我国人工林森林可燃物特点及管理技术研究进展

在全球变暖背景下森林火灾发生的危险性持续增加,可燃物是唯一可人为调控的火环境因子.与天然林相比,人工林结构简单,且以富含油脂的纯林为主,同时多为中幼龄林,易发生森林火灾.文中从人工林可燃物特点及其与林火引燃和火行为的角度出发,综述了人工林可燃物管理技术,对管理中存在的问题进行了分析,建议今后人工林可燃物管理在降低森林易...     

南方人工林森林火灾发生和危害之评估

根据全国25省区和南方4省区1999～2001年的森林火灾数据,分析评估了南方人工林发生森林火灾的原因、过程和危害的程度;探讨山火防范和控制,减少危害和投资风险的途径,并以肇庆市国有林场过去10年森林火灾发生情况作验证。人工林森林火灾受气候、地区森林覆盖率和特征、人工林特征、经营管理系统等的综合影响,每年10月至次年2月份为干旱季节,森林火灾发生最为频繁。肇庆国有林场过去10年森林火灾面积比率为0．023％0～4、840％0。通过设立健全的森林防火和控制系统,有效的营林管理,南方人工林发生火灾的面积机率可以最大限度地降低,应可以控制在1％以下。     

Wildland fires and moist deciduous forests of Chhattisgarh,India: divergent component assessment

We studied moist deciduous forests of Chhattisgarh, India （1） to assess the effect of four levels of historic wildland fire frequency （high, medium, low, and no-fire） on regeneration of seedlings in fire affected areas during pre and post-fire seasons, （2） to evaluate vegetation struc- ture and diversity by layer in the four fire frequency zones, （3） to evalu- ate the impact of fire frequency on the structure of economically impor- tant tree species of the region, and （4） to quantify fuel loads by fire fre- quency level. We classified fire-affected areas into high, medium, low, and no-fire frequency classes based on government records. Tree species were unevenly distributed across fire frequency categories. Shrub density was maximum in zones of high fire frequency and minimum in low- frequency and no-fire zones. Lower tree density after fires indicated that regeneration of seedlings was reduced by fire. The population structure in the high-frequency zone was comprised of seedlings of size class （A） and saplings of size class （B）, represented by Diospyros melanoxylon, Dalbergia sissoo, Shorea robusta and Tectona grandis. Younger and older trees were more abundant for Tectona grandis and Dalbargia sis- soo after fire, whereas intermediate-aged trees were more abundant pre- fire, indicating that the latter age-class was thinned by the catastrophic effect of fire. The major contributing components of fuel load included duff litter and small woody branches and twigs on the forest floor. Total fuel load on the forest floor ranged from 2.2 to 3.38 Mg/ha. The netchange in fuel load was positive in high- and medium-frequency fire zones and negative under low- and no-fire zones. Repeated fires, how- ever, slowly reduced stand stability. An ecological approach is needed for fire management to restore the no-fire spatial and temporal structure of moist deciduous forests, their species composition and fuel loads. The management approach should incorporate participatory forest manage- ment. Use of c     

Dendrochronology-based fire history of mixed-conifer forests in the San Jacinto Mountains,California

The growing public awareness of the increasing number of large wildfires across forested landscapes, coupled with needs of resource base management has accelerated research into forest reference conditions and the historical role of fire in coniferous ecosystems. This work investigates historical fire regimes of mixed-conifer forests in the San Jacinto Mountains of southern California using fire-scar dendrochronology. As such this is the first reconstruction of fire history in the mixed-conifer forests of southern California using landscape-scale systematic-based fire-scar dendrochronology. The pre-historical fire size, seasonality, and frequency within these forests are reconstructed and demonstrated graphically, employing systematic sampling and Geographical Information System (GIS) reconstruction. A 250 m grid system was overlaid upon a 270 ha sample location, and fire-scar samples were collected from each of the grid intersection points. Fire-scar dendrochronology resulted in a 653 years long chronology, indicating a point mean fire return interval of 5.2 years, and an area wide grand mean fire interval of 32.2 years. The majority of fires occurred within latewood or at the ring boundary. Graphic modelling of fire events indicate three-quarters of all fires sampled were less than 6.25 ha in size, but burned over 50% of the area sampled during the period; only a small portion of fires were larger than 18 ha within the sample area. Use of systematic sampling is an important step in modeling long-term frequency and effects of fire on a landscape level, and is invaluable to the long-term management planning.     

Fire Occurrence Environments in Pinus pumila Forests

In recent years, many serious forest fires occurred in precious Pinus pumila forests in Daxing'anling Mountains of Heilongjiang Province and Inner Mongolia. But up to now, there is still a lack of proper understanding of fire occurrence environments in P. pumila forests. In present paper, we investigated and studied the fire occurrence environments. The results showed that fires in P. pumila forests had their own special fire environments. Abundant fuel, drought weather, dry thunder and high altitude terrai...     

Harnessing forest ecological sciences in the service of stewardship and sustainability: A perspective from ‘down-under’

Australia's native forests are predominantly Crown land, managed by the States. Regional Forest Agreements between four of the States and the Federal Government (1997–2001) resulted in a 36% increase in the area of conservation reserves and a 15% decrease in area of multiple-use (including timber harvesting) forests. The limited acceptance of timber harvesting in native forests, together with the rapid expansion of hardwood plantations, has diverted research focus away from native forests. Recent events including a prolonged drought and two forest fires totaling more than 3 million ha should have stimulated research in native forests on the effects of fire on ecosystem processes, on the management of fire and on management of water catchments; fires, far more than logging, are shaping our native forests in recent times. In particular, the use of prescribed fire to reduce fuels has decreased. We argue that Australian research effort in native eucalypt forests is lacking in two key areas – the effects of fire on carbon storage in forests and soils, and on the management of water yield from forested catchments. The results of forest research are variously published in the scientific journals, and increasingly in consultancy reports to governments or a to a range of organizations and industries. The question of who does the harnessing of knowledge coming from the science of forest ecology is compounded by constant changes in both political and management arrangements. If forest science is to assume a greater role in politics and forest management in Australia, scientists must enter the foray, using the fighting words of politics rather than maintaining the protective mantle of neutrality. With research in native forests being continually downgraded at both State and Federal levels, we take a somewhat less than optimistic view about how well ecological sciences will be harnessed in the service of forest stewardship and sustainability in Australia.     

森林可燃物管理研究进展

立地条件、天气和可燃物决定了森林火灾的强度与烈度, 三大因素中, 只有对可燃物能进行有效的经营管理。研究表明:1)过去60~100年, 由于森林结构和组成的改变, 可燃物载量增加, 易发生高强度的森林火灾。2)林火模型、实践经验以及现场观察表明, 在特定的天气条件下, 林火行为受可燃物结构与组成的影响很大。3)减少重特大森林火灾的发生就必须降低地表可燃物的数量、密度、连续性, 移除过度可燃物, 或改造植被, 降低森林植被的燃烧性等。4)可燃物处理有效期评估涉及林火蔓延、林火强度、烈度、火场规模和扑火能力的研究, 景观尺度手段优于林分尺度。     

Stand structure, fuel loads, and fire behavior in riparian and upland forests, Sierra Nevada Mountains, USA; a comparison of current and reconstructed conditions

Fire plays an important role in shaping many Sierran coniferous forests, but longer fire return intervals and reductions in area burned have altered forest conditions. Productive, mesic riparian forests can accumulate high stem densities and fuel loads, making them susceptible to high-severity fire. Fuels treatments applied to upland forests, however, are often excluded from riparian areas due to concerns about degrading streamside and aquatic habitat and water quality. Objectives of this study were to compare stand structure, fuel loads, and potential fire behavior between adjacent riparian and upland forests under current and reconstructed active-fire regime conditions. Current fuel loads, tree diameters, heights, and height to live crown were measured in 36 paired riparian and upland plots. Historic estimates of these metrics were reconstructed using equations derived from fuel accumulation rates, current tree data, and increment cores. Fire behavior variables were modeled using Forest Vegetation Simulator Fire/Fuels Extension.Riparian forests were significantly more fire prone under current than reconstructed conditions, with greater basal area (BA) (means are 87 vs. 29 m²/ha), stand density (635 vs. 208 stems/ha), snag volume (37 vs. 2 m³/ha), duff loads (69 vs. 3 Mg/ha), total fuel loads (93 vs. 28 Mg/ha), canopy bulk density (CBD) (0.12 vs. 0.04 kg/m³), surface flame length (0.6 vs. 0.4 m), crown flame length (0.9 vs. 0.4 m), probability of torching (0.45 vs. 0.03), predicted mortality (31% vs. 17% BA), and lower torching (20 vs. 176 km/h) and crowning indices (28 vs. 62 km/h). Upland forests were also significantly more fire prone under current than reconstructed conditions, yet changes in fuels and potential fire behavior were not as large. Under current conditions, riparian forests were significantly more fire prone than upland forests, with greater stand density (635 vs. 401 stems/ha), probability of torching (0.45 vs. 0.22), predicted mortality (31% vs. 16% BA), and lower quadratic mean diameter (46 vs. 55 cm), canopy base height (6.7 vs. 9.4 m), and frequency of fire tolerant species (13% vs. 36% BA). Reconstructed riparian and upland forests were not significantly different. Our reconstruction results suggest that historic fuels and forest structure may not have differed significantly between many riparian and upland forests, consistent with earlier research suggesting similar historic fire return intervals. Under current conditions, however, modeled severity is much greater in riparian forests, suggesting forest habitat and ecosystem function may be more severely impacted by wildfire than in upland forests.     

蒙古森林草原火灾状况及林火管理

森林和草原火灾是导致蒙古森林资源下降的主要原因之一,并对其森林造成了严重的影响。蒙古东、南、西三面与中国接壤,大规模火灾导致的越境火对中国的森林和草原构成了严重威胁。文中从森林草原资源概况、火灾特征（包括空间特征、季节特征和火源特征）、火管理模式等方面综述了蒙古森林草原火灾的现状,阐述了其林火管理对中国林火管理的启示。     

Comparing the role of fuel breaks across southern California national forests

Fuel treatment of wildland vegetation is the primary approach advocated for mitigating fire risk at the wildland-urban interface (WUI), but little systematic research has been conducted to understand what role fuel treatments play in controlling large fires, which factors influence this role, or how the role of fuel treatments may vary over space and time. We assembled a spatial database of fuel breaks and fires from the last 30 years in four southern California national forests to better understand which factors are consistently important for fuel breaks in the control of large fires. We also explored which landscape features influence where fires and fuel breaks are most likely to intersect. The relative importance of significant factors explaining fuel break outcome and number of fire and fuel break intersections varied among the forests, which reflects high levels of regional landscape diversity. Nevertheless, several factors were consistently important across all the forests. In general, fuel breaks played an important role in controlling large fires only when they facilitated fire management, primarily by providing access for firefighting activities. Fire weather and fuel break maintenance were also consistently important. Models and maps predicting where fuel breaks and fires are most likely to intersect performed well in the regions where the models were developed, but these models did not extend well to other regions, reflecting how the environmental controls of fire regimes vary even within a single ecoregion. Nevertheless, similar mapping methods could be adopted in different landscapes to help with strategic location of fuel breaks. Strategic location of fuel breaks should also account for access points near communities, where fire protection is most important.     

Thinning and prescribed fire effects on overstory tree and snag structure in dry coniferous forests of the interior Pacific Northwest

Forest thinning and prescribed fires are practices used by managers to address concerns over ecosystem degradation and severe wildland fire potential in dry forests. There is some debate, however, about treatment effectiveness in meeting management objectives as well as their ecological consequences. The purpose of this study was to assess changes to forest stand structure following thinning and prescribed fire treatments, alone and combined, in the eastern Cascade Mountains of Washington State. Treatments were applied to 12 management units, with each treatment combination replicated three times (including untreated controls). Thinning modified forest structure by reducing overall tree density by >60% and canopy bulk density by 50%, and increased canopy base height by ∼4 m, thereby reducing susceptibility to crown fire. The prescribed fire treatment, conversely, did not appreciably reduce tree density or canopy fuel loading, but was effective at increasing the density of standing dead trees, particularly when combined with thinning (37 snags/ha increase). Prescribed fire effects were more pronounced when used in combination with thinning. Thinning was more reliable for altering stand structure, but spring burning was lower in intensity and coverage than desired and may have led to results that downplay the efficacy of fire to meet forest restoration goals.     

Fire Environment Mechanism of Lightning Fire for Daxing''''an Mountains

Lightning fire is one of natural fires; its mechanism is very complex and difficult to control. Daxing'an Mountain is the main region that lightning fires occur in China. Research on lightning fires indicates that special fuel, dry-storm weather and high altitude form the lightning fire environment. Lightning fires have close relation with lights. When lightning occurs, especially dry-lightning which brings little precipitation with surface temperature growing and fuel dehydrating, these often lead to lightning fires. Lightning fires have characteristics of geography, time and topography. The higher altitude forest region in Daxing'an Mountain, the more lightning fires occur. Valley with altitude above 800 m in the north of 51.N and Larix gmelinii-Pinus pumila, Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica -Pinus pumila forests on the top of mountain are the most concentrating region where lightning fires occur. One serial dry-storming can ignites many lightning fires, the furthest between them is as long as 150 km.     

森林火行为与特殊火行为研究进展

森林火灾主要包括地表火、地下火、树冠火3种蔓延形式。目前火蔓延模型主要关注于森林地表火的蔓延研究, 对一些特殊的火行为, 如树冠火、火旋风、飞火等研究极为薄弱, 而这些火行为在特大森林火灾的蔓延传播中起着重要作用, 往往加速火蔓延, 并对扑火人员造成生命危险。我国森林大多集中在山区, 火灾一旦发生, 由于复杂的地形、不均匀的可燃物分布、多变的局地风和林火的相互作用, 极易形成复杂的火行为。文中对森林火灾中的火行为和特殊火行为进行了论述, 讨论了当前的研究进展和未来发展趋势。     

Fuel loads,snag abundance,and snag recruitment in an unmanaged Jeffrey pine–mixed conifer forest in Northwestern Mexico

Management of downed woody fuels and snags (standing dead trees) is receiving increasing attention because of their ecosystem values and effects on potential fire behavior. Research has correlated the abundance of many wildlife species with snags and downed woody material but very little information exists of the abundance and arrangement of these forest structures, particularly in unmanaged forests. Conifer forests in northwestern Mexico have not experienced systematic fire suppression or harvesting making them unique in western North America. In 1998, average snag density in Jeffrey pine–mixed conifer forests in the Sierra San Pedro Martir (SSPM) National Park was 3.95 snags/ha but 35% of inventoried plots had no snags. In 2002, average snag density significantly increased to 5.10 snags/ha after a multiple-year drought. Average surface and ground fuel loads were 15.8 and 8.7 t/ha, respectively. High variability characterized all snag and fuel attributes measured in this forest. This high amount of variation is probably the result of the relatively intact frequent surface fire regime and because no harvesting has occurred in the sampled area. The patchy distribution of snags observed argues against the application of uniform targets for snag retention across similar forested landscapes. An improvement in management guidelines would be to manage for snag density and large fuels over moderate spatial scales (hundreds of hectares) instead of on a per hectare basis. Forest fragmentation and diverse ownerships in many western United States forests complicates this recommendation. Conservation of the forests in the SSPM is critical because it is the last landscape-scale, old-growth mixed conifer forest in western North America with a relatively intact frequent fire regime.     

Fire history of coniferous riparian forests in the Sierra Nevada

Fire is an important ecological process in many western U.S. coniferous forests, yet high fuel loads, rural home construction and other factors have encouraged the suppression of most wildfires. Using mechanical thinning and prescribed burning, land managers often try to reduce fuels in strategic areas with the highest fuel loads. Riparian forests, however, are often designated as areas where only limited management action can take place within a fixed-width zone. These highly productive forests have developed heavy fuel loads capable of supporting stand-replacing crown fires that can alter wildlife habitat and ecosystem function, and contribute to stream channel erosion. Objectives of this study were to determine whether adjacent coniferous riparian and upland forests burned historically with different frequencies and seasonalities, and whether these relationships varied by forest, site, and stream characteristics. We measured dendrochronological fire records in adjacent riparian and upland areas across a variety of forest, site and stream conditions at 36 sites in three sampling areas in the northern Sierra Nevada.     

加拿大森林火行为预测系统应用及展望

森林火灾频发给我国造成了严重的森林资源损失和其他方面的损失。而我国在森林火行为预测预报研究方面水平较低,还无法准确地对火灾进行预测。加拿大森林火行为预测系统（FBP系统）可以利用森林可燃物类型、气象条件、地形地势及火行为特征等因子准确有效地对森林火行为进行预测预报,对林火管理人员制定灭火计划和组织火灾扑救工作具有十分重要的意义。文中介绍了FBP系统的主要结构和工作原理,以及系统内部参数和预测预报所需的相关数据,概述了该系统在加拿大的实际应用情况,对我国建立森林火灾预报、火行为预测系统进行了展望。     

Fuel types and crown fire potential in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pinus halepensis</Emphasis> forests

There is a lack of knowledge to identify and classify forest structures according to the risk of crown fires, especially in Mediterranean regions. In this study, for the first time, we use real information, obtained after a wildfire that burnt under extreme meteorological conditions, to classify forest structures of Pinus halepensis into fuel types as a function of crown fire potential. We identified fourteen forest structures which characterize many forest types in Western Mediterranean areas depending on canopy closure, number of tree layers, percent of each tree layer and overall tree density. By using the pattern of fire types that burnt the most numerous forest structures, we have identified four fire hazard groups of forest structures which are considered different fuel types. The first two had the lowest risk of active crown fires and they differed in the proportion of surface fires and passive crown fires. The third fuel type was the threshold between structures with low and high extreme fire behavior; while the fourth had a high risk of active crown fires. Firefighters and forest managers who are demanding this kind of schema, will test and upgrade this classification of fuel types in function of crown fire potential during future wildfires.     

Fire history and fire–climate relationships along a fire regime gradient in the Santa Fe Municipal Watershed, NM, USA

The Santa Fe municipal watershed provides up to 40% of the city's water and is at high risk of a stand-replacing fire that could threaten the water resource and cause severe ecological damage. Restoration and crown fire hazard reduction in the ponderosa pine (PP) forest is in progress, but the historic role of crown fire in the mixed-conifer/aspen (MC) and spruce-dominated forests is unknown but necessary to guide management here and in similar forests throughout the southwestern United States. The objective of our study was to use dendroecological techniques to reconstruct fire history and fire–climate relationships along an elevation, forest type, and fire regime gradient in the Santa Fe River watershed and provide historical ecological data to guide management. We combined systematic (gridded) sampling of forest age structure with targeted sampling of fire scars, tree-ring growth changes/injuries, and death dates to reconstruct fire occurrence and severity in the 7016 ha study area (elevation 2330–3650 m). Fire scars from 141 trees (at 41 plots) and age structure of 438 trees (from 26 transects) were used to reconstruct 110 unique fire years (1296–2008). The majority (79.0%) of fires burned during the late spring/early summer. Widespread fires that scarred more than 25% of the recording trees were more frequent in PP (mean fire interval (MFI)_25% = 20.8 years) compared to the MC forest (31.6 years). Only 24% of the fires in PP were recorded in the MC forest, but these accounted for a large percent of all MC fires (69%). Fire occurrence was associated with anomalously wet (and usually El Niño) years preceding anomalously dry (and usually La Niña) years both in PP and in the MC forest. Fire in the MC occurred during more severe drought (mean summer Palmer Drought Severity Index; PDSI = −2.59), compared to the adjacent PP forest (PDSI = −1.03). The last fire in the spruce forest (1685) was largely stand-replacing (1200 ha, 93% of sampled area), recorded as fire scars at 68% of plots throughout the MC and PP forests, and burned during a severe, regional drought (PDSI = −6.92). The drought–fire relationship reconstructed in all forest types suggests that if droughts become more frequent and severe, as predicted, the probability of large, severe fire occurrence will increase.     

Toward reference conditions: wildfire effects on flora in an old-growth ponderosa pine forest

Remote ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) forests on the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, USA provide valuable examples of reference conditions due to their relatively uninterrupted fire regimes, limited grazing history, and protection from logging. Wildfire is an important disturbance agent in upland forests of the Interior West, yet repeated measurements taken before and after lightning-ignited fires are rare. In 1999, a low-severity Wildland Fire Use fire burned 156 ha on Fire Point, a peninsula dominated by old-growth ponderosa pines, which had not burned for at least 76 years. We measured understory plant community and forest floor characteristics in 1998 (1 year before the fire) and 2001 (2 years after the fire) at this site and at nearby reference sites that did not burn in 1999 but have had continuing fire regimes throughout the past century. After the wildfire, the plant community at Fire Point shifted toward higher compositional similarity with the reference sites. Analysis of functional group composition indicated that this change was due primarily to an increase in annual and biennial forbs. Gayophytum diffusum, Polygonum douglasii, Chenopodium spp., Solidago spp., Elymus elymoides, Calochortus nuttallii, Hesperostipa comata, and Lotus spp. were indicative of forests influenced by recent fires. Species richness, plant cover, plant layer density and plant diversity were significantly lower at Fire Point than at the reference sites, possibly due to long-term fire exclusion, but the fire did not increase the rate of change in these variables after 2 years. Few exotic species were present at any site. Forest floor depths at Fire Point were reduced to depths similar to the reference sites, primarily due to consumption of the duff layer. There was a significant inverse relationship between the ratio of duff:litter and species richness. Compared to fire-excluded forests, old-growth ponderosa pine forests influenced by low-intensity surface fires generally have greater plant species richness (especially annual forbs) and lighter fuel loads. This study supports the continued application of the Wildland Fire Use strategy in old-growth montane forests to maintain and improve forest health by altering understory species composition and reducing fuel loads.     

应用方位角确定森林火灾发生位置的探讨

在远距离或人们比较生疏的林地内发生森林火灾,可以在两座以上(含两座)瞭望台上,用事先安装好的罗盘仪,分别测出火灾位置的方位角,应用平面几何成图原理,借助1:5万地形图或1:10万林相图,可以快速、准确地判断出森林火灾发生的具体位置。以此及时制定扑火方案,快速调集人员和车辆赶赴火场进行扑救。