Fire Research One of the primary research questions is the impact of fire on carbon dynamics. Fire is common in Eastern Africa and, although the trees are adapted to survive, forest development is altered and the carbon sequestration rate is often diminished in these high-fire regimes. There is also likely to be poor recovery of soil nitrogen and carbon which affects cultivation. Typically significant regrowth of a severely and regularly burned area will occur at around 30 years, when soil and vegetation will have recovered.

Forest fire in full swing

Fire control

It is important to prevent fire if the timber is going to be used, as it causes basal scars and lesions. It also reduces the carbon that is sequestered, and fire is also a significant source of CO₂ (carbon dioxide) emissions in miombo woodland, which further reduces the carbon benefit from the project. Fire control has the additional advantage of reducing other greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere such as N₂O (nitrous oxide) and CH₄ (methane) which are produced during combustion and have a carbon dioxide equivalency for global warming potential of 310 and 21 respectively.

Fire encroaching on the road

Fire Management activities

Fire has been controlled through better land management, community awareness of the damage from fires and the establishment of fire fighting teams. Firebreaks are also created and maintained by community work teams. To date more than 140km have been created in the project area. This has played an important role in conserving species, as fire has a negative impact on biodiversity. Grazing in forested areas can also reduce fire risk as grass loads are reduced, and this will be considered in the future.

Fire sweeping through the forest

Current key research areas

• Surveys of fire incidence
• Fire spread patterns
• Damage, intensity and temperature
• Fuel load measurements
• Re-growth after fires

Research tools

Experimental burning is planned for the summer months to gather data on fire spread and intensity under differing conditions. The heat of the fire is measured by placing calorimeters in key areas in the burn demonstrations areas, and dataloggers are used to record aspects of the fire as it is in burn.

Fuel load information is gathered, in different burn regime areas. Fuel load is composed of dead and live fuels; grasses, wood and litter. Surface area and volume of fuel was measured to give an indication of the burn it will produce. Heat content of the fuel samples was also measured in the laboratory using calorimetry. BehavePlus gave estimations of fire intensity, rate of spread and flame length for both head and back fires.

Forest fire

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