Characterization and modeling of surface fuel in Pinus elliottii plantations

Abstract

This research was improved in a Pinus elliottii plantation established at “Rio Negro Experimental Farm”, located in “Rio Negro” County, Paraná State, Brazil. The main aims of the study were to characterize the forest fuel accumulated in 4 areas with the same class age (31 years old), and to develop models based on easily getting variables for prediction of fuel loading. A total of 63 plots, proportionally distributed throughout the areas, were delimited in order to collect the necessary information. In each plot, the basal area, the litter thickness, the fuel bulk density, and the dead fuel weights by size class were measured. Results revealed that the average total fuel loading was 35.34 Mg ha-1. Miscellaneous (47.75%), and pine needles and twigs (27.47%) were the fuel classes with higher contribution to the total fuel loading. The best model to estimate total fuel loading in the studied pine plantations was: w = 1/(-0.0168904 +(0.455067/esp)) (R2 = 0.681214, and Syx(%) = 0.031) using the litter thickness (esp) as the independent variable.