Studies on fire in Scottish heathland communities. I. Fire characteristics

Temperature and fire intensity increase with stand age up to the late mature phase of Calluna vulgaris (20-25 yr old). Thereafter, temperature and intensity decline but the variability of temperature increases. Temperature at the ground surface was often as high or higher than the canopy temperature, but at 1 cm beneath the soil surface the temperature remained <100oC. Trends in temperature are related mainly to vegetation structure and amount and distribution of fuel in the stand. Environmental variables are of secondary importance as long as they remain within 'normal' limits. Fire severity was positively correlated with fire width. -from Authors