Aftermath Of Fire Research Articles

Rapid colonization of the post‐burn environment improves egg survival in pyrophilic ground beetles

AbstractMany insects are drawn to the heat, ash, and smoke produced by forest fires and arrive in large numbers at recent burns, often while the fire is still active. Some of these insects are pyrophilic and reproduce exclusively in the immediate aftermath of fire but are rarely, if ever, collected from unburnt habitats. Numerous observations made at active fires note an apparent preference among some pyrophilic insects to oviposit exclusively in the burnt portions of trees, raising broader questions about the adaptive benefits of reproduction in the post‐burn environment. Here, we tested whether the reproductive output of pyrophilic ground beetles (i.e., Sericoda spp.) increased in heat‐sterilized soils. In the first experiment, the eggs of Sericoda quadripunctata were reared in three types of soil collected from burnt forests: recently burnt soil (collected 1–2 weeks after the fire), soil collected 1 year after burn, and soil from an unburnt patch of forest adjacent to the fire. Daily monitoring through a dissecting microscope documented extensive predation of eggs by soil microarthropods (mites, springtails, and nematodes), especially in 1‐year‐old and unburnt soil treatments. This led to a second experiment that included the same three treatments and an additional fourth soil treatment: recently, burnt soil reheated to 100°C for 2 h (i.e., reheated soil). In this experiment, male and female pairs (n = 100) of Sericoda obsoleta were reared for 14 days in jars containing 90 g of soil corresponding to each of the four soil treatments. Reproductive output, measured as the number of larvae produced by each breeding pair, was significantly higher in the reheated soil, suggesting that heat sterilization and removal of soil‐dwelling predators improved egg survival. Our findings suggest that pyrophily in insects may have evolved as a means of increasing reproductive output in the post‐burn environment through access to heat‐sterilized ovipositing substrates. Furthermore, the abrupt disappearance of Sericoda and other pyrophilic insects following fire may be explained by suboptimal reproductive conditions as the burn is colonized by other organisms and by local emigration in favor of other recent burns on the landscape.

Guide for community leaders to meet the challenges of personal preparation in the event of a disaster.

In the aftermath of fires which swept through a regional community in 2013, community leaders were thrust, unprepared, into the disaster recovery arena. The objective of this research was to investigate the subsequent lived experience of these community leaders and, based on this information, develop a guide to meet the challenges for their personal preparation in the context of disaster. Ethical approval for the overarching Community Connections project was provided by Charles Sturt University (H2014073). The project design was informed by an interpretivist paradigm and the methodology embraced participatory action research and thus engaged community members and leaders as research partners. This paper reports on the community leader component of the overarching project. Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia. There were 7 interview participants in both 2014 and 2018; 5 participated in both years. Participants were either managers of a local non-government organisation, peak body, school, emergency service or large relief organisation with a local presence. The development of a guide for the personal preparation of community leaders. The stress of community leaders escalated after the disaster, resulting in a debilitating blurring of professional and personal boundaries, heightened demand on personal knowledge, networking relationships and communication strategies. The guide is practical and far reaching; the researchers could not locate anything similar to guide community leaders in their personal planning and preparation for work in disaster recovery.

Practical Challenges in Mitigating the Aftermath of Fire in Historic Buildings

ABSTRACT Fire is an unfortunate constant in the historic built environment which can cause rapid and potentially widespread damage to a building. Where buildings are of heritage importance there is normally a desire to reconstruct following a serious fire. In order to facilitate the possibility of this, what happens in the immediate post-fire period, as well as in the months that follow, can be critical. This article examines the challenges that are presented post-fire, when it may be necessary to respond to an urgent requirement to stabilise the building and protect it from further damage, before considering mitigation of subsequent issues including contamination and salvage. It goes on to consider a number of allied concerns that may also be of relevance soon after a fire, and are important in moving towards reconstruction. It is concluded that given the likely complex nature of the post-fire state it is important to plan for the possibility of such an eventuality and the necessity of providing an adequate organisational response regarding stabilisation, protection and mitigation. Additionally, the importance of having an adequate level of insurance cover is highlighted, since many of the processes discussed are costly, even before the main costs of reconstructing are incurred.

Burn Severity Effects on Sediment and Nutrient Exports from Southeastern Forests Using Simulated Rainfall

Abstract Burn severity, commonly assessed as the amount of fuel consumed during fire, is an indicator of postfire sediment yield and erosion. This study examined the effect of burn severity on sediment and nutrient response in three different fire-adapted forest types of the Southeast. Soil and litter samples were experimentally burned to achieve increasing levels of fuel consumption. Simulated rainfall was applied to burned litter samples collected from pine, hardwood, and mixed hardwood-pine forests in the Clemson Experimental Forest. Runoff and leachate samples were collected and analyzed for sediment yield (kilograms per hectare) and total suspended solids (grams per liter); both runoff and leachate samples were analyzed for ammonium (NH4–), nitrate (NO3–), and orthophosphate (PO43–). Sediment yield and total suspended solids increased at only the highest burn severity treatment in all three forest types, with pine litter samples yielding significantly greater sediment in surface runoff than both mixed and hardwood samples. Burn treatment did not readily affect soluble nutrient concentrations in either runoff or leachate, but the data suggest that high-severity burning increases the availability of PO43– bound to sediment. This study suggests that high-severity burn patches function as sediment sources, but overall sediment and nutrient response to burning was minimal. Study Implications This study suggests that low-to-moderate burn severity, in terms of litter removal, is not an important indicator of sediment and nutrient exports from southeastern forests; precipitation in the immediate aftermath of fire (<48 hours) is not an effective transport mechanism for biologically available macronutrients; and that even at the highest burn severity treatment, sediment yield was relatively low.

Women under Fire: Public Housing Activism in Los Angeles

Blackened and twisted metal remains; only the remnants of charred signs reveal that the fire destroyed a check-cashing store, a laundromat, a market. Stripped gas pumps and boarded-up convenience stores are surrounded by chain-link fences. Many lots are entirely cleared of debris; other stores are open for business but with few goods inside. For women who live in South Central Los Angeles, this landscape translates into longer trips and more time spent to get money, find food, clean their clothes, and take care of their households. For them, life shifted and became harder in the aftermath of fires following the April 29, 1992, verdict in which jurors in the Simi Valley courthouse acquitted four Los Angeles policemen in the beating of Rodney King. The Bush administration responded lukewarmly to the underlying conditions of poverty and racism that contributed to the burning and looting. They recycled policies. Public housing became one focus as Bush reluctantly supported Jack Kemp. Kemp, the secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), has been pushing a policy to convert renters to home owners and get government out of public housing. Any attention to public housing is a de facto recognition of a largely woman's world. In South Central Los Angeles, where five public housing developments are in relatively close proximity to each other, just such a concentrated women's world exists. Public housing is primarily inhabited by women of color and their children. Among the residents are leaders for whom positive attention is long overdue. These women have been fighting for years

Fire, succession and reserve management in a New Zealand snow tussock grassland

The aftermath of fire was examined in a New Zealand grassland reserve, dominated by the tall tussock Chionochloa rigida. Deliberate fire has not previously been used in reserve management in New Zealand. Following an accidental fire in part of the reserve in autumn 1976, part of the remainder was deliberately burnt in the following spring for an experimental comparison. Vegetation changes were monitored until 1988. After both fires, the exotic grass Agrostis capillaris was abundant. Shoot frequency of Chionochloa rigida was low after fire due to the loss of the canopy, but generally increased. Twelve years after the fire, the vegetation was still different between areas of different burning history. In the unburnt area, the shrub Leptospermum scoparium was replacing Chionochloa. Species frequencies were used to classify the vegetation by Cluster Analysis. A transition matrix was calculated for the communities so derived, and a Markovian model used to predict future vegetation changes. Medium-term replacement of exotic grassland by native tussock grassland was predicted, with replacement by native Leptospermum scrub after several decades. Native forest species, some now present in small amounts, could eventually replace the Leptospermum. It is recommended that Chionochloa grassland at this altitude should be burnt every 15–40 years to maintain the community. Chionochloa rigida is expected to tolerate this regime. Burning would prevent loss of the tussock grassland by scrub invasion and consequential scrub fires. Such fires would probably result in the replacement of most native vegetation by aggressive exotic shrubs, or, if they were controlled, by exotic grassland.