Leaf litter flammability in some semi-arid Australian woodlands

F. R. Scarff*, M. Westoby

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    147 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    1. Wildfires strongly influence the biotic composition and carbon cycle of many ecosystems. Plant species provide the fuel for wildfires, but vary widely in their flammability. This study aimed to determine what plant characteristics control leaf litter flammability and to clarify how they are related to other functional traits.

    2. Litter flammability varied across 14 tree species occurring in a mosaic of five floristic associations.

    3. Differences in heat-release rate between species were driven by leaf size, from small-leaved conifers, casuarinas and acacias to large-leaved eucalypts and Brachychiton.

    4. Large leaves created an open litter-bed structure that burned more rapidly because it was better ventilated. The results on heat-release rate were partitioned according to fundamental principles for the transport of oxygen through a packed fuel bed, showing that heat-release rate scaled linearly with estimated gas-flow rates, as expected in ventilation-controlled fires.

    5. Species that were able to resprout after fire had litter that burned more intensely and was more likely to sustain a spreading fire than litter from obligate seeders, and were correspondingly larger-leaved.

    6. Many fire-prone wooded ecosystems in the region consist of large-leaved resprouting tree species co-occurring with small-leaved obligate seeders.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)745-752
    Number of pages8
    JournalFunctional Ecology
    Volume20
    Issue number5
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Oct 2006

    Bibliographical note

    An erratum for this article exists in Functional Ecology, vol. 21, issue 2, p. 386. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2435.2007.1258_2.x

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Leaf litter flammability in some semi-arid Australian woodlands'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this