The Effect of Forest Road Distance on Forest Fire Severity (Case Study: Fires in the Neka County Forestry)

Authors
1 Associate Professor of Forestry and Forest Economics, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
2 Isfahan Research Center for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Isfahan, Iran
3 Forest, Range and Watershed Administration, Sari District, Sari, Iran
4 Associate Professor at Isfahan Research Center for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Isfahan, Iran
5 M.Sc. Student of Forest Engineering, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
The effect of forest roads on the extent and type of fire damage occurred in forests and rangelands of the Neka County in Mazandaran province was investigated. For this purpose, all fire spots, stand number, percentage and type of injury and damage to tree species, and average diameter at breast height (DBH) were noted with 100% inventory; area and geographic location of access roads were determined using GPS. The results showed that distance from the main access road had a significant correlation with the area of ​​fire spots, but no significant correlation existed between the distance from the strip roads, skid ways, town of Neka and the area of ​​fire spots. The factors influencing fire severity were analyzed using the stepwise regression model. Model also showed that just the distance from the main access road affected the area of ​​fire spots. For every one meter increase in the distance from the main access roads, the area of fire spot was increased by 1.545 m2. Further, the extent of fire can be controlled by reducing the distance from the main access roads.
Keywords

Amoozad, M., Nobakht, A., Mohammad Nejad A., Alaei, N. and Safaei, S. Investigate the causes of forest fires in 2010 (forest of Neka city) Int. Conf. Fire in the Areas of Nat. Res., Gorgan, Iran, Oct 26-27: 2011; 12 P. (in Persian).
Ariapour, A. and Mohamed Shariff, A.R. Rangeland fire risk zonation using remote sensing and geographical information system technologies in Boroujerd rangelands, Lorestan Province, Iran. ECOPERSIA. 2014; 2(4): 805- 818.
Banj Shafiei, A., Akbari Nia, M., Jalali, S.G., Azizi, P. and Hosseini, S.M. The effect of fire on forest structure, case study, Chiller Kheyrood Series (Golband Noshahr area 45). Res. Dev. Nat. Res., 2007; 76: 112-105.
Chou, Y. Management of wildfires with a Geographical Information System. Int. J. Geogr. Inf. Syst., 1992; 6: 123-140.
Curt, T., Delcros, P. Managing road corridors to limit fire hazard. A simulation approach in southern France. Ecol. Eng., 2010; 36: 457- 465.
Department of Natural Resources and Watershed, Sari, Iran. Census reports of fires in the past years. Forest, range and watershed org Sari Pub. Sari, Iran. 2011; 25 P.
Dickinson, M.B. and Johnson, E.A. Fire effects on trees. Forest Fires. Academic Press. 2001; 477-525.
Engineers Consultant Development of Central Alborz. Forestry plan Revise of district 2 Neka Wood. Department of Natural Resources Mazandaran – Sari. 2008 235 P.
Forman, R.T.T. and Alexander, L.E. Roads and their major ecological effects. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst., 1998; 29: 207-231.
González, D.C. and Rios, R.C.  Fire danger, fire detection, quantification of burned areas and description of post-fire vegetation in the central area of Chile. Earth Observation of Wildland Fires in Mediterranean Ecosystems. 2009; 55-77.
Gucinski, H., Furniss, M.J., Ziemer, R.R. and Brookes, M.H. Forest roads: A synthesis of scientific information. General Technical Report PNW-GTR-509. Portland, OR: US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 2001. 103 P.
Hosseini, S.A., Poormajidian, M.R., Bodraqi, N. and Naghavi, H. Role of forest roads on fire prevention. 2nd Conference on Natural Disaster. 2007. http://www.civilica.com/Paper-GEODM02-GEODM02_129.html, 12 P.
Maingi, J.K. and Henry, M.C. Factors influencing wildlife occurrence and distribution in eastern Kentucky, USA. Int. J. Wildland Fire. 2007; 16: 23-33.
Narayanaraj, G. and Wimberly, M.C. Influences of forest roads on the spatial pattern of wildfire boundaries. Int. J. Wildland Fire. 2011; 20: 792-803.
Narayanaraj, G. and Wimberly, M.C. Influences of forest roads on the spatial patterns of human- and lightning-caused wildfire ignitions. Appl. Geogr., 2012; 32: 878-888.
Price, O.F. and Bradstock, R.A. The effect of fuel age on the spread of fire in sclerophyll forest in the Sydney region of Australia. Int. J. Wildland Fire. 2010; 19: 35-45.
Reed, R.A., Johnson-Barnard, J. and Baker, W.L. Contribution of roads to forest fragmentation in the Rocky Mountains. Conserv. Biol., 1996; 10: 1098-1106.
SPGS. Tree planting guide lines for Uganda. Forest Fire Protection: www.zfps.co.za/fdi-calculator.html. 2010; 203-217.
Syphard, A.D., Radeloff, V.C., Hawbaker, T.J. and Stewart, S.I. Conservation threats due to human-caused increases in fire frequency in Mediterranean climate ecosystems. Conserv. Biol., 2009; 23: 758-769.
Syphard, A.D., Radeloff, V.C., Keeley, J.E., Hawbaker, T.J., Clayton, M.K., Stewart, S.I. and et al. Human influence on California fire regimes. Ecol. Appl., 2007; 17: 1388-1402.
Syphard, A.D., Radeloff, V.C., Keuler, N.S., Taylor, R.S., Hawbaker, T.J., Stewart, S. I. and et al. Predicting spatial patterns of fire on a southern California landscape. Int. J. Wildland Fire. 2008; 17: 602-613.
Turner, M.G., and Romme, W.H. Landscape dynamics in crown fire ecosystems. Landsc. Ecol., 1994; 9: 59-77.
Vega Garcia, C., Woodard, P.M., Titus, S.J., Adamowicz, and Lee, B.S. A logit model for predicting the daily occurrence of human caused forest fires. Int. J. Wildland Fire. 1995; 5: 101-111.
Watts, R.D., Compton, R.W., McCammon, J.H., Rich, C.L., Wright, S.M., Owens, T.  Roadless space of the conterminous United States. Science. 2007; 316: 736-738.
Yang, J., He, H.S., Shifley, S.R. and Gustafson, E.J. Spatial patterns of modern period human-caused fire occurrence in the Missouri Ozark Highlands. Forest Sci., 2007; 53: 1-5.
Yang, J., He, H.S., Sturtevant, B.R., Miranda, B.R. and Gustafson, E.J. Comparing effects of fire modeling methods on simulated fire patterns and succession: a case study in the Missouri Ozarks.  Can. J. Forest Res., 2008; 38: 1290-1302.
Zumbrunnen, T., Pezzatti, G.B., Menéndez, P., Bugmann, H., Burgi, M. and Conedera, M. Weather and human impacts on forest fires: 100 years of fire history in two climatic regions of Switzerland. Forest Ecol. Manag., 2011; 261: 2188-2199.