The 5 year project, due to be completed at the end of 2008 is
being conducted by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service in
cooperation with the Bushfire CRC and the Australian Defence Force
Academy. The study considers flammability at 4 levels:
- Particle flammability - the factors that control the
ignitability, combustibility and sustainability of flame in leaves
from different species, and how this is affected by soil moisture
and weather conditions.
- Plant flammability - the conditions under which flame
will propagate through a plant of a given species, and the flame
produced by the burning plant.
- Forest flammability – a 3-dimensional model that
works by defining the physical means by which fire can spread from
one plant to another and produce horizontal fuel connectivity or
complete a vertical fuel ladder.
- Landscape flammability – a risk management
classification to quantify how many days of the year the bush will
burn, how often this fire will be intense enough to pose a threat
to assets, soils or biota, and how this value will change in the
years following a fuel treatment.
Study methods include experimental fires and laboratory work,
knowledge gathering from local graziers and the Bemeringal
people.
Project Link: B 1.2 Fire Regimes and Sustainable
Landscape Risk Management
