Volatile Oil in Pinus yunnanensis Potentially Contributes to Extreme Fire Behavior

Abstract

Volatile oils in forest fuel can significantly affect forest fire behavior, especially extreme fire behavior, e.g., deflagration, fire storms, blowups, eruptive fires and crown fires. However, how these oils influence fire behavior remains unclear, as few qualitative studies have been performed globally. In the present study, we compared the volatile oil contents and components in live branches and surface dead fuel of Pinus yunnanensis Franch, which is widely distributed in Southwest China, to explore their potential effects on extreme fire behavior. Fifteen samples of live branches and fifteen samples of surface dead fuel were collected. Volatile oils were extracted from the samples using steam distillation, and their components were identified and analyzed using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The results show that the volatile oil content in live branches was as high as 8.28 mL·kg−1 (dry weight) and was significantly higher than that in surface dead fuel (3.55 mL·kg−1). The volatile oil content in the P. yunnanensis forest was 126.12 kg per hectare. The main volatile oil components were terpenoids, of which monoterpenes accounted for the highest proportion based on their content (62.63%), followed by sesquiterpenes (22.44%). The terpenoid compounds in live branches were more abundant than those in surface dead fuel. Monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes in volatile oils in forest fuel have low boiling points, high calorific values and a lower explosion limit (LEL; 38.4 g·m−3), which are important characteristics in the manifestation of extreme fire behavior such as deflagration. The analysis results indicate that when heated, the oily gases from P. yunnanensis forest could fill 3284.26 m3 per hectare, with a gas concentration reaching the LEL. We conclude that volatile oil in P. yunnanensis has an important influence on the manifestation of extreme fire behavior, and live branches have a greater effect than surface dead fuel.