Past fire shaping future fuel: influence of recent fire history on forest foliage chemistry

Margot A. Schneider; Geoffrey J. Cary; Elle J. Bowd; Claire N. Foster

doi:10.1071/WF22215

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

Previous Next Contents Vol 33(9)

Past fire shaping future fuel: influence of recent fire history on forest foliage chemistry

Margot A. Schneider

^A , Geoffrey J. Cary

^A , Elle J. Bowd

^A and Claire N. Foster

^A ^*

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A Fenner School of Environment & Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia.

^* Correspondence to: claire.foster@anu.edu.au

International Journal of Wildland Fire 33, WF22215 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF22215

Submitted: 16 November 2022 Accepted: 3 August 2024 Published: 29 August 2024

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of IAWF. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Background

Knowledge of how fire regimes influence flammability, and its role in shaping future fire regimes, exists mostly at species composition and ecosystem levels. The effect of fire regimes on fuel at the chemical level is poorly known.

Aim

We aimed to empirically investigate the association between recent fire history and forest foliage chemistry; and to explore potential implications for forest fuel flammability.

Methods

Using an orthogonal study design, we investigated the effects of fire frequency and time since fire on the chemical composition of Eucalyptus pilularis leaves from forest canopies and surface litter in south-eastern Australia.

Key results

We found high fire frequency (fire-return interval 10–13 years) was associated with higher C:N, C:P, and C:K ratios in E. pilularis surface litter, and higher C:P in canopy leaves.

Conclusions

Nutrients including nitrogen and phosphorous reduce flammability of plant tissues, and hence, the observed differences in leaf nutrients between high and low fire frequency sites could have important implications for future flammability of these forests.

Implications

Our study has demonstrated a relationship between fire frequency and leaf nutrient stoichiometry, which may act as a mechanism through which repeated fires could increase fuel flammability. This warrants further investigation in other environments.

Keywords: canopy fuel, Eucalyptus pilularis, fire frequency, fire regimes, foliar nutrients, leaf litter, low-nutrient environment, nutrient resorption, soil.

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