Moisture desorption in mechanically masticated fuels: effects of particle fracturing and fuelbed compaction
Jesse K. Kreye A C E , J. Morgan Varner A D and Eric E. Knapp B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Wildland Fire Laboratory, Department of Forestry and Wildland Resources, Humboldt State University, 1 Harpst Street, Arcata, CA 95521, USA.
B USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station, 3644 Avtech Parkway, Redding, CA 96002, USA.
C Present address: School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida, Newins-Ziegler Hall, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.
D Present address: Department of Forestry, Mississippi State University, Box 9681, Mississippi State, MS 39762-9601, USA.
E Corresponding author. Email: jkreye@ufl.edu
International Journal of Wildland Fire 21(7) 894-904 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF11077
Submitted: 7 June 2011 Accepted: 15 February 2012 Published: 19 July 2012
Abstract
Mechanical mastication is increasingly used as a wildland fuel treatment, reducing standing trees and shrubs to compacted fuelbeds of fractured woody fuels. One major shortcoming in our understanding of these fuelbeds is how particle fracturing influences moisture gain or loss, a primary determinant of fire behaviour. To better understand fuel moisture dynamics, we measured particle and fuelbed drying rates of masticated Arctostaphylos manzanita and Ceanothus velutinus shrubs, common targets of mastication in fire-prone western USA ecosystems. Drying rates of intact and fractured particles did not differ when desorbing at the fuelbed surface, but these particles did dry more rapidly than underlying fuelbeds. Average response times of 10-h woody particles at the fuelbed surfaces ranged from 16 to 21 h, whereas response times of fuelbeds (composed of 1-h and 10-h particles) were 40 to 69 h. Response times did not differ between fuelbeds composed of fractured woody particles and fuelbeds composed of intact particles (P = 0.258). Particle fracturing as a result of mastication does not affect the drying rate, but the longer-than-expected response times of particles within fuelbeds underscores the needs to better understand fuel moisture dynamics in these increasingly common fuels.
Additional keywords: Arctostaphylos, Ceanothus, mechanical fuel treatment, moisture dynamics, timelag.
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