Abstract
Assessment of ecological and structrual changes induced by fire events is important for understanding the effects of fire, and planning future ecological and risk mitigation strategies. This study employs Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) data captured at multiple points in time to monitor the changes in a dry sclerophyll forest induced by a prescribed burn. Point cloud data was collected for two plots; one plot undergoing a fire treatment, and the second plot remaining untreated, thereby acting as the control. Data was collected at three epochs (pre-fire, two weeks post fire and two years post fire). Coregistration of these multitemporal point clouds to within an acceptable tolerance was achieved through a two step process utilising permanent infield markers and manually extracted stem objects as reference targets. Metrics describing fuel height and fuel fragmentation were extracted from the point clouds for direct comparison with industry standard visual assessments. Measurements describing the change (or lack thereof) in the control plot indicate that the method of data capture and coregistration were achieved with the required accuracy to monitor fire induced change. Results from the fire affected plot show that immediately post fire 67% of area had been burnt with the average fuel height decreasing from 0.33 to 0.13 m. At two years post-fire the fuel remained signicantly lower (0.11 m) and more fragmented in comparison to pre-fire levels. Results in both the control and fire altered plot were comparable to synchronus onground visual assessment. The advantage of TLS over the visual assessment method is, however, demonstrated through the use of two physical and spatially quantifiable metrics to describe fuel change. These results highlight the capabilities of multitemporal TLS data for measuring and mapping changes in the three dimensional structure of vegetation. Metrics from point clouds can be derived to provide quantified estimates of surface and near-surface fuel loss and accumulation, and inform prescribed burn efficacy and burn severity reporting.
Highlights
Prescribed burning is commonly practiced across many fire prone landscapes in order to mitigate the negative impacts of wildfire by reducing fuel hazard, and to promote positive ecological effects [1].Many countries have policy and legislative requirements for achieving minimum prescribed burning targets
The objective of this study was, to apply similar methods to assess change induced by fire within Australian dry sclerophyll forests
The results presented in this study demonstrate a similar level of representativeness of fuel height to that demonstrated in References [14,16], and, our method represents significant improvement on the visual assessment approach to estimating fuel height
Summary
Prescribed burning is commonly practiced across many fire prone landscapes in order to mitigate the negative impacts of wildfire by reducing fuel hazard, and to promote positive ecological effects [1]. Many countries have policy and legislative requirements for achieving minimum prescribed burning targets (for example [2]). There remains an ongoing debate about the efficacy of such practices (for example [3]) largely driven by uncertainties by the lack of high-level quantitative. 2016, 8, 679 data recorded for fuel and ecological changes, and the immediate effectiveness and longitudinal consequences of prescribed burning [4]. Whilst prescribed burning plays a role in reducing the likelihood of severe wildfire and the associated risk to biological and economic values, prescribed burning for fuel reduction purposes can negatively impact biodiversity values [6]. Repeatable, accurate and quantified post-fire vegetation monitoring can be considered a crucial factor informing current and future land management understandings and activities
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