Quantitative charcoal reflectance measurements better link to regrowth potential than ground-based fire-severity assessments following a recent heathland wildfire at Carn Brea, Cornwall, UK
Stacey L. New
A B , Victoria A. Hudspith A and Claire M. Belcher A
A wildFIRE Lab, Hatherly Laboratories, Department of Geography, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4RJ, UK.
B Corresponding author. Email: s.new@exeter.ac.uk
International Journal of Wildland Fire 27(12) 845-850 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF18112
Submitted: 21 July 2018 Accepted: 11 October 2018 Published: 9 November 2018
Journal Compilation © IAWF 2018 Open Access CC BY
Abstract
Charcoal has recently been suggested to retain information about the fire that generated it. When looked at under a microscope, charcoals formed by different aspects of fire behaviour indicate different ability to reflect the amount of light when studied using the appropriate technique. It has been suggested that this method, charcoal reflectance (Ro), might be able to provide a quantitative fire severity metric that can be used in conjunction with or instead of standard qualitative fire severity scores. We studied charcoals from a recent heathland wildfire in Carn Brea, Cornwall, UK, and assessed whether charcoal reflectance (Ro) can be linked to standard qualitative fire severity scores for the burned area. We found that charcoal reflectance was greater at sites along the burned area that had been scored as having a higher qualitative fire severity. However, there were clear instances where the quantitative charcoal reflectance measurements were able to better indicate damage and regrowth potential than qualitative scoring alone. We suggest measuring the reflectance of charcoals may not only be able to provide quantitative information about the spatial distribution of heat across a burned area post fire but that this approach is able to provide improvement to fire severity assessment approaches.
Additional keywords: burn severity, disturbance regimes, fire behaviour, moorland.
References
BBC (2015) ‘Carn Brea gorse fire land ‘will take years to recover’.’ Available at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-32955448Belcher CM, Hudspith VA (2016) The formation of charcoal reflectance and its potential use in post-fire assessments. International Journal of Wildland Fire 25, 775–779.
| The formation of charcoal reflectance and its potential use in post-fire assessments.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Belcher CM, New SL, Santin C, Doerr SH, Dewhirst RA, Grosvenor MJ, Hudspith VA (2018) What can charcoal reflectance tell us about energy release in wildfires and the properties of pyrogenic carbon. Frontiers of Earth Science in press.
Brown LE, Holden J, Palmer SM, Johnston K, Ramchunder SJ, Grayson R (2015) Effects of fire on the hydrology, biogeochemistry, and ecology of peatland river systems. Freshwater Science 34, 1406–1425.
| Effects of fire on the hydrology, biogeochemistry, and ecology of peatland river systems.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Clay GD, Worrall F (2011) Charcoal production in a UK moorland wildfire – How important is it? Journal of Environmental Management 92, 676–682.
| Charcoal production in a UK moorland wildfire – How important is it?Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Cohen-Ofri I, Weiner L, Boaretto E, Mintz G, Weiner S (2006) Modern and fossil charcoal: aspects of structure and diagenesis. Journal of Archaeological Science 33, 428–439.
| Modern and fossil charcoal: aspects of structure and diagenesis.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Davies GM, Smith AA, MacDonald AJ, Bakker JD, Legg CJ (2010) Fire intensity, fire severity and ecosystem response in heathlands: factors affecting the regeneration of Calluna vulgaris. Journal of Applied Ecology 47, 356–365.
| Fire intensity, fire severity and ecosystem response in heathlands: factors affecting the regeneration of Calluna vulgaris.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Davies GM, Kettridge N, Stoof CR, Gray A, Ascoli D, Fernandes PM, Marrs R, Allen KA, Doerr SH, Clay GD, McMorrow J (2016) The role of fire in UK peatland and moorland management: the need for informed, unbiased debate. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 371, 20150342
Doerr SH, Santin C, Merino AG, Belcher CM, Baxter G (2018) Fire as a removal mechanism of pyrogenic carbon from the environment: effects of fire and pyrogenic carbon characteristics. Frontiers in Earth Science 6, 1–13.
| Fire as a removal mechanism of pyrogenic carbon from the environment: effects of fire and pyrogenic carbon characteristics.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Douglas DJ, Buchanan GM, Thompson P, Amar A, Fielding DA, Redpath SM, Wilson JD (2015) Vegetation burning for game management in the UK uplands is increasing and overlaps spatially with soil carbon and protected areas. Biological Conservation 191, 243–250.
| Vegetation burning for game management in the UK uplands is increasing and overlaps spatially with soil carbon and protected areas.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Gimeno-García E, Andreu V, Rubio JL (2004) Spatial patterns of soil temperatures during experimental fires. Geoderma 118, 17–38.
| Spatial patterns of soil temperatures during experimental fires.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Hamilton A (2000) The characteristics and effects of management fire on blanket-bog vegetation in north-west Scotland. PhD thesis, University of Edinburgh, Scotland.
Jones TP, Scott AC, Cope M (1991) Reflectance measurements and the temperature of formation of modern charcoals and implications for studies of fusain. Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France 162, 193–200.
Keeley JE (2009) Fire intensity, fire severity and burn severity: a brief review and suggested usage. International Journal of Wildland Fire 18, 116–126.
| Fire intensity, fire severity and burn severity: a brief review and suggested usage.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Lowden L, Hull T (2013) Flammability behaviour of wood and a review of the methods for its reduction. Fire Science Reviews 2, 1–19.
| Flammability behaviour of wood and a review of the methods for its reduction.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Natural England (2014) 155: Carnmenellis. Natural England Publications. Available at http://publications.naturalengland.org.uk/publication/6254102417768448?category=587130 [Verified 12 October 2018]
Neary DG, Klopatek CC, DeBano LF, Ffolliott PF (1999) Fire effects on belowground sustainability: a review and synthesis. Forest Ecology and Management 122, 51–71.
| Fire effects on belowground sustainability: a review and synthesis.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Ryan K, Noste N (1985) Evaluating prescribed fires. In ‘Proceedings – Symposium and workshop on wilderness fire’, 15–18 November, Missoula, MT. (Eds JE Lotan, BM Kilgore, WC Fischer, RW Mutch) USDA Forest Service, General Technical Report INT-182, pp. 230–238. (Washington, D.C.)
Santín C, Doerr SH, Kane ES, Masiello CA, Ohlson M, de la Rosa JM, Preston CM, Dittmar T (2016) Towards a global assessment of pyrogenic carbon from vegetation fires. Global Change Biology 22, 76–91.
| Towards a global assessment of pyrogenic carbon from vegetation fires.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Schepers L, Haest B, Veraverbeke S, Spanhove T, Vanden Borre J, Goossens R (2014) Burned area detection and burn severity assessment of a heathland fire in Belgium using airborne imaging spectroscopy (APEX). Remote Sensing 6, 1803–1826.
| Burned area detection and burn severity assessment of a heathland fire in Belgium using airborne imaging spectroscopy (APEX).Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
