TY - JOUR
T1 - Thermo-and physicochemical properties of native and exotic forest species of Valparaíso, Chile, as essential information for fire risk management
AU - Guerrero, Fabián
AU - Toledo, Mario
AU - Ripoll, Nicolás
AU - Espinoza, Lorena
AU - Morales, Rodrigo
AU - MUÑOZ NAVARRO, ARIEL ANDRES
AU - Taborga, Lautaro
AU - Carrasco, Yulian
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors wish to acknowledge the support of the Peñuelas Lake National Reserve Administration and the National Forest Corporation (CONAF), as well as the Center for Climate and Resilience Research (FONDAP project no. 15110009), FONDECYT project no. 11161061 and FONDECYT project no. 11190803.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 IAWF.
PY - 2020/8
Y1 - 2020/8
N2 - Wildfires in the Valparaíso region (Chile) account for one of the main threats to local biodiversity, ecosystem services and infrastructure. This study focused on producing an initial record of thermo-and physicochemical properties of local forest species. For this purpose, leaf samples of species found in the Peñuelas Lake National Reserve, namely Pinus radiata, Eucalyptus globulus, Acacia dealbata, Quillaja saponaria and Cryptocarya alba, were collected and analysed. Higher and lower heating value, flash point, density and moisture content tests were performed for each sample. Overall results showed that lower heating values measured for both native and exotic species could indicate a high energy release source in wildfires. However, differences in the flash point between species indicated that C. alba and E. globulus had a lower ignition resistance than other species tested, possibly due to a lower flash point. In contrast, Q. saponaria and A. dealbata had the highest flash point for native and exotic species respectively. Finally, all presented data and procedures were aimed at establishing a foundation for a national database of critical forest species properties to be used in wildfire simulation tools. This database will enhance forest fire management effectiveness in Chile.
AB - Wildfires in the Valparaíso region (Chile) account for one of the main threats to local biodiversity, ecosystem services and infrastructure. This study focused on producing an initial record of thermo-and physicochemical properties of local forest species. For this purpose, leaf samples of species found in the Peñuelas Lake National Reserve, namely Pinus radiata, Eucalyptus globulus, Acacia dealbata, Quillaja saponaria and Cryptocarya alba, were collected and analysed. Higher and lower heating value, flash point, density and moisture content tests were performed for each sample. Overall results showed that lower heating values measured for both native and exotic species could indicate a high energy release source in wildfires. However, differences in the flash point between species indicated that C. alba and E. globulus had a lower ignition resistance than other species tested, possibly due to a lower flash point. In contrast, Q. saponaria and A. dealbata had the highest flash point for native and exotic species respectively. Finally, all presented data and procedures were aimed at establishing a foundation for a national database of critical forest species properties to be used in wildfire simulation tools. This database will enhance forest fire management effectiveness in Chile.
KW - calorific value
KW - Cryptocarya alba
KW - flash point
KW - forest fires
KW - forest fuel
KW - moisture content
KW - Quillaja saponaria
KW - wildfires
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85084158975&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1071/WF19086
DO - 10.1071/WF19086
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85084158975
VL - 29
SP - 675
EP - 685
JO - International Journal of Wildland Fire
JF - International Journal of Wildland Fire
SN - 1049-8001
IS - 8
ER -