TY - JOUR
T1 - The influence of tissue phosphate on plant flammability
T2 - A kinetic study
AU - Scarff, Fiona R.
AU - Westoby, Mark
PY - 2008/10
Y1 - 2008/10
N2 - The concentration of phosphate (P) in leaves is an important indicator of the ecological strategy of a plant species. P is also a fire retardant, which if effective at the low concentrations typical of plant tissue may influence wildfire behaviour, but the size of such effects is unknown. We studied two mechanisms of P fire retardance, gas-phase and solid-phase, using samples of pure cellulose with controlled quantities of added P. The gas-phase mechanism was not detectable at P concentrations found in plants. However, significant solid-phase effects led to increased charring and reduced supply of flammable tars to the flame. Activation energies were not significantly altered, but pre-exponential constants for charring and tar production were significantly increased and decreased, respectively. These data provide a basis for mechanistically modelling the influence of ecological variation in P on the behaviour of wildfires around individual plants and across vegetation boundaries.
AB - The concentration of phosphate (P) in leaves is an important indicator of the ecological strategy of a plant species. P is also a fire retardant, which if effective at the low concentrations typical of plant tissue may influence wildfire behaviour, but the size of such effects is unknown. We studied two mechanisms of P fire retardance, gas-phase and solid-phase, using samples of pure cellulose with controlled quantities of added P. The gas-phase mechanism was not detectable at P concentrations found in plants. However, significant solid-phase effects led to increased charring and reduced supply of flammable tars to the flame. Activation energies were not significantly altered, but pre-exponential constants for charring and tar production were significantly increased and decreased, respectively. These data provide a basis for mechanistically modelling the influence of ecological variation in P on the behaviour of wildfires around individual plants and across vegetation boundaries.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=52049111194&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2008.06.014
DO - 10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2008.06.014
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:52049111194
SN - 0141-3910
VL - 93
SP - 1930
EP - 1934
JO - Polymer Degradation and Stability
JF - Polymer Degradation and Stability
IS - 10
ER -