Soil moisture thresholds for combustion of organic soils in western Tasmania
Lynda D. Prior A C , Ben J. French A , Kathryn Storey B , Grant J. Williamson
A and David M. J. S. Bowman A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A School of Natural Sciences, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 55, Hobart, Tas. 7001, Australia.
B Natural and Cultural Heritage Division, Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment, GPO Box 44, Hobart, Tas. 7001, Australia.
C Corresponding author. Email: lynda.prior@utas.edu.au
International Journal of Wildland Fire 29(7) 637-647 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF19196
Submitted: 22 November 2019 Accepted: 9 March 2020 Published: 26 March 2020
Abstract
The present study aimed to determine moisture thresholds for combustion of organic soils sampled from various vegetation types at 63 locations in Tasmania, Australia. To observe whether the soil sample sustained smouldering combustion, moisture content was experimentally manipulated and heat was applied. Combustion was primarily determined by moisture content, but was also influenced by soil bulk density and organic content: the gravimetric moisture content corresponding to a 50% probability of burning ranged from 25 to 94% as organic content varied from 34 to 96%. There was no evidence of differences among vegetation types in the relationship between soil combustibility and organic content. Combustion in Tasmanian organic soils occurred with moisture levels similar to those reported elsewhere, despite differences in vegetation and environment. It was also found that a hand-held meter that measured volumetric moisture content using time domain reflectometry could be used to satisfactorily predict organic soil combustion. Finally, combining the data with estimates of volumetric soil moisture based on high-resolution gridded weather data (Bureau of Meteorology Atmospheric high-resolution Regional Reanalysis for Australia, or BARRA), it was demonstrated that most Tasmanian organic soils are likely to be combustible at some time almost every summer (December to February).
Additional keywords: combustibility, fire management, gravimetric moisture content, peat, smouldering combustion, soil bulk density, soil carbon, Soil Dryness Index, soil nitrogen, Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area.
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