled using all sources of knowledge available, scientific and indigenous and local knowledge. KEYWORDS Fire regime, lichen, reindeer husbandry, forestry, knowledge coproduction

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153

International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Oral Presentation Abstracts

Prescribed fires effects on soil and plant properties in a Mediterranean forest SAGRA, Javier, Pedro Antonio ALVAREZ-PLAZA, Manuel Esteban LUCAS-BORJA, Raquel ALFARO SÁNCHEZ, Daniel MOYA, Pablo FERRANDIS and Jorge DE LAS HERAS IBÁÑEZ. 1

Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Agrónomos y de Montes de Albacete, Universidad de Castilla La Mancha. Campus Universitario

s/n, Albacete, Spain. *Javier.Sagra@uclm.es

ABSTRACT Wildfires have an important influence in forest ecosystems. Contrary to high severity fire, which may have negative impacts on the ecosystems, low severity may induce small changes on soil properties. Thus and in order to reduce fire risk, low-severity prescribed fires have been widely used as a fuel reduction tool and silvicultural treatment in Mediterranean forest ecosystems. However, fire may alter microsite conditions and little is known about the impact of prescribed burning on the soil properties and plant composition. In this study, we compared the effects of prescribed burning on physicochemical and microbiological soil properties and plant species composition one year after a low intensity prescribed fire applied 6 burned pots of about 900 m2 set up in the Lezuza forest (Albacete, central-eastern Spain). Also, different forest stand characteristics (slope, tree density, basal area and shrub/herbal cover) affecting each plot were measured. Results showed that physicochemical and microbiological soil properties were slightly altered immediately after the prescribed burning but then quickly recovering and reaching previous values to prescribed burning. Also plant species composition was not significantly modified by the low intensity fire. In conclusion and taking into account the exposed results, the influence of prescribed fires on plant and soil properties should be taken into account for developing prescribed burnings guidelines. KEYWORDS Soil properties, plant composition, low intensity fires, biodiversity.

154

Fire regime dynamics in two unevenly developed coupled human and natural Mediterranean chestnut forest landscapes since the beginning of industrialization SEIJO, FRANCISCO Middlebury College C.V. Starr School in Spain. C/ Prim, 19 1a Planta. 28004 Madrid SPAIN. fseijo@middlebury.edu

ABSTRACT Coupled human and natural systems (CHANS) approaches are particularly suited to the study of Mediterranean type ecosystems (MTEs) where humans have traditionally played a critical ecological role by shaping landscape structure and function through fire management. Chestnut MTEs are widespread across the Mediterranean Basin, but little is known about their historical fire regimes. Our goal was to generate testable hypotheses about historical fire regime dynamics and fire regime change in these landscapes since the beginning of the industrialization process which, in our particular research sites, started in the 1950s. We selected two geographically adjacent CHANS sites in Spain with divergent levels of economic development and fire management policies to ensure biophysical consistency so as to fully be able to trace the influence of forest and fire management policy in fire regime dynamics and its feedbacks with landscape structure and function. Fire regime-landscape feedbacks were characterized through a pilot dendroecological study, official fire statistics, aerial photography and official forest inventory data. Our findings suggest that fire incidence in both sites has increased since the pre-industrial era but fire season, size and landscape heterogeneity have varied to a greater extent in the more developed than in the less developed site. These changes may be driven, among other factors, by the decline in non-vegetative season, annual anthropogenic burning of litterfall by local communities in the more developed site, by climate change in both sites and by land use transformations in the more developed sites such as the conversion of chestnut producing forest stands into coppiced, densely occupied chestnut groves for use as recreational hunting estates or ecotourist conservation forests. KEYWORDS Coupled human and natural systems, fire ecology, chestnut forest ecosystems, dendroecology, historical range of variability

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155

International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Oral Presentation Abstracts

Shaded fuelbreak areas maintenance with prescribed burnings: effects on crown fire behavior. SENRA RIVERO, Francisco1* 1

AMAyA – Junta de Andalucía; Centro Operativo Regional Plan INFOCA, Av. Manuel Siurot 50. Sevilla 41013. francisco.senra.ext@

juntadeandalucia.es

ABSTRACT The use of prescribed fire shall be considered in the maintenance of shaded fuelbreak pine-forest areas of Spain. Their structural characteristics besides their need of periodic maintenance ease its implementation. While planning and evaluating prescribed burns, surface fuel complex usually receives the overall focus, in both the prescription design and the burn efficiency, based on observed fuel consumption. However, prescribed fire also plays an interesting role on canopy base height increment and crown bulk density reduction, both variables related to crown fire processes. Present work describes prescribed fire effects on canopy characteristics and crown fire behavior of several burns conducted in pine-forest shaded fuelbreak areas of Málaga province (Andalusia). It is part of the Phd titled “Using prescribed burning in the maintenance of shaded fuelbreak areas of Southern Spain” (University of Cordoba, 2012). Main models and variables of crown initiation, crown spread and wildfire crown cessation are described. Simulations were carried out in NEXUS software, in different situations (before and after burn treatments) and scenarios (prescribed burn and wildfire). Results confirm a significant increment on crown base height due the “thermal pruning”. All crown fire descriptors improved after the burn treatments, specially the Torching Index (TI) in the rx scenario. Thus, treated plots became more resistant to crown fire processes regardless the surface fuel load consumption. Prescribed burning effects on tree overstory and its relation to crown initiation and crown cessation processes demands further attention. The consideration of tree crown descriptors in the design and maintenance of fuelbreak infrastructures eases desired burn treatment type and intensity (prescription) definition. Results may suggest additional prescribed fire applications in the maintenance of shaded fuelbreaks. KEYWORDS prescribed fire; shaded fuelbreak areas; thermal pruning; crown fire behavior; canopy characteristics

156

Fire induced rock-flakes as long term containers for trapped ash SHTOBER-ZISU, Nurit1*, BROOK, Anna2, KOPEL, Daniella2, ROBERTS, Dar3 and WITENBERG, Lea2 1

Department of Israel Studies, University of Haifa, Haifa, 3498838, Israel; nshtober@research.haifa.ac.il

Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Haifa

Department of Geography, University of California, Santa Barbara

ABSTRACT Severe fires accelerate rock weathering by spalling and exfoliation. The high temperatures cause to a sudden thermal shock to the rock surfaces that rapidly expand, leading to cracking and flaking. In the following years, the ash particles are blown away by the wind or washed away by runoff. The abundant flakes, so prevalent right after the fire, are removed or integrated into the topsoil. However, the remaining flakes form physical traps which accommodate fine particles, microorganisms, small-scale roots, etc. We searched for traces of ash trapped within the sediment under these flakes, after 4 major fires: 1989, 2005, 2010 and 2015. Samples were collected underneath the flakes, above and downslope the outcropped rock. Three physical properties including pH, electrical conductivity and color (by Munsell) were measured in the laboratory; five mineral compounds including charcoal, hydroxylapatite (HAp), organic carbon (aliphatic C-H stretch), montmorillonite and kaolinite, were measured across mid infrared spectral region at diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform mode using Bruker Tensor II (wave-numbers from 4000 to 400 cmâ&#x2C6;&#x2019;1) FTIR spectrometer and Pike EasiDiff optical bench. The results show evidences of ash trapped under the flakes of 2005 and 2010 fires, (using MANOVA, PCA and silhouette analysis on K-Means clustering). Charcoal presence is evident, as well as an increase of HAp and organic carbon. In the exposed soil above or below the burnt rock outcrop, these values are lowered. Negligible amounts of ash were found 27 years after the fire, and within the control sites. In the 2015 outcrop, large amounts of burnt organic material and charcoal were found above and below the outcrop, but not under the flakes as the ash did not penetrate yet â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 6 months after the fire. It seems that under the Mediterranean regime and carbonate slopes of Israel, the time required for ash transport and trap is longer that six months, and post fire flakes function as sediment traps for a period of up to three decades. KEYWORDS rock-flakes, rock weathering, FTIR, diffuse reflectance, thermal shock

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157

International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Oral Presentation Abstracts

Partnership working in the UK to prevent, prepare for and respond to wildfires - a case study of the Northumberland Collaborative Burning Project STACEY, Robert J.1* and MILLER, Andrew2 1

Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service. Learning and Development Department, Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service HQ, West

Hartford Business Park, Cramlinngton, Northumberland, NE23 3JP, UNITED KINGDOM, robert.stacey@northumberland.gov.uk 2

Northumberland National Park Authority. Eastburn, South Park, Hexham, Northumberland, NE46 1BS, UNITED KINGDOM, andrew.miller@

nnpa.org.uk

ABSTRACT The Northumberland Collaborative Burning Project (CBP) is an innovative 3 year project that is co-financed by Northumberland National Park Authority (NNPA) and Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service (NFRS). The presentation explains that the project is a useful case study of how effective partnership working can help to improve and develop prescribed burning and wildfire prevention, preparedness and response at the local level. The Northumberland project brings together individuals from multiple agencies to plan and implement prescribed burns. The burns are targeted on difficult sites with high conservation value where burning is used to maintain priority habitats, including NATURA 2000 sites. Each collaborative burn is meticulously planned and high risk locations have been targeted, including: –– Sites that that are hard to burn for fuel management; and/or –– Sites that could represent a significant risk to wildfire spread if a wildfire were to occur; and/or, –– Sites where there is a need for additional trained personnel to help support safe and effective controlled burning. There are significant benefits of involving multiple organisations in the planning and implementation of the burns. Firstly, firefighters, land managers, farmers and conservation agencies get to know one another and can develop a good working relationship, which may be of significant importance if they need to work together in the future during a wildfire incident. Secondly, those present have the opportunity to exchange knowledge and good practice on burning and suppression techniques. The Northumberland CBP has brought significant areas of priority habitat back into active management whilst at the same time reducing the risk of wildfires and providing quality training for a multitude of partners. The presentation also places the project within the wider context of collaborative working in the UK, explaining how multiple sectors work together on wildfire and prescribed burning issues at the local and regional levels and at the national level through groups such as the England and Wales Wildfire Forum, Scottish Wildfire Forum and Chief Fire Officers Association Wildfire Group. KEYWORDS collaboration, partnership, fire groups, fuel management, training, conservation

158

Oregonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Prescribed Fire Council: working in the future with prescribed burning and managed wildfire through partnerships STAMPER, Amanda C.1*, BAILEY, John D.2 1

The Nature Conservancy. 87200 Rathbone Road, Eugene, Oregon, USA 97402. amanda.stamper@tnc.org

Oregon State University. 280 Peavy Hall, Corvallis, Oregon, USA, 97331. John.Bailey@oregonstate.edu

ABSTRACT As a member of the national network of prescribed fire councils, our focus in Oregon is first and foremost on the use of management-ignited fires that meet pre-planned landowner objectives. There is broad agreement within both the management and scientific communities on the effectiveness and unique benefits of prescribed burning across a wide range of Pacific Northwest ecosystems. These ecological benefits cannot be fully achieved through other, non-fire-based management approaches; restoration of cultural burning practices and fire regimes is included within this scope. We also acknowledge the very real and growing challenges facing fire and fuels managers in Oregon, particularly on federal lands, where fire seasons are increasingly long and resultant wildfires are increasingly severe, with little reprieve or optimism in sight relative to wildfire risks, budgets and personnel. Annual treatments to reduce wildfire hazard/risk account for only a small percentage of the area that needs attention and do not even compensate for continued growth of biomass/fuel. We therefore conclude that it is not feasible to fully address wildfire hazard in many areas outside of the wildland-urban interface or to significantly reduce wildfire risk across landscapes with mechanical treatments and/or manager-ignited prescribed fires. Many areas are too steep or remote for mechanical treatments, in designated wilderness or other reserved lands (where fire is the only tool for maintaining ecological health), or economically unfeasible to treat given current fiber markets and infrastructure; similarly, air quality management constraints, liability and personnel requirements frequently limit manager-ignited prescribed burning. Development of partnerships, facilitated by prescribed fire councils and other approaches to cooperative burning, are essential to overcoming these challenges. We also recognize the need to define and market â&#x20AC;&#x153;beneficial fireâ&#x20AC;? more broadly, and to regard both prescribed fire and managed wildfire as important tools for bringing fireadapted and fire-dependent ecosystems in Oregon into a more resilient condition. This redefined relationship with fire and resultant resilient landscapes will further serve to reduce the stress on fire management systems and our larger society over time relative to current realities, and is being developed through partnerships between different entities engaging in active prescribed burning across Oregon. KEYWORDS Prescribed fire, wildfire, fuel treatment, land management, fire risk, air quality, partnerships

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159

International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Oral Presentation Abstracts

Prescribed burning as a method for active conservation of heathland in Poland SZCZĘŚNIAK, Ewa1, MALKIEWICZ, Adam2, WIŚNIEWSKI, Konrad3, SZCZYGIEŁ, Ryszard4, KWIATKOWSKI, Mirosław4, KOŁAKOWSKI, Bartłomiej4*, GOLDAMMER, Johann G.5, BRUNN, Egbert6 1

University of Wrocław, Department of Botany, 6/8 Kanonia St., 50-328 Wrocław, Poland, ewa.szczesniak@uni.wroc.pl. 2 University of Wrocław,

Department of Invertebrate Biology, Evolution and Conservation, Przybyszewskiego 65 St., Wrocław, Poland, adam.malkiewicz@uni.wroc.pl. 3

University of Wrocław, Department of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Taxonomy, Przybyszewskiego 65 St., 51-148 Wrocław Poland, konrad.

wisniewski@uni.wroc.pl. 4 Forest Research Institute, Braci Leśnej 3 ST., Sękocin Stary, 05-090 Raszyn, Poland, r.szczygiel@ibles.waw.pl, m.kwiatkowski@ibles.waw.pl, b.kolakowski@ibles.waw.pl. 5 Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC) / Fire Ecology Research Group, Max –Planck Institute for Chemistry, c/o United Nations University and Freiburg University, Georges-Köhler-Allee 75, 79110 Freiburg, Germany, fire@fire. uni-freiburg.de. 6 Bundesanstalt für Immobilienaufgaben, Bundesforstbetrieb Lausitz, Funktionsbereich Liegenschaften - Naturschutz - A+E, Muskauer Forst 01, 02957 Weißkeißel, Germany, egbert.brunn@web.de, egbert.brunn@bundesimmobilien.de

ABSTRACT In Poland, all large-area dry heathland are of anthropogenic origin and have formed on former military testing grounds. Given their infrequent occurrence, almost all are extremely valuable and protected. The experiment was conducted in March 2015 in the Przemkowski Landscape Park, which had been subject to different forms of conservation because of its unique natural values including large area of dry heathland of the Pohlio-Callunetum community (protected habitat of EU Nature 2000 system, code 4030). After the anthropogenic factor becomes ineffective, secondary succession of vegetation starts and overgrown old heathlands convert to tree-stands or grass communities with a lower natural value. The purpose of the research was to determine the rate, way and quality of regeneration of burned heathland and the impact of burning on the biodiversity of the ecosystem. A 5.5 ha part of large heathland plot was burnt, the research was conducted on the burned plot and adjacent unburned reference area. Detailed analyses covered flora, lichenobiota and plant associations with particular focus on the state of preservation and regeneration of Calluna vulgaris, and invertebrate fauna, especially arachnids, ants, beetles, moths and butterflies. 85% of heather clumps started to grow again immediately after the burning and despite a long-lasting summer drought 75% of them bloomed in autumn. The results from two years of observation indicate that burning has not caused any significant decrease in the number of lichen and vascular plant individuals, while already in the second year an increase of the area of the substratum available for colonisation caused a higher number of species and individuals. The burning had no adverse impact on invertebrate fauna, however the burned heathland differed considerably from the unburned heathland in terms of its species composition or the activity of the particular species. The burned site creates favorable living conditions for many valuable species from selected groups, which are under threat of extinction and are subject to legal protection in Poland. The practical purpose of the experiment was to enable its participants (foresters, ecologists, scientists, firemen and local administration staff) to become acquainted with the principles and technique of burning. This was facilitated to a great extent by the introduction and guidance of this first prescribed burn operation in Poland by staff of the Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC), Secretariat of the Eurasian Fire in Nature Conservation Network, and the German Federal Forest Service, Lausitz Office, Brandenburg State. KEYWORDS prescribed burning, Calluna vulgaris, heathlands, fire effects

160

La tramitación administrativa de una quema prescrita de vegetación en Catalunya TERÉS Blanco, José Ángel. Servei de Prevenció d’Incendis Forestals (Departament d’Agricultura, Ramaderia, Pesca i Alimentació. Generalitat de Catalunya)

En Catalunya, la quema de vegetación forestal que no ha sido previamente cortada y apilada requiere de una autorización expresa de la dirección general que regula el uso del fuego. Una quema puede iniciarse a solicitud de una persona o entidad externa a la administración o bien por un informe justificativo interno. Cada solicitud o informe justificativo se singulariza en las diferentes parcelas que la forman y se reduce al inicio de un expediente administrativo. Posteriormente se adjuntan los informes oportunos de los gestores del medio natural y la propuesta técnica para ejecutar la quema (plan de quema). A la vista de esta información se propone la autorización (o no) de la quema que es resuelta por el titular de la dirección general y comunicada al solicitante. Desde el año 2010 se han tramitado unas 850 parcelas de quema prescrita (dentro de cada solicitud se pueden incluir una o varias parcelas), el 41% de las cuales han sido realizadas total o parcialmente y el 20% están autorizadas o en trámite de aprobación. El 32% de los trámites se archivaron sin haberse ejecutado las actuaciones, en parte por el cambio de criterio de la propiedad de la finca, en parte por las difíciles condiciones de ejecución marcadas en la autorización y en parte por otras situaciones como el incendio incontrolado de la parcela antes de ser ejecutada. La aprobación del 4% de las parcelas solicitadas está actualmente detenida (cuando una solicitud incluye muchos polígonos de quema se priorizan y el resto pasan a estar suspendidos temporalmente. Esta suspensión se levanta así como se van ejecutando nuevos polígonos). Solo el 3% de los procedimientos fue denegado por incompatibilidad ambiental o técnica de la quema. PALABRAS CLAVE procedimiento administrativo, solicitud, plan de quema, propuesta, autorización.

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161

International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Oral Presentation Abstracts

Open Ended Fire Breaks - New Technology for Creating Extensive Fire Breaks in Challenging Landscapes TROLLOPE, L. A,1*, T E CONNOLLY2, R GOODE3 and W S W TROLLOPE1 1

Research and Development, Kishugu Holdings (Pty) Ltd, 1 Club Street, Old Nelspruit Airfield, South Africa. Email: winfire@procomp.co.za

Project Manager, Kishugu Holdings (Pty) Ltd, 1 Club Street, Old Nelspruit Airfield, South Africa

Ecologist, Working on Fire, 1 Old Sodwana Bay Road, Hluhluwe, 3060, South Africa. Email: ross.goode@gmail.com

ABSTRACT Annually wildfires devastate many thousands of hectares on a global scale. Where there are alternating wet and dry season climatic conditions combined either with natural e.g. lightning, or anthropogenic ignition sources, devastating wildfires are destined to occur. This is as a result of the accumulation of herbaceous fuel during the wet season that desiccates during the dry season becoming highly flammable. Wildfires cause the tragic mortality of both humans and animals. Domestic livestock, wild animals and infrastructure are threatened resulting in extensive losses of possessions and grazing causing great hardship during the dry season, particularly for rural communities. Judicious and timely prescribed burning can minimise wildfire threats but constructing extensive fire breaks are very labour demanding, costly and often ecologically damaging. Creating ecologically sensitive, extensive fire breaks in inaccessible terrain or in wilderness areas is a challenging and often impossible task. The technical expertise and methodology for developing an effective, economical and safe method of creating fire breaks along boundaries or over extensive distances using minimum inputs was sorely required. The Research and Development Division of Working on Fire International investigated further recent developments in Australia using aerial ignition of fires. Best Operating Procedures, pertinent to Southern African conditions, have been developed for using aerial ignition to create practical, cost effective and ecologically acceptable fire breaks spanning vast distances in all types of terrain. These Open Ended Fire Breaks (OEFBâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s) are effective in controlling the spread of damaging wildfires in isolated and/or inaccessible areas or those emanating from across international boundaries. Open Ended Fire Breaks are also considered more aesthetically in keeping with natural landscapes in conservation areas. The development of such cost effective fire breaks will be of great value to the management of extensive and/ or mountainous areas and will provide protection for rural communities living in remote areas. KEYWORDS Africa, wildfires, firebreaks, ecologically sensitive

162

Guidelines for Prescribed Burning for Range Management for Livestock Production and Wildlife Management in African Grasslands and Savannas TROLLOPE, Winston S.W..1*, TROLLOPE, Lynne A..1 , GOODE, Ross, A2.and CONNOLLY, Terence E..3. 1

Research and Development, Kishugu Holdings (Pty) Ltd, 1 Club Street, Old Nelspruit Airfield, Nelspruit, South Africa.

email: winfire@procomp.co.za 2

Ecologist, Working on Fire, 1 Old Sodwana Bay Road, Hluhluwe, 3060, South Africa. email: ross.goode@gmail.com

Project Manager, Kishugu Holdings (Pty) Ltd, 1 Club Street, Old Nelspruit Airfield, South Africa. email: bob.connolly@wofire.co.za

ABSTRACT Prescribed burning is an important range management practice in areas in Africa used for livestock farming and/ or wildlife management. The most important factors to consider when using prescribed burning are the reasons for burning and the appropriate fire regime to be applied. The permissible reasons are to remove moribund and/ or unacceptable grass material and to control the encroachment of undesirable plants. These are the primary reasons but an often quoted reason is to stimulate a â&#x20AC;&#x153;green biteâ&#x20AC;? for grazing by livestock and/or wildlife and various grazing strategies have been developed to avoid overgrazing of the grass sward. Research has also shown that prescribed burning can be used to control ticks which cause tick borne diseases in domestic and wild ungulates. This is achieved by altering the micro-climate at soil level thereby creating an unfavourable habitat for these organisms. Research and experience indicates that the necessity for prescribed burning depends upon the ecological status and physical condition of the grass sward as this determines its ability to produce adequate grass fuel to carry and support a fire. Quantitative techniques have been developed to assess the condition of the grass sward and involve determining its, ecological status, basal cover and grass fuel load The ecological status is estimated by classifying the different grass species into different ecological categories according to their reaction to a grazing gradient as follows: DECREASER SPECIES - Grass & herbaceous species which decrease when rangeland is under or over grazed; INCREASER I SPECIES - Grass & herbaceous species which increase when rangeland is under or selectively razed ; INCREASER II SPECIES - Grass & herbaceous species which increase when rangeland is over grazed. Using these parameters criteria have been developed and successfully used to decide whether rangeland in a particular condition should be considered for burning or not. KEYWORDS prescribed burning, wildlife, herbaceous species, grass sward

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163

International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Oral Presentation Abstracts

Prescribed burning effects on Mediterranean pine growth and terpene storage VALOR, Teresa 1*, CASALS, Pere1, GONZÁLEZ-OLABARRIA, José Ramón1 and PIQUÉ, Míriam1 1

Forest Sciences Centre of Catalonia (CEMFOR-CTFC), Ctra de St. Llorenç de Morunys, km 2, 25280 Solsona, Spain.

Corresponding author: Teresa Valor, Forest Sciences Centre of Catalonia, Ctra de St. Llorenç de Morunys, km 2, 25280 Solsona, Spain

. teresa.valor@ctfc.cat

ABSTRACT The resistance to moderate- or high intensity underburning is quite variable between Mediterranean pine species. Prescribed burning aiming at reduce fuel load or debris management can damage standing trees, affecting both primary and secondary metabolisms. This study aims to discuss the fire related factors that may affect pine survival, growth and defences production against biotic and abiotic stressors. Meta-analysis and diachronic studies suggested that as time since burning elapses, growth recovery may depend on fire-tolerance of the pine species, degree of fire severity, tree characteristics and tree performance prior to prescribed burn. The effect of fire season on tree growth is less studied. Our preliminary results indicated that pine survival and growth may be reduced after fall burnings in comparison to spring ones. Little is known about the effect of burning on needle terpene production and storage, a key proxy of secondary metabolism, despite the protection they confer against biotic and abiotic stressors. Our results suggest that the production of terpene was induced short-term after burning but decreased one year postfire. As the short-term increases occurred mostly in fire sensitive pine species, we suggested that terpene production was activated likely to reduce fire damage. In contrast, the increase in resources availabilities one year postfire may indicated that pines priorized primary rather than secondary metabolisms. This information should help better plan prescribed burning, both in terms of desired fire intensity and required burning intervals, without altering tree vitality. KEYWORDS tree growth; dendrochronology; leaf terpene content; conifers

164

Analyses of permeability and pressure-drop in South Eastern Australian woody debris fuel bed WANG, Houzhi1,2*, MEDWELL, Paul R.1, VAN EYK, Philip J.3, BIRZER, Cristian H.1, TIAN, Zhao F.1 and POSSELL, Malcolm2,4 1

School of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Adelaide, SA 5005 Australia. houzhi.wang@adelaide.edu.au

Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, Melbourne, VIC 3002 Australia.

School of Chemical Engineering, The University of Adelaide, SA 5005 Australia.

Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006 Australia.

ABSTRACT Fuel bed porosity is a critical factor that influences fire behaviour during hazard reduction burning (HRB) because it has a direct effect on the air permeability of fuel bed. This controls the amount of oxygen available for the combustion of fuel bed. This study aims to investigate the effects of fuel particle size, fuel bed depth, fuel type and species of biomass on the fuel bed permeability. Air velocities before and after the fuel bed and the pressure drop at the different points in fuel bed were measured in the cases of different fuel particle size, fuel bed depth, fuel type and species using a hot wire anemometer and a manometer. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model was developed and validated using the experimental data of air velocity and pressure drop. The preliminary results show that an increase in the woody debris particle size results in an increase in the permeability and porosity of fuel bed, and the fuel bed permeability remains independent of fuel bed depth. The validated CFD model determines the permeability of fuel bed, which could help predict and assess fire behaviour during HRB activities. KEYWORDS Porous media, permeability, CFD modelling.

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165

International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Oral Presentation Abstracts

Project Life Taiga – reintroduction of forest fires in Swedish boreal forests WEDMAN, Andreas1 and ROVA, Johan2 1

Länsstyrelsen Gävleborg, 801 70 Gävle, andreas.wedman@lansstyrelsen.se

Länsstyrelsen Jönköping, 551 86 Jönköping, johan.rova@lansstyrelsen.se

ABSTRACT Life Taiga is a 5 year long nature conservation project which aims to reintroduce forest fires in protected forests in Sweden. It started 2015 and a total of more than 100 prescribed burns, totaling around 2 000 hectares, will be conducted. The planned burning sites are between 2 and 70 hectares, normally 10 – 30 hectares each. All burning sites are protected forests within the Natura 2000 network, and the project are co-funded by the European Union. The prescribed burns are conducted by the nature reserve administrations or by contractors. Prescribed burnings for nature conservation have been done since the late 1990´s in Sweden, and the last 10 years it has become more commonly spread. Normally a crew of between 10 – 20 people are working on the burns, using water pumps, hoses and natural fire breaks to control the fire. The burns are normally low in intensity, burning mostly ground vegetation and some of the trees. A normal result is that most of the Spruce trees dies after the fire, and most of the Pine trees survives. Forest fires where the dominating disturbance regime in Swedish boreal forests. Historically, the boreal forests burned naturally once or twice every century. Nowadays, wildfires are taken out very effectively. Since the protected forests doesn´t burn any longer, they are changing in tree composition and tree density. Norwegian Spruce (Picea abies) are becoming more dominating and the forests are getting darker and wetter. Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris) and many deciduous trees like Birch (Betula pubescens) and Aspen (Populus tremula) doesn´t regenerate without forest fires. Hundreds of species, for example many insects, plants, birds and fungi that lives in the forests are also adapted to forest fires. KEYWORDS Prescribed Burning, Nature Conservation, Sweden

166

Abstracts Posters Prescribed fires effects on soils in Catalonia ALCAÑIZ, Meritxell1*, PEREIRA, Paulo1,2, OUTEIRO, Luís1,3, MATAIX-SOLERA, Jorge4, ARCENEGUI, Victoria4, ÚBEDA, Xavier1, FRANCOS, Marcos1, and FARGUELL, Joaquim1. 1

GRAM (Grup de Recerca Mediterrània), Department of Geography, University of Barcelona, Montalegre, 6, 08001 Barcelona, Spain.

m.alcaniz@ub.edu*) 2

Postdoctoral Fellowship Xunta de Galicia, Departament of Applied Economy, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Spain

Mykolas Romeris University. Vilnius, Lithuania.

GEA (Grupo de Edafología Ambiental) Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche.

ABSTRACT Prescribed fires have been used in Catalonia (Spain) for almost two decades in order to achieve different objectives, such as managing fuel accumulations, regenerating certain plant species, improving habitats for mammals, facilitating animal grazing of shrub lands or improving soil fertility by the GRAF (Forest Action Support Group). The effects of these prescribed fires on soil properties have been studied by researchers of the University of Barcelona and the University Miguel Hernández of Elche. Four research projects, one of them starting in 2017, will be focused on the short- and long term impacts, mainly, in the effects on soil physical and chemical properties after these prescribed fires.. It is also important to know, first: how often could be made a prescribed burning in a same area without negative effects and if there are land uses that can be more resilient to fire. Second: the temporal effects of prescribed fires and the impacts of cattle on soil and the vegetation regrowth. Presently, six plots, burned for different proposes and located in different areas of Catalonia are being monitoring for this research. Each plot has a different land use, and burned periods. In this work we will present some of the preliminary results. KEYWORDS interview, social perception, forest management, fire suppression, soil

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167

International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Abstracts Posters

Using a fire modeling approach to prioritize restoration treatments with prescribed fires on endemic sub-Mediterranean black pine forests of Catalonia ALCASENA, Fermín J. 1*, AGER, Alan A. 2, BAILEY, John D. 3, COLL, Lluís 1,5, MONFORT, Iris 1, PINEDA, Nicolau 4 and VEGA-GARCÍA, Cristina 1,5 1

Department of Agriculture and Forest Engineering, University of Lleida, Alcalde Rovira Roure 191, Lleida 25198, Spain, *ferminalcasena@

eagrof.udl.cat; irisenda1818@gmail.com; cvega@eagrof.udl.cat 2

USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, 72510 Coyote Road, Pendleton, Oregon 97801, USA, aager@fs.fed.us

Department of Forest Engineering, Resources and Management, College of Forestry, Oregon State University, 043 Peavy Hall, Corvallis,

Oregon 97331, USA; john.bailey@oregonstate.edu 4

Meteorological Service of Catalonia, Carrer de Berlín 38-46, 08029 Barcelona, Spain, npineda@meteo.cat

Forest Science Center of Catalonia (CTFC), Pujada del Seminari s/n, 25280 Solsona, Catalonia, Spain, lluis.coll@ctfc.es

ABSTRACT High-severity stand-replacing fire events in central Catalonia are threatening remaining late seral black pine (Pinus nigra ssp. salzmanii) stands. These sub-Mediterranean endemic forests (code 9530 Habitats Directive, 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992) provide a variety of ecosystem services including carbon storage, protection against erosion, habitat for protected animal species, and recreation in southern European landscapes. Resprouting broadleaf species are replacing conifer forests after high severity fires due to the low ability of the pines to regenerate after these events. Historically, fire resistance of these forests was maintained by the traditional activities of rural communities (e.g. pastoralism, firewood thinning and logging) and low intensity frequent fires, but active restoration is now needed to reverse the trend of increasing fuels accumulation and fire severity. In this study, we discuss prioritization of fuel management strategies to protect Natura 2000 black pine habitats in Catalonia. We used wildfire simulation to map the factors that contribute most to tree mortality (i.e., wildfire likelihood and intensity). For that purpose we considered the lightning fire season, local fire weather conditions and an ignition probability grid build from lightning strike records. Using tree mortality models we then estimated and mapped expected fire effects on forest structures in order to classify forest stands according to fire resistance. The resulting information was used to identify areas requiring fuel treatments, including prescribed fire, to restore a mosaic of natural fire resistant stands. We discuss potential benefits, limitations and legal constrains for the re-introduction of prescribed fire as a natural regime driver in target sites, as well as “let-burn” technical considerations for lightning-caused fires. The methodology presented in this study may be of interest to managers of southern European sub-Mediterranean forests interested in using prescribed fire as a tool for active restoration. KEYWORDS fire modeling, forest restoration, prescribed fires, Natura 2000 habitats, Pinus nigra

168

Assessing wildfire hazard to prioritize prescribed fire restoration and mitigation treatments in Boumort National Game Reserve BALSELLS, Jordi 1*, VEGA-GARCÍA, Cristina 1,2, NADAL, Jesús 3 and ALCASENA, Fermín J.1 1

Department of Agriculture and Forest Engineering, University of Lleida, Alcalde Rovira Roure 191, Lleida 25198, Spain, *jbpalau@

gmail.com; ferminalcasena@eagrof.udl.cat; cvega@eagrof.udl.cat 2

Forest Science Center of Catalonia (CTFC), Pujada del Seminari s/n, 25280 Solsona, Catalonia, Spain.

Department of Animal Science, University of Lleida, Alcalde Rovira Roure 191, Lleida 25198, Spain, jnadal@ca.udl.cat

ABSTRACT Large wildfires associated to extreme fire weather conditions in the last decades caused substantial losses in the Boumort National Game Reserve. On average some 13 fires burned annually 0.3 % of the area containing the Reserve and surrounding municipalities between 1986 and 2014, and the largest historic fire events burned 1,670 (in 1986) and 701 ha (in 1980). The 13,000-ha Boumort National Game Reserve is located in the Catalan central Pyrenees (North-Eastern Spain), and it is also a priority conservation natural area, with habitats for multiple protected animal species. The most important game species are deer (Cervus elaphus), chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra) and wild boar (Sus scrofa), apart from protected animal species including capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus), bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) and black vulture (Aegypius monachus). In this study we assess wildfire hazard in the Boumort Game Reserve to prioritize the use of prescribed fire for habitat restoration and to mitigate the negative effects from unplanned fires. We used wildfire simulation modeling pixel-level static runs to map the main wildfire hazard metrics (i.e., fire intensity and crown fire activity) at 20 m resolution. To replicate extreme wildfire behavior in the study area we considered wildfire season 97th percentile fire weather conditions and high-resolution wind grids (100 m) generated from historic records of the closest automatic weather station. Wildfire effects on the habitats of game and endangered species were estimated at pixel level using expert-defined susceptibility relations. The resulting maps for six wildlife species and conditional effects associated to extreme conditions were used to identify the areas presenting highest losses and requiring a preferential fuel treatment allocation to reduce fuel load and continuity with prescribed fires. The spatial priorities presented in this study can provide managers with management-meaningful results for decision-making in the Boumort Game Reserve. This methodology could be adapted and implemented in protected areas and Natural Parks elsewhere requiring habitat restoration and wildfire risk mitigation treatments. KEYWORDS wildfires hazard, wildfire simulation, prescribed fire, habitat restoration.

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169

International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Abstracts Posters

Soil invertebrates after fires in Siberian forest ecosystems BEZKOROVAINAYA, Irina N.1, Krasnoschekova Evgenia N.2 1

Siberian Federal University, Svobodny prospect, Krasnoyarsk, 660041, Russia, soilbiota@mail.ru

V.N. Sukachev Institute of Forest, Siberian Br., Russian Academy of Science, Akademgorodok, Krasnoyarsk, 660036, Russia, soilbiota@

mail.ru

ABSTRACT Thousands of forest fires occur annually in Russia. Fire is a major factor accounting for drastic changes of natural Siberian forest dynamics. This is an important factor for soil biota. Our investigation of post-fire changes in soil invertebrate complexes covered a big part of Yenisei Siberia (Russia). In was conducted in northern taiga larch stands, central taiga Scots pine stands, southern taiga fir stands. Forest fire can fully consume forest floor. As a result, post-fire succession of ground vegetation is observed, such as occurrence of pyrophytic mosses and grasses. In permafrost areas, cryogenic processes increase, cryogenic nano-relief is developed, and waterlogging is enhanced. Hydrothermal regime changes regardless of environmental conditions to result in changes of site and biota. When fire kills entire forest ecosystem, primary succession is possible. Where fire consumes only a part of forest floor, ground vegetation also changes. Permafrost degrades and cryogenic relief is formed. These processes make biota changes inevitable. In the end, we can observe either regeneration of a community similar to pre-fire, or occurrence of a community of a different environment. Fire has direct and indirect influence on soil invertebrates. A direct effect is dieing of individual soil animals from fire. An indirect effect is that soil properties change as a result of hydrothermal regime changes. Fire-caused change or destruction of food reserves is the major control of post-fire soil biota functioning. High-intensity fires cause the greatest damage, especially in the first several post-fire years, because they destroy food sources of many kinds of soil animals. This results in degradation of complexes of soil saprophages and phytophages, mineralizing and humus-developing soil animals decrease in number. Long-term effects of these fires can vary among soil animal populations. KEYWORDS soil macrofauna, mezofauna, forest fire

170

Pyrogenic factor and geochemical conditions in the formation of soils of north-boreal subzone (Russia, Central Evenkia) BORISOVA, Irina V.1* 1

79 Svobodny prospect, Krasnoyarsk, 660041, Russia, email: irina_borisova77@mail.ru

ABSTRACT Forest ecosystems of Siberia formed on the permafrost have important ecological consequence for biodiversity conservation and climate regulation. Changes in climatic parameters and pyrogenic transformation of ecological conditions will influence the permafrost regime and soil formation processes. The aim of our research was to study the change of the depth of active layer depending on pyrogenic factor, microrelief, insolation, biomass of mosses and lichens of the formation of soil in permafrost. The soil catena approach allowed us to determine altitudinal differentiated soil type combination. Catens in the valley Kochechum river and Niznyaya Tunguska river located on the south and north oriented slopes. One of the slopes is controlled by the fire of different ages, second slopes â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Larch fire place of different ages. Cambic Histic Leptic Crysols (Arenic) and Cambic Gleyic Leptic Crysols (Arenic) were formed under Larch forests with a cover of shrubs, green mosses and lichens. These soils are characterized by a change in the litter-peat horizon thickness from 5 to 20 cm. Hyperskeletic Cambic Crysols are formed under larch fires places 2015 as a result of soil pyrogenic transformation. The depth of the active layer in the soils of control territories varies from 40 to 80 cm, in the soils after fires from 65 to 170 cm. Signs of gleying were identified in the soils which were formed on eluvial and trans-super-aquatic facies as well as in soils under Larch fire places of different ages. No strict relationship was found between depth, intensity of thawing of the active layer, oriented and steepness of slopes. Soils are formed on the same catena but in various geochemical facies which are characterized by varying depth of seasonal thawing layer. Increasing of the depth of seasonal thawing layer was found only in soils of postfires territories. This research are supported by grant Russian Foundation for Basic Research 16-04-00796. KEYWORDS wildfires, cryogenic soils, geochemical conditions

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171

International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Abstracts Posters

White versus Black ash. The impact of ash depth in runoff generation CERDÀ, Artemi1*, Marcos FRANCOS2, Paulo PEREIRA3, Xavier, ÚBEDA, Meritxell ALCAÑIZ2, Manuel Esteban LUCAS-BORJA4, Saskia KEESSTRA5, Antonio JORDAN6 1*

Soil Erosion and Degradation Research Group, University of Valencia, Spain. *artemio.cerda@uv.es

GRAM (Grup de Recerca Ambiental Mediterrània) Universitat de Barcelona, Spain

Environmental Management Centre, Mykolas Romeris University, Vilnius, Lithuania

Department of Genetics and Agroforestry Science and Technology, Univ. of Castilla-La Mancha, Spain.

Soil Physics and Land Management Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands.

MED_Soil Research Group. University of Seville, Spain

ABSTRACT The research during two decades demonstrated that ash is a key factor in the post-fire hydrological and erosional response, and the quality of the soil affected by fires. The type of ash is a key factor and in this research we evaluate the impact that black and white ash are having to the runoff generation and sediment yield. Seventy rainfall simulation experiments on paired 0.50 m2 plots (5 plots of no-ash, 1, 2, 3, 5, 10 15 and 30 mm ash depth, and repeated one week later) under thunderstorms of 48 mmh-1 during one 60 minutes were carried out in the winter 2016 under laboratory conditions. In the first experiment after the fire, the results show that ash depth determines the runoff rates as they reduce the discharge from 53% to 8 %. However, differences between the reaction to rainfall between white and black ash were observed. Black ash increases the infiltration although they can trigger a water repellent response due to the hydrophobicity of the black ashes during the first minutes of the rainfall. In contrast white ashes were found to be hydrophilic, facilitating infiltration. However, when the experiments were repeated after drying of the surfaces after the first thunderstorm, the black ashes can become less hydrophobic due to wetting, facilitating better infiltration, while the white ashes developed a crust after drying, reducing the hydraulic conductivity as a result of a crust that developed after the first rainfall simulation, which results in quick runoff generation during a second rainfall simulation. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n° 603498 (RECARE project) and the CGL2013- 47862-C2-1-R national research project.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

KEYWORDS

172

Ash, Forest fires, Wildfires, Prescribed fires.

Perception of prescribed and wildfires in the Macizo del Caroig. Eastern Spain CERDÀ, Artemi1*, Marcos FRANCOS2, Paulo PEREIRA3, Xavier, ÚBEDA, Meritxell ALCAÑIZ2, Manuel Esteban LUCAS-BORJA4, Saskia KEESSTRA5, Antonio JORDAN6 1*

Soil Erosion and Degradation Research Group, University of Valencia, Spain. *artemio.cerda@uv.es

GRAM (Grup de Recerca Ambiental Mediterrània) Universitat de Barcelona, Spain

Environmental Management Centre, Mykolas Romeris University, Vilnius, Lithuania

Department of Genetics and Agroforestry Science and Technology, Univ. of Castilla-La Mancha, Spain.

Soil Physics and Land Management Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands.

MED_Soil Research Group. University of Seville, Spain

ABSTRACT Forest fires are not a new issue in the Mediterranean but the wildfires are generalized since the abandonment of the land in the 1960’s. The lost of rural population and the mechanisation resulted in a vegetation recovery that triggered large wildfires in the 1980’s. The use of prescribed fires can be a solution to avoid the impact of large fires and high temperatures. However, in many regions in the Mediterranean Belt, the authorities do not allow the use of controlled or prescribed fires. One example is the case of the Valencia Region authorities that does not allow the use of fires, and in large areas such as the Macizo del Caroig there a concern about the use of fire as a tool. Our research shed light into the perception the stakeholders of the Macizo del Caroig have about the use of prescribed and wildfire. Since 2012 until 2015 a questionnaire was applied to 143 stakeholders in the region and the results demonstrate that the prescribed fires are negative for the younger generations, meanwhile the population older 65 accept the use of fire to manage the land. Fires, mainly wildfires, are being seeing as a catastrophe for 89 % of the population. For 67 % of the interviewed stakeholders the only solution to the fire is the efficient and quick extinction, meanwhile 5 % see as an option a proper management of the land to avoid large fires, and for this prescribed fires are the solution. 75 % accept that the land abandonment is the reason of the problem of fires, and they support that the use of machinery is the solution to avoid fires by means of the thinning (79 %). The use of traditional strategies to reduce the biomass (grazing, fire, firewood production) is seeing as a good strategy (59 %) but most of the interviewed stakeholders do not see how we can change the management (69%). For most of the interviewed (87%) the use of traditional strategies is to came back to the past and they do not support this as they see the 1950’s as a period of hunger and low quality of life (89 % of the ones older than 65 years). ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n° 603498 (RECARE project) and the CGL2013- 47862-C2-1-R national research project. KEYWORDS Perception, Forest fires, Wildfires, Prescribed fires.

#iCOPFires

173

International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Abstracts Posters

Slash and Burn agriculture contributes to high sediment and water losses in Macizo del Caroig. Eastern Spain CERDÀ, Artemi1*, Marcos FRANCOS2, Paulo PEREIRA3, Xavier, ÚBEDA, Meritxell ALCAÑIZ2, Manuel Esteban LUCAS-BORJA4, Saskia KEESSTRA5, Antonio JORDAN6 1* 2

Soil Erosion and Degradation Research Group, University of Valencia, Spain. *artemio.cerda@uv.es

GRAM (Grup de Recerca Ambiental Mediterrània) Universitat de Barcelona, Spain

3 Environmental Management Centre, Mykolas Romeris University, Vilnius, Lithuania 4

Department of Genetics and Agroforestry Science and Technology, Univ. of Castilla-La Mancha, Spain.

Soil Physics and Land Management Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands.

MED_Soil Research Group. University of Seville, Spain

ABSTRACT Slash and burn agriculture, also called Shifting Agriculture is now rare in the Mediterranean, but it was widespread, and it was the tool to transform the land once the agriculture expanded. In the Macizo del Caroig, the use of slash and burn agriculture was used and the local term was “hormiguero”. This paper evaluates the legacy impact of slash and burn agriculture on runoff and sediment yield at pedon scale in the Macizo del Caroig. Our research reproduced the burning of the shrubs with the 2 upper centimeters of the soil. The soil and the shrubs were collected from the Enguera range and burnt with the soil. In total, 500 Kg of soil were mixed with 50 Kg of shrubs (dry weight. A laboratory plot of 100 (length) x 50 (width) x 20 (depth) cm was filled with sand (18 cm) and the burnt soil (2 cm) on the surface. A 1-hour rainfall simulation was carried out at an intensity of 44.52 mm h-1 in 20 paired plots (original soil and the soil affected by the slash and burn). The results show that the runoff coefficient was in average 1.7 time higher on the slash and burn soil and the sediment concentration was 6,3 time greater. Those results show that the impact of the traditional use of the slash and burn in the Mediterranean go to explain a ten-fold increase in soil erosion rates in comparison to the soil erosion on soils without the impact of burning. The increase of one order of magnitude of the soil losses in comparison to the agriculture fields that do not use the slash and burn, is part of the problem of the intense soil erosion in the Mediterranean Mountains. The removal of the vegetation and the sediment-laden runoff also contributed to the land degradation of the Mediterranean landscapes ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n° 603498 (RECARE project) and the CGL2013- 47862-C2-1-R national research project. KEYWORDS Slash and Burn, Agriculture, Fires, Mediterranean.

174

Application of graph-based tools for a wildfire prevention network at the landscape scale. Case study: Barcelona COSTAFREDA-AUMEDES, Sergi.1, NIETO-VIVAS, Angelo2 and VEGA-GARCIA, Cristina3* 1

Department of Agriculture and Forest Engineering, University of Lleida, Alcalde Rovira Roure 191, 25198, Lleida, Spain; scaumedes@

gmail.com 2

Facultad de Ingeniería Forestal. Universidad del Tolima. Barrio. Santa Helena. Ibagué. Colombia; angelonieto@yahoo.com

Department of Agriculture and Forest Engineering, University of Lleida, Alcalde Rovira Roure 191, 25198, Lleida, Spain; cvega@eagrof.

udl.cat

ABSTRACT Wildfires propagate along landscapes driven by fuel availability, topography and weather conditions. Fuel availability may be reduced by prescribed fires creating landscape discontinuities (firebreaks). Previous studies suggest that treatments in strategic areas reduce fire propagation in landscapes, and strategic points are now routinely implemented in prevention planning in Catalonia, Spain. Unfortunately, treatments are expensive and often not feasible in all the required patches. Techniques used for optimizing treatments’ localization are reviewed, and a novel approach is proposed based on landscape connectivity, which can be measured using tools from the landscape ecology field like graph analyses. The usual approach is to decrease fuel connectivity for hazardous patches, but goals may also be set to increase connectivity of lowhazard patches for the whole landscape. In this study, the identification of “most connected” candidate low combustibility areas allows efficiently designing a fuel break network across the landscape. The study case considered is the province of Barcelona, representative of Mediterranean fire risk conditions, with high population density often located along wildland-urban interfaces with high fuel loads. This province is analyzed as a permeable matrix, with a set of fuel patches connected in a network, for which functional connectivity related to wildfires is determined, by setting a management target distance (1000 m). BehavePlus 5.0 software allowed identifying fuel models 0, 8, 9 and 10 as optimal for integration into the firebreak network by their low values of flame length (3 m) and propagation velocity (20 m/min). For the selected 383 low-combustibility patches, we calculated their connectivity using the dPCconnector fraction in Conefor Sensinode 2.6 software. Results indicate strong differences of dPCconnector values in Barcelona’s patches, which allows identifying optimal areas for forest and fire prevention management through prescribed burning, with a view to decrease global landscape transmissivity. KEYWORDS Fire propagation, firebreak network, graph theory, landscape connectivity, low-combustibility patches

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175

International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Abstracts Posters

The step by step achievement of the paradigm shift needed for prescribed burning in Hungary DEBRECENI, P1 - K. SZABÓ-TÓTH2 – D. NAGY1 – A. RESTAS3 1

NEBIH Forest Authorithy, 2 University of Miskolc, Insitute of Sociology, 3 National University of Public Service

ABSTRACT The use of prescribed burning needs a paradigm shift both on the part of the experts and on the part of the society. This is especially true in those countries, where forest fire hazard has grown significantly only during the last 20 years. Even if prescribed burning had traditions in cultivation, they disappeared from the common practice 50-100 years ago, or were considered to be arson. Seeking for solutions is even more difficult in those countries where preventing wildfires as a task of the forestry sector is organisationally separated from fire extinguishing as a task of the disaster management. The adoption of prescribed burning by experts and by the society, furthermore the effective and successful wildfire prevention need besides extensive and interdisciplinary dialogues scientific and civil society researches as well. Prescribed burning may be an important part of wildfire prevention, but in our experience its adoption is more effective and needs a shorter time if it is reached step by step. In Hungary, the development of wildfire prevention started in 2004. It was in the year of 2014 when the legislative requirements of prescribed burning were finally born concerning forests and other vegetation. The poster presents the stages and development of this procedure. KEYWORDS Fire hazards, fire prevention, disaster management

176

Prescribed burning or mechanical clearcutting management options to reduce shrub encroachment into mountain grasslands: effects on woody cover, plant richness and pastoral value FUENTES, Carla1, TAULL, Marc1, RĂ?OS, Ana I.1 and CASALS, Pere1* 1

Forest Sciences Centre of Catalonia (CEMFOR-CTFC), Ctra de St. LlorenĂ§ de Morunys, km 2, 25280 Solsona, Spain.

ABSTRACT Woody proliferation into grasslands increases fire hazard and reduces pastoral interest. Prescribed burning or mechanical thinning are commonly applied to restore pastures in the Pyrenees. The present work aims to assess the effects of these two widely used management options on plant richness or pastoral value three years after management. In a sub-alpine xero-mesic grassland (Pyrenees, 1829 m a.s.l.) we arranged a split-plot design (1.2 ha) with the two management options (20 x 50 m each experimental unit) split into four blocks: two located in the upper part of the slope and the other two in the below part. Clearcutting was carried out by a roller chopper in July 2012 and burning in November 2012. Plant composition and structure were surveyed before and on three occasions after treatments (2012, 2014 and 2016). Plant richness was recorded in a modified-Whittaker nested plot (20x50m) and pastoral value is estimated by one linear transect (20m) in each plot. Shrub cover was estimated in a band transect (20 x 0.5 m) parallel to the linear one. Both treatments are effective in reducing woody cover and volume but negatively impact the pastoral value of grasslands. Plant richness was not affected or even increased due to the proliferation of several invader species. Three years after, the recovery of pastoral value was higher in burned plots than in the mechanically managed ones but the woody recovery was also faster. The results suggest that in moderate to high slope pastures, the intensive disturbance of the soil by mechanical scarification reduces grass recovery and favors the establishment of early transitional species. Mechanical treatments may be a solution when the fuel load reduction is a priority and when fire cannot be used. KEYWORDS Pyrenees, alpine grasslands; plant invaders

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177

International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Abstracts Posters

Understory prescribed burning as a fuel management tool in pine forests: a custom fuel model approach in Northeastern Spain FUENTES, Laura1, UNZALU, Amaia1 and DUGUY, Beatriz1* 1

Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i CiĂ¨ncies Ambientals, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona. Av. Diagonal 643,

08028 Barcelona, Spain. Corresponding author: bduguy@ub.edu

ABSTRACT In recent decades, fire regimes have been altered in the Mediterranean Region. Besides, enhanced fire risk and extreme fire behavior are predicted under climate change. In this context, prescribed burnings (PB) may be used for fire risk reduction purposes in homogeneous and poorly fragmented landscapes as they reduce fuel loads and fuel spatial continuity at both stand and landscape levels. We aimed to assess whether an understory PB conducted in a Pinus halepensis Mill. forest could cause such structural changes in the plant community so that the fire behavior fuel model would be modified. We intended to describe the custom fuel models (CFM) corresponding to both the Control (pre-fire) and, if meaningful, the Burnt situations.Based on field data, one CFM was described for Control and three CFMs for the short-term burnt situations. Burnt CFMs were characterized by significantly smaller values for shrub layer height, shrub and herbaceous covers, total aerial phytomass and live woody phytomass than Control CFM. On the contrary, dead fuel load was larger than in Control in one of the Burnt CFMs and its proportion over the total fuel load increased in all Burnt CFMs in relation to Control.Our results showed that a spring understory PB conducted under a pine canopy may significantly alter in the short term several key vegetation structural variables, therefore modifying the fire behavior fuel model. In the studied forest, such changes resulted in a less fire-prone fuel model, showing that this type of fuel treatment may be effective for reducing fire risk at the stand level. Longer term field-based studies combined with landscape-scale fire modeling approaches are needed, though, for a comprehensive assessment of the efficiency of understory PB in relation to fire control, particularly under extreme conditions. Few custom fuel models are available for Mediterranean plant communities. Our results are thus innovative and may contribute to the development of more accurate fuel model maps that would improve the reliability of fire spread and behavior modeling predictions in Mediterranean landscapes. KEYWORDS Mediterranean ecosystems, understory prescribed burning, vegetation structure, custom fuel model, fire risk management.

178

Prescribed burning effects on soil nutrients and functional diversity on resprouting and non-resprouting plant microsites GARCIA-PAUSAS, Jordi1*, MORA, Alba1 and CASALS, Pere1 1

Forest Sciences Centre of Catalonia (CEMFOR-CTFC), Ctra de St. Llorenรง de Morunys, km 2, 25280 Solsona, Spain.

ABSTRACT Fire has a short-term effect on soil microbial communities by heating, but also an indirect effect on microbial composition and activity is caused by fire-induced changes on soil chemical and physical properties and on plant community composition and structure. This study sought to analyse the effects of a prescribed burning on soil nutrients and functional diversity and determine whether the potential changes were related to the presence of resprouting vs non-resprouting shrub species and in bare soil (three microsite groups). In a Pinus halepensis forest, we characterise the top 3-cm of mineral soil before a fire, 2 months and 2 years after, in 36 microsites: under three resprouter and two seeder species and in bare soil per six replicates each. In each sampling and microsite, we estimated the extractable C, N and P and the functional diversity, by using community level physiological profiles (MicroRespTM technique using 15 different C substrates). The intensity of fire was also estimated in each microsite. Basal respiration and catabolic diversity increased short-term after fire in comparison to pre-fire levels, in all microsites. These increases in both biotic variables were microsite-dependent but no clear effects of fire intensity or microsite group were detected. In contrast, the increase in both biotic variables were related to the post-fire increase in extractable C and N. The soil respiration response to the addition aminoacids was higher after than before fire, suggesting a stimulation of deaminase activity short-term after fire. In conclusion, our results suggested that a single, low to medium fire intensity, prescribed burnings did not impact negatively to the stability of soils to additional disturbances. KEYWORDS Community level physiological profiles (CLPP); MicroRespTM ; Plant-soil interactions; prescribed fire; soil nutrients; soil stability

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179

International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Abstracts Posters

Prescribed Fire in Wales: Trade-offs between ecosystem health and pollution risk reduction in contrasting water supply catchments. HARPER, Ashleigh R.1*, DOERR, Stefan2, SANTIN, Cristina3 and FROYD, Cynthia4. 1

Swansea University. Department of Geography, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea, SA28PP, UK. 632109@Swansea.ac.uk

2 Swansea Univsersity. Department of Geography, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea, SA28PP, UK. S.Doerr@Swansea.ac.uk. 3 Swansea University. Department of Geography, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea, SA28PP, UK. C.Santin@Swansea.ac.uk 4 Swansea University. Department of Bioscience, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea, SA28PP, UK. C.Froyd@Swansea.ac.uk

ABSTRACT Prescribed fires are an internationally important tool for maintaining ecosystem services, biological diversity and ecological health. They can also fulfil the vital function of minimizing fuel loads in order to mitigate for the occurrence and severity of wildfires. Despite the continued application of prescribed burning as a management technique in a number of regions across the world its usage has declined in recent decades throughout the UK. This research projects primary focus is on providing an environmental impact assessment to accompany the reintroduction of more regular management burning practices into the Brecon Beacons National Park (Wales), to address the effects of the reduction in upland grazing. Its outputs aim to inform management practices within the Beacons in relation to the trade-offs between burning, ecosystem services and the specific water supply catchment needs. Whilst also providing a comparable British context to the ever growing body of international literature. In order to supplement this broad research area into the impacts of management burning, spacial-temporal changes in the risks to off-site water quality will be monitored as an impact of varying burn use-intensity. An area which has received little research attention in comparison to the considerable focus on the effects on vegetation and soil hydrological processes. It is however, crucial for this project to remain interdisciplinary in its analysis of ecosystem services in order to enhance end-user involvement. Therefore, the wider implications of burn use-intensity on Welsh upland areas will be evaluated, including an assessment of biological diversity and ecological health both on and off-site within the study catchments. This contribution will provide a brief summary of the current state of knowledge in this field, along with a research design that will be adopted to deliver the anticipated research outputs. KEYWORDS Prescribed fires, water quality, burn use-intensity, environmental impact assessment.

180

Fire escape analysis and consequences. Lessons to be learnt. HERNÁNDEZ PAREDES, Elena1*, ENRÍQUEZ ALCALDE, Elsa 1 , GÓMEZ MOLINO, Rafael 2 , REJAS HERNÁN Nuria 2 , RAMOS MAMBRILLA, Leticia 2 1

Spanish Forest Fire Service. General Directorate of Rural Development and Forest Policy. Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment.

Gran Via de San Francisco 4, 5ª planta 28005 Madrid. ehparedes@magrama.es; adcif@magrama.es 2

Empresa de Transformación Agraria (TRAGSA). rgomez@tragsa.es; nrejas@tragsa.es

ABSTRACT The use of fire to reduce and control forest fuel is an ancestral tool in Spain. Fire is probably the fuel management tool most used countrywide in rural areas. Since this use needed to be regulated in order to avoid undesirable consequences as wildfires, a prescribed or controlled burning culture has grown in most of the wildfire prevention and suppression agencies in Spain. By attending the rural population demands on burnings and getting agencies personnel used to the use of fire, both, the decrease of the number of wildfires and the increase of fire knowledge among agencies personnel have happened in the recent years. Despite the previous, a long way has been walked and many lessons have been learnt to get to where we are now. In this article we will focus on fire escapes occurred under the EPRIF Program of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fishery, Food and Environment, program launched in 1998, with the aim of preventing wildfires under an integral perspective, focusing on conciliation of interest and working directly in the territories. Wildfire prevention based on wildfire causes analysis. Since 1998, some important escapes, in terms of the consequences, have happened in some EPRIF burns, all of them affecting surface that was not intended to be burnt. Some of them have affected infrastructures or vehicles and one of them had legal consequences for the EPRIF personnel. The main fire escapes will be presented and explained to the audience, making emphasis in what lessons can we learnt from these experiences in order to avoid similar situations, and at the same time, in order to identify which gaps are still needed to be considered and analyzed to improve our prescribed burning actions, protecting the environment but also the personnel involved. KEYWORDS escape, analysis, lessons learnt, gaps.

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181

International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Abstracts Posters

Wildfire toolbox HOPE, Craig.1*, Llewellyn, Delwyn2 and JENKINS, John 1

SOUTH WALES FIRE AND RESCUE SERVICE

Tonypandy Fire Station, Llwynypia Road, Tonypandy, South Wales.CF40 2JQ c-hope@southwales-fire.gov.uk

ABSTRACT Since 2007 south wales fire and rescue service has been involved in a project to reduce the numbers of deliberate wildfires and also increase firefighter safety. As part of this project we have come up with the wildfire toolbox which covers Education, Prevention and Response, this toolbox has become a vital part of our overall strategy of reducing risk. A very important part of this toolbox is prescribed burning to reduce fuel loading, not only does this give us a chance to make our communities safer but it also gives our crews a chance to practice the skills that are then required to use fire to fight fire. Due to the climate in the UK it is not always possible to plan for prescribed burning, due to this our prescribed burning is carried out by professional firefighters. We know have 4 fully trained prescribed burning teams always available to carry out these activities KEYWORDS wildfire toolbox, firefighter safety, risk

182

Boundary conditions change connectivity in fire affected landscapes KEESSTRA, Saskia1,3*, NUNES, Joao1,2 , SACO, Patricia3, PEREIRA, Paulo4, NOVARA, Agata5, RODROGO COMINO, Jesus6,7, and CERDA, Artemi1,8 1

Soil Physics and Land Management Group, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 4, 6708PB Wageningen, The Netherlands,

Saskia.keesstra@wur.nl. 2

CESAM: Centre for Environmental and Marine Sciences, University of Aveiro, Portugal

Civil, Surveying and Environmental Engineering, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan 2308, Australia. patricia.saco@newcastle.

edu.au 4

Environment Management Laboratory, Mykolas Romeris University, Ateities g. 20, LT-08303 Vilnius, Lithuania paulo@mruni.eu

Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie e Forestali, University of Palermo, ed.4 Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy. agata.novara@unipa.it

Instituto de Geomorfología y Suelos, University of Málaga, Edificio Ada Byron, Ampliación del Campus de Teatinos, 29071, Málaga, Spain.

Department of Physical Geography, Trier University, D-54286 Trier, Germany.

Soil Erosion and Degradation Research Group, Department of Geography, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain. artemio.cerda@uv.es

ABSTRACT Earth scientists have been studying water and sediment fluxes at multiple scales for decades. In the past two decades, a new concept, called connectivity, has been proposed as a way to describe and quantify fluxes of water and sediment on different scales in landscapes: from aggregate to watershed scale. A better understanding of the connectivity of water and sediment in a landscape can improve our understanding of the processes interacting with each other and enable scientists to design better measurement and modelling approaches. It will also enable us to come to more sustainable strategies to manage land and water in real life situations. Furthermore, we argue that natural systems have boundaries within which water and sediment connectivity varies between phases; in (semi-)arid regions these sediment and water connectivity boundaries can be far apart in time due to extreme events. External disturbances (eg. climate change, changed land management) can change these boundaries. Therefore, it is important to consider the system state as a whole, including its boundaries and internal dynamics, when designing and implementing comprehensive monitoring and modelling approaches. In this contribution we want to discuss how fire effects on ecosystems change the boundary conditions of the system; and how the knowledge of connectivity and boundary conditions of the system can impact the design of measurement schemes and models. This will be explained using a real life example of a landscape that underwent several land use phases over the last decades, from agricultural to fire-impacted woodland, and the subsequent changes on system boundaries. KEYWORDS Water, sediments, fluxes, modelling

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183

International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Abstracts Posters

Wildfire reduction through prescribed burns in rural areas. EPRIF Program experience LÓPEZ SANTALLA, Antonio1*, HERNANDEZ PAREDES, Elena1, ENRIQUEZ ALCALDE, Elsa1, MONDELO FALCÓN, Rubén2 1

Área de Defensa contra Incendios Forestales, Dirección General de Desarrollo Rural y Política Forestal. Ministerio de Agricultura,

Alimentación y Medio Ambiente, Gran Vía de San Francisco 4, 5ª planta 28005 Madrid, alopez@magrama.es; adcif@magrama.es 2

Empresa de Transformación Agraria. TRAGSA.

ABSTRACT EPRIF are Integral Prevention Wildfire Teams launched in 1998 by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment. They are distributed in areas where wildfires are historically associated with the use of fire to manage forest fuels with farm or livestock purposes. Their work is focused on conciliation of interests and they deal directly with rural population, using prescribed burns as an alternative tool to uncontrolled burns. More than 15 years later, data confirm that the EPRIF Program have contributed to modify inadequate fire uses and have helped to decrease the number of wildfires as well as the surface affected in territories with traditionally high rates of wildfires. This change contrasts with what happened in neighboring areas with similar problems, where there have not had this type of integral prevention teams and fire statistics have not been modified or have even worsened. The conciliation of interests with prescribed burns as the main tool has permitted a change of rural fire use reducing also wildfires. These data confirm suitability of these teams in specific locations as a way of forest management against wildfires. It is concluded the convenience of its replication by other administrations in other territories with similar problems. KEYWORDS fuel management, conciliation of interest.

184

Influence of moisture on heat transfer during the controlled burn of two contrasted soils LÓPEZ, Sergio1, ORTÍZ, Oriol1 , GIRONA, Antonio1, MARTÍ, Clara1 and BADÍA, David1* 1

Escuela Politécnica Superior, University of Zaragoza, Crtra. Cuarte s/n, Huesca 22071, Spain.

* Corresponding author: badia@unizar.es

ABSTRACT Prescribed burnings are conducted under conditions that minimize the direct effects on soil. One of these conditions is the high soil moisture content in fuel, litter and soil, which should limit the heat transfer with soil depth. It is also known that the components of soil (organic matter content, porosity, etc.) can affect this transfer. The aim of this work is to find out how soil moisture influences the heat transfer on two contrasted topsoils (ochric versus mollic horizons). Six unaltered monoliths per topsoil were carefully sampled with a still cylinder (15 cm diameter x 6.5 cm depth) from the field and transported in closed containers to the laboratory. Three undisturbed soil blocks were air-dried until constant weight in the laboratory and other three were moistened to field capacity before burning. Every monolith was then burned individually in an outdoor combustion tunnel applying thermal shock with a blowtorch (10 cm diameter) placed 0.4 meters over each unaltered soil monolith. Temperature was continuously measured (every 5 seconds) with type-K thermocouples (1 mm diameter) placed at four levels: in the Ah horizon surface, and at 1, 2 and 3 cm depths. The flame was kept on during 15’ and the temperature recorded until soil cooling (~120’). The maximum temperature (Tmax) and the charring intensity (CI) have been calculated. Tmax and CI are significantly lower (P<0.0001) in moist soils than dried ones; the ochric horizon reaches higher (P=0.0100) Tmax and CI values and at deeper layers than the mollic one. The interaction of “soil moisture x soil depth” was highly significant for both Tmax and CI, while the interaction “soil moisture x topsoil type” was also highly significant for CI, suggesting CI could be a more sensitive parameter than Tmax. In conclusion, high soil moisture content slows the heat transfer into the soil. KEYWORDS soil moisture, tunnel burning, charring intensity, temperature, Regosol vs Phaeozem

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185

International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Abstracts Posters

Effects of prescribed fire on soil characteristics under nitrogen deposition: a term-year study MARCOS, Elena*, VALBUENA, Luz, TARREGA, Reyes; TABOADA, Ángela CALVO, Leonor and LUIS-CALABUIG Estanislao. Department of Biodiversity and Environmental Management, University of León, Campus de Vegazana s/n, E-24071 León, Spain. elena. marcos@unileon.es

ABSTRACT One of the characteristic communities in the Cantabrian Mountains (NW Spain) is heathland dominated by Calluna vulgaris. These ecosystems have been recognized as an important habitat at a European level. Heathlands occur on nutrient-poor acidic soils and are limited by nitrogen and phosphorus. To maintain these conditions different management tools have been used such as grazing and prescribed fire. Fire can eliminate 95% of nitrogen saved in vegetation and slow down the nutrient cycle. Nowadays, the Cantabrian Mountains are affected by atmospheric inputs of N, ranging between 7.5 and 15 kg N ha-1 yr-1. These nitrogen rates could interfere with the ability of fire to maintain low nutrient levels. For this reason, in this study we investigated: (1) the long-term effect of prescribed fire on soil characteristics and its interaction with nitrogen deposition; and (2) the influence of this effect on species richness variation. We selected three Calluna heathland sites in the Cantabrian Mountains (NW Spain). A randomised block design was used to investigate the influence of two driving variables (burning and N fertilization) on soils and plant species richness. Three permanent plots (20 x 20 m) were placed in each heathland site. One plot per site was subjected to prescribed burning (B), other to burning plus N addition (B+N) (56 kg N ha–1 yr–1), and the third one was used as a control (C). Experimental burning and fertilization were carried out in June 2005. Soils were collected 4 months and 1, 2, 5, 7 and 10 years after treatment and analyzed for pH, organic carbon, total N, C:N ratio, available P. Plant species present were recorded seven years after. B+N treatment showed an important increase in organic carbon, total nitrogen and available phosphorus. Furthermore, an increase in richness species was detected in this treatment as a consequence of changes of soil nutrients. KEYWORDS

186

Cantabrian heathlands, Nitrogen deposition, Prescribed burning, soil chemistry, Calluna vulgaris.

On the impacts of afforestation and subsequent forest fires on the provision of hydrological services: a model-based analysis for a Mediterranean mountainous catchment NUNES, João Pedro a,b*, Paula Naranjo QUINTANILLAb, Juliana SANTOSa,c, Dalila SERPAa, Cláudia CARVALHO-SANTOSa,d, João ROCHAa, Jacob KEIZERa, Saskia KEESTRAb a)

CESAM & Dept. Environment and Planning, University of Aveiro, Portugal

Wageningen University and Research, Netherlands

Institute of Geography, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Germany

CIBIO/InBIO, University of Porto, Portugal

ABSTRACT The Mediterranean rim of Europe has experienced extensive land abandonment during the late XXth century, leading to widespread afforestation. Afforestation is generally expected to improve the provision of hydrological services, especially flood mitigation, soil erosion protection and water quality regulation, at the expense of a decrease in water quantity. However, Mediterranean afforestation has also increased the frequency and severity of wildfire; these have potentially strong negative consequences for excessive runoff production and soil degradation and for stream contamination with toxic compounds in ashes. The objective of this work was to use a modelling approach to assess the long-term impacts of fires on flood mitigation, soil erosion protection and water quality regulation provided by eucalypt and maritime pine forest plantations in the humid Mediterranean regions of the Iberian Peninsula. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) eco-hydrological model was applied to a representative mountainous watershed in northwestern Portugal, and parameterized using both the results of extensive research into post-fire runoff and erosion processes, and three and a half years of measured data at the hillslope and watershed scale. The model highlighted how, in humid Mediterranean mountain regions, the hydrological services of flood mitigation, soil erosion protection and water quality regulation provided by forests might be negatively affected by fire occurrence. These results are especially relevant for fire-prone species such as eucalypts and pines. KEYWORDS

SWAT, afforestation, simulation, soil erosion, fire severity

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187

International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Abstracts Posters

Effects of prescribed fire on soil organic matter, structure and water repellency in different aggregate sizes and depths ORTIZ-PERPIÑÁ, Oriol.1*, GIRONA-GARCÍA, Antonio1 GONZÁLEZ-ARRIBAS, Alba1, BADÍAVILAS, David1, MARTÍ-DALMAU, Clara1, ARMAS-HERRERA, Cecilia1 and MORA-HERNÁNDEZ, Juan Luís2 (*Corresponding autor: oriol@unizar.es) 1

Escuela Politécnica Superior de Huesca, Departamento de Ciencias Agrarias y del Medio Natural, Universidad de Zaragoza, Huesca,

España. 2

Facultad de Veterinaria, Departamento de Ciencias Agrarias y del Medio Natural, Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, España.

ABSTRACT Soil aggregation, organic matter and water repellency are relevant interrelated soil properties that can be affected by fires. The aim of this work is to analyse the effects of prescribed burning of evergreen thorny cushion shrubs on aggregate stability, organic carbon and water repellency in a humid environment at different depths and aggregate sizes. Soil samples (3 sampling sites) were collected in a low intensity prescribed fire event in Central Pyrenees (NE-Spain. November 12th, 2015) at 0-1 cm, 1-2, 2-3 and 3-5 cm depth; just before burning, 1 hour later and 6 months after the fire. Samples were air dried and manually sieved, separating 6 particle sizes: <0.25, 0.25-0.5, 0.5-1, 1-2, 2-4 and 4-10 mm (216 samples). We analysed the mean weight diameter (MWD), aggregate stability (AS), oxidizable carbon (OC) and soil water repellency persistence (Water Drop Penetration Time, WDPT). MWD of the soil aggregates was lower at 0-1 cm depth (3.6 ± 0.4 mm) than 3-5 cm depth (4.8 ± 0.4 mm) in unburned samples, and no changes were detected with fire. Fire effect on AS was only detected in the 0-1 cm depth and affected only the small size aggregates (0.25-0.5 mm) by increasing the AS by almost 12 % of the initial values, not observing these effects six months after fire. Fire affected the OC in the first cm of the <0.25 mm aggregates and the first two cm of the 0.25-0.5 mm aggregates by reducing its amount by 49-55 %. Six months after burning, the pre-fire values had not still been reached. Remarkable decreases in SWR were detected for <0.25 mm aggregates at 0-1 cm depth, and no significant changes were observed in SWR six months after fire. Further data will be added regarding these soil properties 12 months after fire. KEYWORDS

aggregate stability, mean weight diameter, organic carbon, prescribed burning, soil water repellency

188

Effectiveness of the application of prescribed burning and mechanical clearing for pasture recovery in the Montseny Natural Park (Catalonia, NE Spain) PLAIXATS, Josefina.1*, BRONCANO, Maria José1 and MARTÍNEZ, Lluís2 (Corresponding author*) 1

Departament de Ciència Animal i dels Aliments. UAB. Ed.-V, Campus UAB. 08193. Cerdanyola del Vallès josefina.plaixats@uab.es,

mjbroncano@yahoo.es 2

Oficina Tècnica de Parcs Naturals. Diputació de Barcelona. C/ Comte d’Urgell, 187 Edifici del Rellotge, 3a planta 08036 Barcelona.

martinezul@diba.cat

ABSTRACT The current landscape of the Pla de la Calma, in the Montseny mountain (Barcelona, Spain), is the result of combining different land uses such as forestry, farming and grazing and the application of fire as a management tool during centuries. Over the past 70 years it has been observed a gradual land abandonment which, coupled with the prohibition of the use of fire since 1979 (when the Montseny was declared Natural Park) is leading to the progressive colonization of these areas by shrubs and forest. One of the great challenges is to know what type of protection and management is necessary to those landscapes as La Calma that no longer has traditional activity profitable in the new socio-economic context. Nowadays, the Montseny Natural Park is working in restoration and conservation of grazing areas to maintain the landscape similar to the previous. The aim of this study is to compare the effect of the application of prescribed burning and mechanical clearing on diversity, density and maximum height of herbaceous plant layer, grass production and its nutritional value. We evaluated the effect of grazing on both treatments. The results show that the application of prescribed burning increases significantly (p<0.05) the Shannon-Weaver diversity index (24.2%), vegetation density (23.2%) and species richness (60%) in relation to mechanical stripping. This effect is not detected two years later. Animal grazing reduces the height and annual production of the herbaceous layer, but there is no effect on its nutritional value. The results indicate that the application of prescribed burning is more advantageous than clear-cut to recovery of pastures: it has lower economic costs and temporarily increases the feed supply. KEYWORDS

fire, protected area, herbaceous plant diversity, nutritive value, grazing

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189

International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Abstracts Posters

Alteration of soil physicochemical and microbiological parameters after prescribed burnings PLAZA-ALVAREZ, Pedro Antonio1*, Javier SAGRA1, Manuel Esteban LUCAS-BORJA1, Raquel ALFARO- SÁNCHEZ2, Daniel MOYA1, Pablo FERRANDIS1 and Jorge DE LAS HERAS IBÁÑEZ1 1

Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Agrónomos y de Montes de Albacete, Universidad de Castilla La Mancha. Campus Universitario

s/n, Albacete, Spain. *Pedro.Plaza@uclm.es 2

University of Arizona- Laboratory of Tree Ring Research. Tucson, Arizona, USA

ABSTRACT Wildfires have an important influence in many different elements of the forest ecosystems. In order to reduce fire risk and occurrence, prescribed fires with low intensity have been widely used as a fuel reduction tool and silvicultural treatment in Mediterranean forest ecosystems. However, other than the fact that fire may alter microsite conditions, little is known about the impact of prescribed burning on the soil properties and plant species composition. Contrary to high intensity fire, which generates tree mortality, soil erosion, changes in soil properties and so on, low intensity fires could do not alter such us quantity of soil and plant factors, being an interesting tool for reducing forest fires risk and promote natural regeneration or plant species renewal. In this study, we compared the effects of prescribed burning on physicochemical and microbiological soil properties and plant species composition one year after a low intensity prescribed fire applied 6 burned pots of about 900 m2 set up in the Lezuza forest (Albacete, central-eastern Spain). Also, different forest stand characteristics (slope, tree density, basal area and shrub/herbal cover) affecting each plot were measured. Results showed that physicochemical and microbiological soil properties were slightly altered immediately after the prescribed burning in all the study plots?. Two months after the fire, we found a recovery to the pre-fire conditions. In addition, plant species composition was not significantly modified by the low intensity prescribed burning. Therefore, the influence of prescribed fires on plant and soil properties should be taken into account for developing prescribed burnings guidelines. KEYWORDS

190

Soil properties, plant composition, low intensity prescribed burnings, biodiversity.

Wildland fire in the UK: perceptions and realities. The case of the Brecon Beacons National Park POPE, Sarah,1*, DOERR, Stefan2, SANTIN, Cristina3, DOEL, Marcus4 1

Swansea University. Department of Geography, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea, SA28PP, UK. 846080@Swansea.ac.uk;

sarahrpope@btinternet.com 2

Swansea University. Department of Geography, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea, SA28PP, UK. S.Doerr@Swansea.ac.uk.

3 Swansea University. Department of Geography, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea, SA28PP, UK. C.Santin@Swansea.ac.uk 4 Swansea University. Department of Geography, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea, SA28PP, UK. M.A.Doel@Swansea.ac.uk

ABSTRACT Fire has been used throughout the UK to modify landscapes for thousands of years. This has created a complex relationship between humans and fire, with the recent decline in prescribed fire usage within the UK, including the Brecon Beacons National Park (Wales), adding further to this complexity. Acceptance of prescribed burns varies by geographical region and by group of people concerned. By understanding perceptions of the public and different stakeholders, managed burn practices can be created and improved upon and thus carried out safely and effectively. This research project’s aim is to highlight and analyse the public and farmers’ different perceptions of vegetation fires (both wildfires and prescribed fires) within the Brecon Beacons National Park (South Wales, UK). It uses quantitative analysis through the use of a survey (n=178) using a mixture of both closed and open ended questions. It is one of a few studies on wildland fire perception within the UK and the first within Wales. This contribution focuses specifically on (i) the locations of live fires seen by participants; (ii) whether the viewing of a vegetation fire influences the participant’s perception; and (iii) participant’s acceptance of prescribed fire within the Brecon Beacons National Park. The results found that acceptance of managed burns was generally high in all groups, with males and those that lived within a postcode district within the National Park more likely to accept managed burns. Most live vegetation fires seen were located within South Wales. Whether a participant had viewed a fire influenced their perception of the positive or negative effect fires have within the Park. 69% of participants believe vegetation fires will become more frequent within the next century. KEYWORDS

Wildland fire, prescribed fires, perceptions, South Wales

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191

International Congress on Prescribed Fires

Abstracts Posters

Prescribed burnings effects on germination and early survival in Mediterranean pine forest SAGRA, Javier1*, Pedro Antonio PLAZA-ALVAREZ1, Manuel Esteban LUCAS-BORJA1, Raquel ALFARO- SÁNCHEZ2, Daniel MOYA1, Pablo FERRANDIS1 and Jorge DE LAS HERAS IBÁÑEZ1 1

Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Agrónomos y de Montes de Albacete, Universidad de Castilla La Mancha. Campus Universitario

s/n, Albacete, Spain. *Javier.Sagra@uclm.es 2University of Arizona- Laboratory of Tree Ring Research. Tucson, Arizona, USA

ABSTRACT The influence of wildfires on the ecosystem functioning is widely known. As an application of this knowledge, the use of prescribed fires has boomed as a tool for reducing fuel for forest fire prevention. This is especially due to its effectiveness, durability and low cost in comparison with other more widespread techniques as clearing. Under controlled conditions fire is manage to burn some specific area with a previously settled parameters of intensity and severity. However, other than the fact that fire may alter microsite conditions, little is known about the impact of prescribed burning on natural regeneration or plant species renewal after the event. In this study, we compared the effects of prescribed burning on initial seedling recruitment from different seed provenances (P. pinaster, P. nigra and P. halepensis from dry and wet locations and Juniperus thurifera). They underwent a low intensity prescribed fire applied using a sowing experiment in 60 plots (30 burned and 30 control) set up in each of the three locations sited in Lezuza (Albacete, central-eastern Spain), Beteta and El Pozuelo (Cuenca, central Spain). Moreover, seed predation was evaluated by replicating the seeding inside metallic cage, since this is one of the most important factors limiting seedling recruitment. Different forest stand characteristics (slope, tree density, basal area and shrub/herbal cover) affecting each plot were measured. Our results showed that prescribed fires do alter initial seedling recruitment dynamics. Seed coming from dryer and warmer sites perform better in burned zones, whereas seed from wetter and colder sites germinate better in control areas. Seed predation played an important role on both burned and control plots. Understanding and balancing seed emergence and seedling survival in Mediterranean forests should help to improve prescribed burning plans with no debilitation of pine tree vitality, as well as, plant community and structure persistence. KEYWORDS Seed emergence, seeding survival, Mediterranean forest, prescribed fires, ecological restoration.

192

Soil heating and impact of prescribed burning in the Netherlands STOOF, Cathelijne R.1* 1

Soil Geography and Landscape Group, Wageningen University, PO Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands. Cathelijne.Stoof@

wur.nl

ABSTRACT Prescribed burning is highly uncommon in the Netherlands, where wildfire awareness is increasing but its risk management does not yet include fuel management strategies. A major exception is on two military bases, that require prescribed burning in winter and spring to prevent wildfires during summer shooting practice. Research on these very frequent burns has so far been limited to effects on biodiversity, yet site managers and policy makers have questions regarding the soil temperatures reached during these burns because of potential impact on soil properties and soil fauna. In March 2015, I therefore measured soil and litter temperatures under heath and grass vegetation during a prescribed burn on military terrain in the Netherlands. Soil and litter moisture were sampled pre- and post-fire, ash was collected, and fireline intensity was estimated from flame length. While standing vegetation was dry (0.13 g water/g biomass for grass and 0.6 g/g for heather), soil and litter were moist (0.21 cm3/cm3 and 1.6 g/g, respectively). Soil heating was therefore very limited, with maximum soil temperature at the soil-litter interface remaining being as low as 6.5 to 11.5Â°C, and litter temperatures reaching a maximum of 77.5Â°C at the top of the litter layer. As a result, any changes in physical properties like soil organic matter content and bulk density were not significant. These results are a first step towards a database of soil heating in relation to fuel load and fire intensity in this temperate country, which is not only valuable to increase understanding of the relationships between fire intensity and severity, but also instrumental in the policy debate regarding the sustainability of prescribed burns. KEYWORDS

soil impact, soil moisture, soil temperature, soil heating

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Abstracts Posters

Temporal dynamics of postburning tree mortality in Mediterranean pines VALOR, Teresa 1*, CASALS, Pere1, GONZÁLEZ-OLABARRIA, José Ramón1 and PIQUÉ, Míriam1 1

Forest Sciences Centre of Catalonia (CEMFOR-CTFC), Ctra de St. Llorenç de Morunys, km 2, 25280 Solsona, Spain.

*Teresa Valor, Forest Sciences Centre of Catalonia, Ctra de St. Llorenç de Morunys, km 2, 25280 Solsona, Spain . teresa.valor@ctfc.cat

ABSTRACT Predictive models for the likelihood of tree mortality after fire can help better planning prescribed burning. Most studies have found that the proportion of crown scorched and the degree of cambium damage are the best predictors for the likelihood of tree death. However, little is known about the effect of burn season and the temporal dynamics of post-fire tree mortality. In addition, there is far less information on postfire tree mortality models for European pines than for North America or Australia species. We addressed whether season of burn, crown scorched, bark thickness and bole char height differentially affected P. nigra, P. sylvestris and P. halepensis mortality after 1, 2 and 3 years postburning. Preliminary results showed three years postfire the probability of tree death after a fall burn is higher than in spring burns in thin-bark trees. KEYWORDS survival; fire resistance; conifers; delayed mortality

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Explosive breaking of droplets in a flame during extinguishing forest fires VOLKOV, Roman S., ZHDANOVA , Alena O.*, PISKUNOV, Maxim V. and STRIZHAK, Pavel A. 1

National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University, Institute of Power Engineering 30, Lenin Avenue, Tomsk, 634050, Russia, zhdanovaao@

tpu.ru

ABSTRACT Forest fires are the current problem for the entire international community. Aircraft (planes, helicopters) are traditionally used in extinguishing large forest fires. Water limited amount of 20-30 thousand m3 is supplied in the fire zone, as well. In Russia, we use a fairly large airplanes (e.g., IL-76), which can transport up to 30-40 tons of liquid. For Canada and the United States it is characteristic to use a group of small aircraft (capacity of each is from 3-4 tons to 10-15 tons). Efficient use of extinguishing liquid under the conditions of using aviation becomes relevant. It is important to intensify the special atomization of water dropping into a flame. We should provide conditions under which large droplets of liquid enter the flame, and then disintegrate (break) into a large number of small droplets. This will maximize the complete evaporation of water in the combustion zone. This work presents the results of experimental investigations. We analyzed the processes of explosive breaking of inhomogeneous water droplets (with solid particles) under high-temperature conditions corresponding to the typical fire sources (800â&#x20AC;&#x201C;1200 K). The completed experiments illustrated that surface area of extinguishing liquid in the flame can increase in 3â&#x20AC;&#x201C;15 times by explosive breaking of inhomogeneous droplets. It is defined that the smaller the ratio of the volume of water and inclusion, the bigger the effect is. The use of results obtained from the experimental investigations allows choosing the ratio of the size and volume of water droplet and inclusion from the required evaporation spaces. We suggest a promising approach to extinguishing forest fires on the basis of a new physical effect. Using this effect, it allowed for a significant increase in the surface area of evaporation extinguishing liquid in the flame. It is also possible to develop this approach for large aerosol flows with the staging (chain and multi-step) breaking in the combustion zone. This will allow us to cover large areas of burning with minimal water consumption.

KEYWORDS

forest fires, extinguishing, inhomogeneous droplet, explosive breaking, vaporization

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Fieldtrip The ICOPFIRES fieldtrip will be a Prescribed Fire executed by the GRAF Team (Catalonia Fire Department, Bombers de la Generalitat de Catalunya) at the Collserola Natural Park. The plot selected is Can Baró at the Coll del Portell (Sant Pere Màrtir), just 10 minutes away from the Barcelona urban area, with great views of the city and the Mediterranean Sea.

DURING THE FIELDTRIP The fieldtrip will be divided into several workshops, each one led by technicians of the GRAF Team, Collserola Natural Park, University of Barcelona and Pau Costa Foundation. The participants will be divided in small groups to attend the different workshops. During the sessions, a short talk about the topics will be given by the organizing staff, but most of the time will be dedicated to open debates among the participants.

AGENDA The plot is located 40 minutes away from the city center. The attendees will take the bus opposite the conference venue, in Plaça Universitat, at 9:00 AM. Overall the duration of the fieldtrip will be between 9:00 and 15:00 approx.: including departure and return to Barcelona city center. A lunch bag will be provided to the attendees during the fieldtrip.

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WORKSHOPS TOPICS Prescribed fire objectives and organization –– What are the objectives of this prescribed fire? –– Prescribed fires in Catalonia Fire Department, positions, organization, figures, etc. –– Legislation –– Prescribed fire as a forest management tool to prevent wildfires. –– Prescribed fire as a training tool. Fire regimes and fire ecology of Collserola Natural Park –– The singularity of Collserola, a natural park at the backyard of Barcelona. –– The natural fire regimes in Collserola Natural Park –– Man-made fire regimes Post-prescribed fire effects –– Effects on soil physical properties –– Effects on soil hydrology –– Effects on soil chemical properties –– Effects on fauna and vegetation Human dimension and societal acceptance –– The human vision of fire and prescribed fires in Catalonia and Spain.

Practical Recommendations: We recommend wearing boots and comfortable gear: expect short-distance walks through the forest and over burnt areas. More information about the weather forecast will be provided right before the conference week, however it is recommended wearing a hat and windproof gear. The plot is in an exposed area to sun and sea breeze. Attendees will NOT BE ABLE to access the burning area during the prescribed fire,

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Photo: Filipe Ferreira

Photo: Pau Costa Foundation

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Fieldtrip

COLLSEROLA The magnificent Serra de Collserola massif rises up over Barcelona Metropolitan Area, almost touching the city, a much-loved and immensely valuable natural area and great privilege for the huge population that lives around these mountains to enjoy. Collserola is a well-preserved, 8.000-hectare natural area in which forest predominates but which also includes a variety of other plant formations that provide a habitat for valuable biological diversity. Collserola is also a place for discovery and learning, a place for meeting and for leisure. All this means that the final goal of the Park Consortiumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s management policy is to promote environmentally-friendly and sustainable use of the reserve whilst also conserving the natural heritage it contains. Since 1987, Collserola has been managed under a special protection plan, and the environmental objectives and concerns behind this plan were recently reinforced when the area was given the status of a Natural Park. More information: www.parcnaturalcollserola.cat/en

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Sponsors & Exhibitors Art & Fire Exhibition Documentary Premiere Practical Information Locations Map

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Video Sponsors:

BUDENHEIM Budenheim belongs to the German Oetker group. Since the last century, Budenheim produces phosphates for a range of technical lines; from food additives, phosphates for precision lenses, etc. to fireproof additives such as long term retardants used to supress wildfires. Budenheim has manufacturing plants, in Germany, Spain, Mexico, US and China, and distribution hubs and offices around the world. budenheim.com

TECNOSYLVA Tecnosylva was created in 1998 in Leon, Spain and is also currently headquartered in San Diego. Tecnosylva has been focused on providing GIS-based solutions for wildland fire protection planning, analysis & modeling, and operational response. Our flagship products, fiResponse™ and Wildfire Analyst™, have been used by worldwide emergency response professionals whose experience and feedback has been used for developing and improving our software solutions further.the world” tecnosylva.com Sponsors & Exhibitors

ASSOCIATION FOR FIRE ECOLOGY Association for Fire Ecology (AFE) is an NGO dedicated to improving the knowledge and use of fire in land management. Our vision is a network of dedicated professionals from around the world who influencewildland fire ecology and fire science research, education, management, and policy. Our next conference is the 7th International Fire Ecology and Management Congress in Orlando, Florida, in November of 2017. We publish an international peer-reviewed Journal Fire Ecology, which features Spanish language abstracts. We recognize leadership through lifetime achievement awards, and administer a unique professional certification program for fire ecologists and fire managers. We offer discounts for international memberships, and support students of fire ecology through travel grants and student chapter grants. Through involvement with AFE, you can help lead the future of fire ecology in fire management. fireecology.org

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AT BRIF Since 2005, representing and defending the interests of the BRIF group, 10 specially trained and trained heli-transport units for the fight against forest fires, the only human extinction team focused on working throughout the national territory thanks to its high mobility. atbrif.com

FIREQUICK Firequick Products, Inc. manufacturers a line of incendiary flares & launchers proven highly effective for wild land fire management in both control and prescribed burn operations and in all fuel types. Burning at 4000°F & employing a delayed remote ignition, FireQuick flares provide a higher performance, yet safer working option to users than other ignition devices. firequick.com

GLOBAL SUPERTANKER SERVICES Global SuperTanker Services, LLC. GSTS, based in the U.S., is the operator of a B747-400 aerial firefighting aircraft capable of responding to all types of fires anywhere in the world in less than 24 hours. Operated and maintained to U.S. airline standards, the SuperTanker’s 19,200gallon/73,000 liter capacity offers the lowest cost per gallon/liter dropped. globalsupertanker.com

GOTENNA goTenna creates the worlds smallest, lightest, and most affordable tactical mesh networking radio systems for communication with smartphones in areas without any available infrastructure. No towers, no satellites, no base stations, and no subscriptions. With goTenna technology users can continue to use their smartphones to communicate over many miles securely and reliably anywhere in the world. gotenna.com

MEDIXXI Medi XXI GSA is an environmental engineering consulting company working since 2001. Its multidisciplinary technical team works mainly offering integral and integrated solutions to all kind of projects related to Strategic Territorial Planning and Sustainability (wildfires, environmental education, ecotourism, civil protection and emergencies, public participation, urbanism, mobility…) medixxi.com 203

Documentary Premiere

The Big Silence Carles CaparrĂłs

On July 21st of 2009 five firefighters from the special fire management team (GRAF), Catalan Fire and Rescue Service lost their lives in MassĂs dels Ports area during the Horta de Sant Joan Fire. Five years later, the only survivor of the group, Josep PallĂ s, together with Marc Castellnou (who is the chief inspector of GRAF and also a world-class fire analyst), and the father of one of the victims, Jaume Costa, return to the forest where the accident took place. Other witnesses and forest experts, they also come together in the field in order to reconstruct and analyse the factors that triggered a tragic end of the entrapment that affected more than a hundred firefighters during that fire event. The protagonists unveil some fundamental lessons on the use of fire to fight forest fires, the fuel loading issues in nowadays forests, the knowledge improvement required to understand fire behaviour during large forest fires or the capacity of the current Fire and Rescue Services to fight those fires. The best and sincerest tribute to the five colleagues that lost their lives. After the success of the 60-min TV screening, it was produced a more technical and longer 100-min version. This new version has been released this week and has been possible thanks to the work done by Pau Costa Foundation on production and translation. Thanks to their efforts the documentary is now available to be watched by the international forest fire community.

Photos: Jaume Costa

ENG: vimeo.com/paucostafoundation/thebigsilence ESP: vimeo.com/paucostafoundation/elgransilencio CAT: vimeo.com/paucostafoundation/elgransilenci

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Produced by:

In collaboration with:

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Art & Fire Exhibition

Incandescent Memories Josep Serra “I was born in a land where summer fires were perceived as a usual phenomenon. From the 70’s to 90’s my young retina was impregnated with scooper aircrafts loading at the port, plumes of ashes and civilians fighting the flames during several nights. Obviously, all those had a strong impact in me. By that time, I already had an “artistic view”. An intimate and visually encoded world that was indifferent to the charcoal that got my sketch books dirty, guiding me to its origins: the Fire. When I saw the documentary: “The Great Silence” on the local TV (2015), the sensitive voices from the firefighters and video sequences ignited my latent fuel and generated an iconographic fire, still active, made up of visions during years: Incandescent Memories. The sentence on minute 19:11 of the documentary, featured by Ramón Valls, unveiled my curiosity and interest on fire ecology: “this fire started 50 years ago with the rural abandonment…”. Without that statement, my paintings would have never included a holistic background of the wildfire phenomenology. Can we say that photograms from the documentary are behind the art collection? The answer is YES.

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The Art&Fire Project is a worldwide campaign that the Pau Costa Foundation launched four years ago to obtain an art and graphic material fund related to wildland fires. We addressed illustrators, painters, graphic creators and artists from around the world asking them to collaborate with the PCF by creating and donating a piece of art about their own “interpretation of a character”, concretely of a “Wildland Fire-fighter”. The PCF uses this visual material as support for its educational project, as support in travelling exhibitions and to illustrate other materials to promote the project.

More information: www.paucostafoundation.org Exhibition Design: Anna Alcubierre, espai-e Exhibition’s Graphic Designer: Gerard Sierra

Organised by:

Supported by: