Moorland Wild Fires in the Peak District National Park, Technical Report 3 (original) (raw)
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Climate change and the future occurrence of moorland wildfires in the Peak District of the UK
Clim Res, 2010
We investigated the impact of climate change on the number of wildfires in the Peak District uplands of northern England. Wildfires in peat can result in severe carbon loss and damage to water supplies, and fighting such fires is difficult and costly in such a remote location. The Peak District is expected to experience warmer, wetter winters and hotter, drier summers. Local weather simulations from a weather generator were used to predict the future incidence and timing of fires. Wildfire predictions were based on past fire occurrence and weather over 27.5 yr. A Probit model of wildfire incidence was applied to simulated weather data, which were generated by a Markov process and validated against actual baseline weather data using statistical criteria and success in replicating past fire patterns. The impact of climate change on the phenology and ecology of moorland and on visitor numbers was considered. Simulations suggest an overall increase in occurrence of summer wildfires. The likelihood of spring wildfires is not reduced by wetter winter conditions; however, the chance of wildfires rises as rainfall decreases. Temperature rise has a non-linear impact, with the risk of wildfire occurrence rising disproportionately with temperature. Recreation use is a major source of ignition. Little change in wildfire incidence is projected in the near future, but as climate change intensifies, the danger of summer wildfires is projected to increase from 2070; therefore, fire risk management will be necessary in future. In addition, moorlands may have to be managed to reduce the chance of summer wildfires becoming catastrophic, with consequent damage to ecosystem services such as water supplies and peat carbon storage. Management measures may include controlled burning, grazing or mowing to remove fuel.
The future of fire management in the British uplands
International Journal of Biodiversity Science, Ecosystems Services & Management, 2008
Prescribed and wild fires play a significant role in the ecology of upland areas; changes in the frequency and intensity of both can have significant effects on biodiversity and ecosystem function. Whilst the way we manage fire in the future will depend on desired outcomes, the risk of wildfires and the suitability of conditions for prescribed burning will depend on climate, land-use and environmental change. Changes in relative fire risk and hazard therefore need to be carefully considered when setting management policy. Fire has long been used as a management tool in the uplands of the UK but there has been little formal support or training, and emphasis has been placed on traditional knowledge. While there is pressure in some quarters for a reduction in the use of fire, prescribed burning can be used to protect biodiversity assets and reach a range of management objectives. Large areas of old heather excluded from rotational burning pose a significant fire hazard. Wildfires in such areas will be more intense and severe, and more likely to ignite peat, causing considerable environmental damage and releasing large quantities of carbon. We argue for an ecological basis for the use of fire and seek to open a debate by briefly reviewing the main controls on fire risk in upland areas and discussing existing management and its challenges with regards to three case studies: traditionally managed moorland, forestry and peatland soils. We make recommendations for future management and suggest significant challenges exist for managers and researchers that need to be dealt with urgently.
Forecasting the outbreak of moorland wildfires in the English Peak District
Journal of environmental …, 2009
Warmer, drier summers brought by climate change increase the potential risk of wildfires on the moorland of the Peak District of northern England. Fires are costly to fight, damage the ecosystem, harm water catchments, cause erosion scars and disrupt transport. Fires release carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Accurate forecasts of the timing of fires help deployment of fire fighting resources. A probit model is used to assess the chance of fires at different times of the year, days of the week and under various weather conditions. Current and past rainfall damp fire risk. The likelihood of fire increases with maximum temperature. Dry spells or recent fire activity also signal extra fire hazard. Certain days are fire prone due to visitors and some months of the year are more risky reflecting the changing flammability of moorland vegetation. The model back-predicts earlier fires during a hot dry summer. The impact of climate change on fire incidence is not straightforward. Risks may be reduced if wetter winters and earlier onset of spring add to plant moisture content. Yet a warm spring increases biomass and potential fuel load in summer. Climate change may cause the timing of moorland wildfires to shift from a damper and more verdant spring to drought-stressed summer.
Experimental fires for heather moorland management in north-western Italy
Forest Ecology and Management, 2006
In NW Italy moorlands are rare ecosystems whose structure and composition was managed by local farmers with rotational burning and grazing. Nowadays these rural practices have been abandoned. Consequently, moorlands are changing to woodlands, with the risk that the biodiversity inherent to this environment will be lost. The aim of this study, which is part of a multidisciplinary and long-term research project on moorland management systems, is to investigate the role of fire in limiting trees invasion. A series of experimental fires was lit in the Natural Reserve of Vauda, Piemonte Region, Italy, during winter 2005. This was carried out in order to study the effects of different fireline intensities on short-term trees responses. Vegetation was composed mainly by heather (Calluna vulgaris (L.) Hull ) and juvenile state of European aspen (Populus tremula L.) and birch (Betula pendula Roth), whose heights varied in a range from 0.2 to 4 m. Slope was constant and below 5% in all the plots. Ignitions were carried out along a line at the shortest side of each plot; both head fires and back fires were utilised. In this paper we describe the experimental design, pre-fire and post-fire vegetation sampling, rate of spread and fireline intensity estimation. Fireline intensity varied from 100 to 3900 kW/m. Moreover there was no significant effect of intensity on tree responses such as top-kill resprouts, mortality and resprouts density. The short-term effect of fire on controlling trees invasion is not yet clear.
Wildfire risk and climate change in the Peak District National Park
In Fires2 the Impact of Wildfire on Ecosystem Services Relationships Between Wildfire Climate Change and People 24 Jun 2008 24 Jun 2008 Manchester Http Www Fires Seminars Org Uk Downloads Seminar2 Fires2_Programmeabstracts Pdf Fires Seminar Series 2008, 2008
The impact of wildfire on ecosystem services: relationships between wildfire, climate change and people
A moorland site in Northumberland in the northeast of England was used for a series of experimental burns in heather-dominated vegetation (Calluna vulgaris) and one burn in a stand of gorse (Ulex europaeus) towards the end of March 2010. This article summarises the main aspects of the exercise, its context and objectives, methods used and some of its findings. These experimental burns were part of an ongoing programme of such tests to be carried out in the UK for studying rural vegetation fires or bushfires. Participants from eight academic groups were involved in this first exercise, in partnership with fire services, deploying a range of scientific instrumentation, sampling and burn strategies. Although the UK can experience long dry periods that create ideal conditions for severe rural vegetation fires (as in the spring and summer of 2003, for example), the weather during the experimental period was less 'ideal'. Conditions were dry enough for burning on only one and a half days over the planned five day period. The burns carried out were closer to marginal than severe conditions for flammability of the heather, although the small-scale gorse plot was found to be highly flammable in spite of rain a few hours earlier.
The extent and intensity of management burning in the English uplands
Journal of Applied Ecology, 2006
Worldwide , the controlled use of fire is an important ecological management tool and is essential for the continuance of many communities. It is used extensively in upland regions of England to maintain dwarf shrub habitats for game-bird rearing. Inappropriate burning, however, is now cited as the second most important reason for the poor condition of conservation sites in these areas. Despite this there are few data on the extent and frequency of its use to help judge its potential impact on biodiversity. 2. This study, using aerial photography of a 2% sample (208 km 2) of the English uplands, surveyed the national scale of fire management for the first time, and used historical photography to identify medium-term trends in its use. 3. Management burning in the English uplands is now widespread on ericaceousdominated moorland; in the year 2000 17% of the area of this habitat had been burned within the previous 4 years, equivalent to 114 km 2 year − 1. The present median burn repeat time of consistently managed sites is approximately 20 years. 4. Within most of the English national parks there has been a significant increase in the extent of new burns (from 15•1% to 29•7%) over this period, indicating an intensification of burning regimes in some areas. 5. Synthesis and applications. The extent and frequency of burning, and the habitats in which this management occurs, are contentious issues. Reconciling the differing objectives of conservation, game rearing and agricultural stakeholders to allow the development of both strategic and local management planning to address these issues requires information on the extent and history of burning practices. This study provides a much needed first national estimate of burning practices in England and serves as a baseline against which changes in management regimes and their impacts on habitats can be judged.