Physical properties of dead and downed round-wood fuels in the boreal forests of Alberta and Northwest Territories
Nalder IA, Wein RW, Alexander ME, De Groot WJ, Groot - W.J. De Groot. 1997. Physical properties of dead and downed round-wood fuels in the boreal forests of Alberta and Northwest Territories. Canadian Journal of Forest Research. 27:1513-1517
Dead and downed woody fuels in forests are commonly estimated using the line transect method, which requires appropriate values for specific gravity, piece tilt angle, and piece diameter. We present data for these variables for six commercially important tree species based on extensive surveys of slash and naturally fallen dead wood in four regions of the western Canadian boreal forest. The considerable variation by diameter size class, species, cover type, and, to a lesser degree, region suggests that specific values will improve fuel load estimates. We combine the three variables into a single factor so that fuel load (megagrams per hectare) can be simply calculated by multiplying this factor by the number of intersects per meter of sample transect.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Nalder, I; Wein, R; Alexander, M; De Groot, W; Groot - W.J. De Groot
- Units
- APIS , GRPO , ISRO , PIRO , VOYA
- Keywords
- downed fuel constants, FIRE, Forestry, Management, mean square diameter (MSD), Physical Sciences, Plant Communities, specific gravity, tilt angle