Predicting Factors Affecting Fire Behaviour in Heathland Vegetation

PhD Thesis - Brendan Pippen Supervisors: Jim Gould (CSIRO), Bushfire CRC Program A1.1 Fire Behaviour Modelling Wendy Anderson (UNSW@ADFA) Fires in Heathlands has some of the most fire prone vegetation in the world. Generally regarded as the Sandstone most volatile fuels are heathlands (shrublands) and sparse dry-sclerophyll eucalypt woodland Basin with a heath understorey. In these fuel types up to 80% of fuel burnt can be live fuels. The Sydney Sandstone Basin has vast areas of these vegetation types close to its 6,500km of urban interface. Fires in heathland and heathy woodland surrounding Sydney have caused millions of Study Site dollars of damage and claimed the lives of a number of people. Following the death of 4 National Little Forest Parks and Wildlife Service staff in Kuring-Gai-Chase National Park (Jun 2000) a key recommendation Plateau of the State Coroner was that there be a burn guide formulated for the Sydney Basin. Moreton A prescribed burning guide is formulated by measuring fires in a given vegetation type and modelling National Park the relationship between the Rate of Spread (ROS) and Dead Fine Fuel Moisture (FFM), Live Fine Fuel Moisture (LFM), fuel characteristics, topography and wind speed at the fire. Project Overview Fire behaviour in heath & heathy woodland is governed by a number of factors including: • Dead fine fuel moisture (<6mm diameter) • Live fine fuel moisture (<3mm diameter) • Sedge live:dead ratio In this project field and laboratory data will be collected and used to investigate, develop and test methods for predicting these factors for Sydney Sandstone Basin heathy fuels. 3 year PhD initiated January 2004. Poster details progress at May 2005 (15 months). Live Fuel Moisture sampling site – Little Forest Plateau Dead Fine Fuel Moisture (FFM) Sedge Live:Dead Ratio

Lab: Controlled Field: Compare FFM in heath Field: Measure the live:dead ratio of sedge Environment Chamber: with adjacent heathy woodland: (grass like vegetation) seasonally : • Samples exposed to a • Drying after rain & diurnal FFM • Last week in each season range of RH’s for • 3 Transects, each 10 x 0.05m2 quadrants •Flat site adsorption and • Sort samples into live and dead, herbs & • 5 x 3 day sets, hourly sampling desorption at a standard sedge then oven-dry and weigh • 2 autumn & 1 spring completed: temperature % Live Sedge % Dead Sedge 100%

• Periodically weigh 90% 80% samples to determine 52% 70% 62% 57% 55% drying curves 60%

50%

40%

30% 48% Woodland: 20% 38% 43% 43% 10% • Surface litter 0% 2004 Winter 2004 Spring 2005 Summer 2005 Autumn • Elevated litter 90 80 70 •Duff 60 50 40 • Sedge 30 20 10 Heathland: 0 23- 20- 17- 15- 12- 10- 07- 04- 04- 01- 29- 27- 24- • Sedge Jul- Aug- Sep- Oct- Nov- Dec- Jan- Feb- Mar- Apr- Apr- May- Jun- •Duff 04 04 04 04 04 04 05 05 05 05 05 05 05 LFP KBDI LFP SDI Live Fine Fuel Moisture (LFFM)

Banksia ericifolia teretifolia Leptospermum poligalifolium Allocasuarina littoralis Sedge spp. Field: Measure 300 300 300 300 300 Rain - (mm) Rain - (mm) Rain - (mm) Rain - (mm) Rain - (mm) ericifolia - Combined Hakea teretifolia - Combined New shoots Leptospermum polygalifolium - Combined Allocasuarina littoralis - Combined Sedge spp. - Combined LFFM of 4 common - Juvenile Hakea teretifolia - Juvenile 250 250 250 Soil - (0-5cm) 250 Soil - (0-5cm) 250 Soil - (0-5cm) Banksia ericifolia - Mature Hakea teretifolia - Mature Soil - (5-20cm) Soil - (5-20cm) Soil - (5-20cm) shrubs, one sedge Soil - (0-5cm) New shoots Soil - (0-5cm) Soil - (5-20cm) 200 Soil - (5-20cm) 200 200 species and soil 200 200 New shoots New shoots moisture fortnightly 150 150 150 150 150

100 100 100 100 100

• Over two years LFM (% & Soil of ODW) / Daily (mmRainfall

• Test against KBDI, 50 50 50 50 50

SDI & DF(Forest) 0 0 0 0 0 4 4 5 5 5 4 5 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 -04 0 -04 04 0 0 0 0 -04 0 0 05 0 0 0 0 0 0 -0 -0 -0 -04 -0 -0 0 0 -0 t-0 -0 l - t-04 v- - r- r-0 - -05 - - - r- r- r-0 l t v c-0 n r b u b p p n b-05 ug-04 p a p u e p -J e e e e Ap -J Oc -Oc -Nov-0 -Fe -Mar- -Apr-0 -Ma -A -Mar-05 -Apr A -S -Nov-04 -A - 3 - -D -Ja -Feb- -A 23-Jul 5 2 4 4 9 23 7-Sep 5-Oc 4-F 9 23-Jul-0 7-S 5-Oct- 4-F 9 23-Jul- 5-Oct- 0-Dec 7-Jan-05 2 0-Aug 7-Sep 5 0 7 9 20-Aug-0417-Sep-04 1 1 10-Dec-04 07-Jan-050 0 01-Apr-05 2 20-Aug-041 1 12-No 10-Dec-04 07-Jan-050 04 01-Apr- 2 20-Aug 1 1 12-Nov-0410-Dec-0 07-Ja 0 04 01-Apr-05 2 20- 17 1 12 1 0 04-Feb-0504-M 01 29 2 1 1 12-No 1 0 04 04-Mar-05 01-Apr- 2 Date Date Date Date Date

PhD scholarship, travel and equipment for this project is funded by the Bushfire CRC - Program A1.1 Fire Behaviour Modelling. The project would not be possible without the following collaborators:

CSIRO Forestry and Forest Products - Bushfire / Natural Hazards - National Parks and Wildlife Service The University of Bushfire Behaviour and Management Unit New South Wales Fire Brigade of New South Wales © Bushfire CRC Limited 2005