School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences - Research Publications
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ItemNo Preview AvailableEstimating land cover map accuracy and area uncertainty using a confusion matrix: A case study in Kalimantan, Indonesia(IOP Publishing, 2021-11-26)Abstract Remote sensing is widely used to generate land cover maps, but the maps derived from remote sensing often produce accuracy below expectations for map error. Therefore, quantifying map accuracy is essential for reporting the precision of an estimated area. This study describes a simple framework for assessing map accuracy and estimating land cover area uncertainty for a land cover changes map for Kalimantan in 2012-2018. This study compared simple random sampling and stratified random sampling to determine suitable procedures for estimating accuracy and area uncertainty. The validation relies on the visual assessment of high spatial resolution images such as SPOT 6/7 and high-resolution temporal images from Open Foris Collect Earth. Our results showed that the land cover change map assessed using random sampling had an overall accuracy of 74% while using stratified random sampling had an overall accuracy of 75%. Thus, for tropical regions with high cloud cover, we recommend using stratified random sampling. The major source of map error was in differentiating between native forest and plantation areas. Future map improvement requires more accurate differentiation between forest and plantation to better support national forest monitoring systems for sustainable forest management.
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ItemLoss and Recovery of Carbon in Repeatedly Burned Degraded Peatlands of Kalimantan, Indonesia(MDPI, 2021-12-01)Although accurate estimates of biomass loss during peat fires, and recovery over time, are critical in understanding net peat ecosystem carbon balance, empirical data to inform carbon models are scarce. During the 2019 dry season, fires burned through 133,631 ha of degraded peatlands of Central Kalimantan. This study reports carbon loss from surface fuels and the top peat layer of 18.5 Mg C ha−1 (3.5 from surface fuels and 15.0 from root/peat layer), releasing an average of 2.5 Gg (range 1.8–3.1 Gg) carbon in these fires. Peat surface change measurements over one month, as the fires continued to smolder, indicated that about 20 cm of the surface was lost to combustion of peat and fern rhizomes, roots and recently incorporated organic residues that we sampled as the top peat layer. Time series analysis of live green vegetation (NDVI trend), combined with field observations of vegetation recovery two years after the fires, indicated that vegetation recovery equivalent to fire-released carbon is likely to occur around 3 years after fires.
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ItemGround-Based Field Measurements of PM2.5 Emission Factors From Flaming and Smoldering Combustion in Eucalypt Forests(AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION, 2018-08-16)
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ItemPotential for forest thinning to reduce risk and increase resilience to wildfire in Australian temperate Eucalyptus forests(Elsevier BV, 2021-10)Unprecedented wildfires in south-eastern Australia in 2019–2020 focused attention on forest management to reduce their risks and impacts. These fires mostly burnt dry eucalypt forests. In this short review, we found evidence from international studies that thinning combined with fuel reduction can reduce wildfire risks and impacts in dry forests compared with no treatment or thinning alone. In Australia, studies so far demonstrate mixed outcomes, indicating that more landscape-scale experiments are required to better assess the use of thinning in dry Eucalyptus forests to reduce fire risks in a rapidly changing climate.
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ItemEffects of prescribed fire frequency on wildfire emissions and carbon sequestration in a fire adapted ecosystem using a comprehensive carbon model(ACADEMIC PRESS LTD- ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD, 2021-04-26)Prescribed fire to reduce forest fuels has been routinely applied to reduce wildfire risk in many parts of the world. It has also been proposed that prescribed fire can be used to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Although prescribed fire creates emissions, if the treatment also decreases the incidence of subsequent wildfires, it is possible for the net outcome to be an emissions decline. Previous studies have suggested prescribed fire, at the frequencies required to materially impact wildfire occurrence, generally leads to net emissions increases. A focus on emissions means any change in carbon storage within the ecosystem remains unaccounted for; because living, dead, and soil carbon pools are characterized by different residence times, a re-distribution of carbon amongst these pools may either reduce or increase long-term ecosystem carbon stores. A full ecosystem carbon model has been developed to investigate the implications of prescribed fire management on total Net Ecosystem Carbon Balance (NECB), inclusive of both emissions and carbon storage. Consistent with previous work, the results suggested limited potential for reducing net GHG emissions through applying prescribed fire, with higher emissions from prescribed fire approximately offset by lower emissions and avoided carbon losses from the subsequent reduction in wildfire frequency. For example, shortening the prescribed fire interval from 25 to 10 years resulted in a NECB sequestration that was typically less than ±0.4 Mg C ha-1 yr-1, or less than approximately 0.1% of the total ecosystem carbon storage. Hence, whilst there was limited opportunity for achieving emission abatement outcomes from changing prescribed fire management, there were no significant emission penalties for doing so. These results suggest land managers should be free to adopt prescribed fire regimes to target specific management outcomes, without significantly impacting net emissions or total ecosystem carbon storage over the long term.
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ItemAdditive predictions of aboveground stand biomass in commercial logs and harvest residues for rotation age Pinus radiata plantations in New South Wales, Australia(NORTHEAST FORESTRY UNIV, 2021-04-07)Abstract Two systems of additive equations were developed to predict aboveground stand level biomass in log products and harvest residue from routinely measured or predicted stand variables for Pinus radiata plantations in New South Wales, Australia. These plantations were managed under three thinning regimes or stand types before clear-felling at rotation age by cut-to-length harvesters to produce sawlogs and pulpwood. The residue material following a clear-fell operation mainly consisted of stumps, branches and treetops, short off-cut and waste sections due to stem deformity, defects, damage and breakage. One system of equations did not include dummy variables for stand types in the model specification and was intended for more general use in plantations where stand density management regimes were not the same as the stand types in our study. The other system that incorporated dummy variables was for stand type-specific applications. Both systems of equations were estimated using 61 plot-based estimates of biomass in commercial logs and residue components that were derived from systems of equations developed in situ for predicting the product and residue biomass of individual trees. To cater for all practical applications, two sets of parameters were estimated for each system of equations for predicting component and total aboveground stand biomass in fresh and dry weight respectively. The two sets of parameters for the system of equations without dummy variables were jointly estimated to improve statistical efficiency in parameter estimation. The predictive performances of the two systems of equations were benchmarked through a leave-one-plot-out cross validation procedure. They were generally superior to the performance of an alternative two-stage approach that combined an additive system for major components with an allocative system for sub-components. As using forest harvest residue biomass for bioenergy has increasingly become an integrated part of forestry, reliable estimates of product and residue biomass will assist harvest and management planning for clear-fell operations that integrate cut-to-length log production with residue harvesting.
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ItemAssessing Accuracy of Land Cover Change Maps Derived from Automated Digital Processing and Visual Interpretation in Tropical Forests in Indonesia(MDPI AG, 2021-04-08)This study assessed the accuracy of land cover change (2000–2018) maps compiled from Landsat images with either automated digital processing or with visual interpretation for a tropical forest area in Indonesia. The accuracy assessment used a two-stage stratified random sampling involving a confusion matrix for assessing map accuracy and by estimating areas of land cover change classes and associated uncertainty. The reference data were high-resolution images from SPOT 6/7 and high-resolution images finer than 5 m obtained from Open Foris Collect Earth. Results showed that the map derived from automated digital processing had lower accuracy (overall accuracy 73–77%) compared to the map based on visual interpretation (overall accuracy 80–84%). The automated digital processing map error was in differentiating between native forest and plantation areas. While the visual interpretation map had a higher accuracy, it did not consistently differentiate between native forest and shrub areas. Future improvement of the digital map requires more accurate differentiation between forest and plantation to better support national forest monitoring systems for sustainable forest management.
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ItemEffect of Temperature and Exposure Time on Cambium Cell Viability In Vitro for Eucalyptus Species(MDPI AG, 2021)Research Highlights: Thermal damage to cambium cells of Eucalyptus held in vitro was recorded at sublethal temperatures (40 °C–50 °C) when the duration of exposure extends beyond 2.5 min up to 5 min. (2) Background and Objectives: During a forest fire, heat can be transferred through tree bark potentially impacting viability of vascular cambium cells and the perennial growth of the tree. With the increased temperature of the cambium, cells are known to lose viability at temperatures exceeding 60 °C. However, it is possible that extended exposure to temperatures below 60 °C may also impair cell viability. This study aimed to identify the effect of the temperature and exposure time interaction on the cambium cell viability of Eucalyptus, a genus widely distributed in natural forests and commercial plantations globally. (3) Methods: Excised cambium-phloem tissue sections from three Eucalyptus species (Messmate–E. obliqua L’Hér., Narrow-leaf peppermint–E. radiata Sieber ex DC. and Swamp gum–E. ovata Labill.) were exposed in vitro to a series of temperature–time treatments (40 °C, 50 °C, 60 °C, 70 °C for 1 min, 2.5 min, and 5 min) and tested for cell viability using a tetrazolium reduction method. (4) Results: Cell viability of cambium cells decreased with increased temperature and exposure times for all three Eucalyptus species. Longer exposure to sublethal temperatures of 40 °C to 50 °C showed statistically similar results to shorter exposure to lethal temperatures (>50 °C). (5) Conclusions: Longer exposure to sublethal temperatures (40 °C–50 °C) caused irreversible thermal damage to cambium cells of Eucalyptus when tested in vitro, further refining our understanding of raised temperature on cell viability.
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ItemCarbon balance of tropical peat forests at different fire history and implications for carbon emissions(Elsevier, 2021-07-20)Accurate assessment of tropical peat forest carbon stocks and impact of fires on carbon pools is required to determine the magnitude of emissions to the atmosphere and to support emissions reduction policies. We assessed total aboveground carbon (AGC) in biomass pools including trees, shrubs, deadwood, litter and char, and peat carbon to develop empirical estimates of peat swamp forest carbon stocks in response to fire and disturbance. In contrast to the common assumption that peat fires combust all AGC, we observed that about half of undisturbed forest AGC, equivalent to about 70 Mg C ha-1, remains after one or two recent fires - mainly in dead trees, woody debris and pyrogenic carbon. Both recently burnt and repeatedly burnt peat forests store similar amounts of carbon in the top 10 cm of peat when compared with undisturbed forests (70 Mg C ha-1), mainly due to increased peat bulk density after fires that compensates for their lower peat C%. The proportion of fuel mass consumed in fire, or combustion factor (CF), is required to make accurate estimates of peat fire emissions for both AGC and peat carbon. This study estimated a CF for AGC (CFAGC) of 0.56, comparable to the default value of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). This study estimated a varying CF for peat (CFPEAT) that ranged from 0.4 to 0.68 as depth of burn increased. This revised CFPEAT is one third to one half of the IPCC default value of 1.0. The current assumption of complete combustion of peat (CF = 1.0) is widely acknowledged in the literature as oversimplification and is not supported by our field observations or data. This study provides novel empirical data to improve estimates of peat forests carbon stocks and emissions from tropical peat fires.
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ItemDiurnal and seasonal variations in photosynthetic and morphological traits of the tree ferns Dicksonia antarctica (Dicksoniaceae) and Cyathea australis (Cyatheaceae) in wet sclerophyll forests of Australia(PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD, 2011-01-01)Steady state and dynamic responses of two tree fern species of contrasting origins, Dicksonia antarctica (of Gondwanan origin) and Cyathea australis (Pan-tropical), were studied over two consecutive years under field conditions in a wet sclerophyll forest of south-east Australia. Irrespective of their different origins, there were no significant differences in photosynthetic performance between the two species. Growth irradiance and leaf temperature, but not plant water status, was significantly related to photosynthetic and morphological traits. At a common leaf temperature, maximum light-use efficiency of photosystem II (Fv/Fm) was significantly lower in winter than in summer, suggesting some limitation to PSII efficiency potentially associated with cold winter mornings. Both species displayed seasonal acclimation in a number of measured photosynthetic parameters and frond traits (i.e. Fv/Fm, Asat, gs, NA, total chlorophyll, SLA). Acclimation of stomatal density to spatial variation in growth irradiance seemed limited in both species, although stomatal pattern differed between species. Because there were no significant differences between the two species in photosynthetic parameters, both species can be described by common carbon gain and water use models at the leaf scale.