Modelling Carbon Emissions in Calluna vulgaris-Dominated Ecosystems when Prescribed Burning and Wildfires Interact.

ABSTRACT: A present challenge in fire ecology is to optimize management techniques so that ecological services are maximized and C emissions minimized. Here, we modeled the effects of different prescribed-burning rotation intervals and wildfires on carbon emissions (present and future) in British moorlands. Biomass-accumulation curves from four Calluna-dominated ecosystems along a north-south gradient in Great Britain were calculated and used within a matrix-model based on Markov Chains to calculate above-ground biomass-loads and annual C emissions under different prescribed-burning rotation intervals. Additionally, we assessed the interaction of these parameters with a decreasing wildfire return intervals. We observed that litter accumulation patterns varied between sites. Northern sites (colder an

SUBMITTER: Santana VM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5120849 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature