Developing a prescribed burning expertise in Italy: learning fire experiments

Prescribed burning is one of the main issue of current fire research in Mediterranean countries. Several benefits are expected: fire hazard abatement, nature conservation management, carbon emission reduction. Nevertheless in Italy very few knowledge is available about prescribed burning applicability. The develop of new expertises is required. To minimize the risk with introducing prescribed burning in fire management practices it is necessary to conduct learning experiments. Manipulative fire experiments which test the effect of different prescribed fire regimes (frequency, seasonality, intensity) have proved to be useful throughout world ecosystems. With the objective to develop and transferring expertises about the design of prescribed fire experiments two studies were carried out. Both studies adopted a microplot scale analysis of fire behaviour for correlation with ecological effects on vegetation. The first study dealt with Calluna vulgaris heathlands conservation in North West (NW) Italy. These heathland are under threat because of tree and grass encroachment as a consequence of extensive management. Like Muirburning in Scotland fire could be a suitable management tool in NW Italy. The experiment, started in 2004 at the Managed Nature Reserve of Vauda, Regione Piemonte, was designed to test the effect of fire frequency, backfire and headfire treatments on tree mortality and Calluna regeneration. The microplot scale analysis of fire behaviour enabled to cope with fire heterogeneity quantifying fine fuel consumption, rate of spread, flame height, fireline intensity and flame picktemperatures with spatial and temporal resolution. An estimate of temperatureresidence time profiles using infra-red termography was attempted. On the basis of short-term monitoring of vegetation responses to fire treatments a set of preliminary prescriptions for heathland conservation management by prescribed fire was established. The second study dealt with coarse woody debris (CWD) consumption by experimental fire in tropical savannas of Northern Australia. The experiment was carried out in the frame of a research project of the Tropical Ecosystem Research Centre (CSIRO) which studies effects of early and late dry season fires on savanna ecosystem. Through the manipulation of fine fuels a wide range of fireline intensity and temperature-residence time profiles was obtained. A simplified CWD consumption model was studied. Results were not very substantial, however this experience enabled to test new methodologies which implemented the experiment design at Vauda. Despite constraints this thesis demonstrated that is possible to develop research in the field of prescribed burning in Italy and hopefully will stimulate further discussion in order to improve knowledge and thereby future management.