Honors College Thesis
 

Examining the effect of annual grass invasion on fire spread and severity: fuel modeling for Ventenata dubia

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https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/honors_college_theses/sq87c1977

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  • This study examines the relationship between an invasive annual grass, Ventenata dubia, and fire behavior in three non-forested ecotypes within the Ochoco National Forest: stiff sage, low sage, and wet meadows. Fire is an essential ecological function of ecotypes found within the Ochoco landscape. The stiff sage ecotype is a natural fire break used by wildland firefighters. Biomass data was gathered in field and fuel models were customized from Scott and Burgan fuel models in BehavePlus. Fire behavior output from BehavePlus predicted changes to rate of spread (ROS) and flame length (FL) at four invasion levels. Stiff sage and low sage models predict low invasion (623kg/ha and 862kg/ha ventenata biomass) will cause significant shifts in ROS and FL. In wet meadow sites only high invasion (1471kg/ha) level is predicted to increase ROS and FL. Comparing a range of Scott and Burgan models to customized models, invaded stiff and low sage ecotypes are captured by existing Scott and Burgan models, but fire managers would need developed criteria to select the most appropriate model for their ventenata-invaded system. My findings show that increased surface fuel associated with Ventenata dubia invasion increases examined fire behavior through increased fuel connectivity. Fires in invaded non-forested ecotypes will burn in larger patches leading to social and ecosystem implications including uncharacteristic fire behavior risky to fire fighters and changes in biodiversity.
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