Evaluation of fuel load following fire in Loblolly Pine (Pinus taeda L.) plantations using line sampling and of FLM method (Case study: Takhsam plantations in Guilan Province)

Amin Amlashi, Masoud; Ghodskhah, Mehrdad; Bonyad, Amir Islam; Pourbabaei, Hassan; Jafari, Mostafa; Gholami, Vahid

doi:10.22092/ijfpr.2015.105660

	Evaluation of fuel load following fire in Loblolly Pine (Pinus taeda L.) plantations using line sampling and of FLM method (Case study: Takhsam plantations in Guilan Province)
تحقیقات جنگل و صنوبر ایران
Article 16, Volume 23, Issue 3, September 2015, Pages 562-572 PDF (256.04 K)
Document Type: Research article
DOI: 10.22092/ijfpr.2015.105660
Authors
Masoud Amin Amlashi^* ¹; Mehrdad Ghodskhah²; Amir Islam Bonyad³; Hassan Pourbabaei³; Mostafa Jafari⁴; Vahid Gholami²
¹Ph.D. Student Forestry, Faculty of Natural Resources, Guilan University, Some`eh Sara, Iran
²Assistant Prof., Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Guilan, Some`eh Sara, Iran‎
³Associate Prof., Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Guilan, Some`eh Sara, Iran‎
⁴Associate Prof., Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Tehran, Iran
Abstract
The occurrence of fire in natural ecosystems depends on the prevailing meteorological conditions, the availability of ignition material and the quantity and characteristics of fuel biomass. The rate at which fuels accumulate is a crucial determinant of fire regimes. Woody debris in the forest and herbaceous cover are also important determinants of the severity of the fire. Therefore particular fuel management is required for improved understanding and awareness on the amount of fuel, fuel diameter classes and required spatial and temporal fuel condition. Coniferous plantations located in Saravan and Lacan located in the vicinity of Rasht metropolitan area are amongst the most fire sensitive areas within Guilan province. To determine the amount of accumulated fuel and the degree of their proneness to fire risk, forest plantation area of Takhsam in Lakan was investigated. To this aim, we used the transect sampling and the FLM method. The results showed that the fuel load in loblolly pine plantation accounts for 3.89 tons per hectare and vary in different diameter classes. This amount of fuel is not presumable to impose high wildfire risks for severe fire events. However, if combined with the existing herbaceous cover, a higher proneness to severe wildfire can be expected.
Keywords
forest fire; TRANSECT; Loblolly pine; forest fuel load

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Evaluation of fuel load following fire in Loblolly Pine (Pinus taeda L.) plantations using line sampling and of FLM method (Case study: Takhsam plantations in Guilan Province)