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Project ID: 10-1-08-6

Year: 2010

Date Started: 05/01/2010

Ending Date:  10/31/2013

Title: Linking Photosynthesis and Combustion Characteristics in Live Fuels: The Role of Soluble Carbohydrates in Fuel Preheating

Project Proposal Abstract: Operational fire behavior models make several assumptions about the combustion characteristics of fuels that may apply to well to dead fuels but might be inappropriate for live fuels. Two of these assumptions are that pure water must be evaporated from the fuels and that all of the water contained in a fuel must be removed before combustion can occur. Plants that are photosynthetically active accumulate carbohydrates in the foliage and this can raise the temperature required to boil and thus evaporate water from the foliage. Furthermore, evidence exists to suggest that significant water remains in the foliage at the time of ignition. These two factors could have profound impacts on the pre-heating and ignition requirements of live fuels that would not be found in comparable dead fuels. Here we propose to simultaneously address these fundamental ignition characteristics of live fuels. This work would benefit a variety of modeling efforts aimed at quantify the factors controlling fire spread through a mixture of live and dead wildland fuels. If the impact of soluble compounds and moisture loss at can be quantified, new fire models can incorporate this information to correctly modify the heat sink terms for live fuels. Furthermore, if a link between photosynthetic activity and ignition behavior can be established, it would open the door to link two as of yet unconnected fields: plant ecophysiology and plant combustion.

Principal Investigator: William ’Matt’ M. Jolly

Agency/Organization: Forest Service

Branch or Dept: RMRS-Fire Sciences Lab-Missoula

Other Project Collaborators

Type	Name	Agency/Organization	Branch or Dept
Co-Principal Investigator	Bret W. Butler	Forest Service	RMRS-Fire Sciences Lab-Missoula
Federal Cooperator	William ’Matt’ M. Jolly	Forest Service	RMRS-Fire Sciences Lab-Missoula
Federal Fiscal Representative	Susan T. Major	Forest Service	RMRS-Rocky Mountain Research Station

Project Locations

Consortium

Northern Rockies

Level	State	Agency	Unit
REGIONAL	Interior West	FS

Project Deliverables

There is no final report available for this project.

	ID	Type	Title
	10279	Refereed Publication	A Comparison of Two Methods for Estimating Conifer Live Foliar Moisture Content
	10280	Refereed Publication	Relationships Between Moisture, Chemistry, and Ignition of Pinus contorta Needles During the Early Stages of Mountain Pine Beetle Attack
	10283	Poster	Monitoring Seasonal Variation of Foliar Heat Content in Big Sagebrush

Supporting Documents

There are no supporting documents available for this project.

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