Author: Matthew William Graham

Publisher:

Published: 2010

Total Pages:

ISBN-13:

ABSTRACT: The pyrogenic forest ecosystems of north central Florida were historically maintained by frequent low severity fires. Portions of two wildfires burned the same area in 2004 and 2007 in Osceola National Forest and these were tested to see if the second fire experienced lower severity as a result of the earlier fire. This was done using remotely sensed images enhanced with the Normalized Burn Ratio, classified, and compared. The second fire was more severe than the first showing no contribution from the 2004 fire in reducing the 2007 fire. Drought conditions contributed to the severity of the 2007 fire, but cannot be concluded to be the only driver of severity as fuel loads, stand ages, and management are not accounted for. During this same time period, the Florida Division of Forestry Region Two Wildfire Mitigation Team conducted fuels reduction treatments on private property throughout north central Florida. Spatial record keeping was analyzed and it was determined that 46 of the 272 projects in the 18 county region had location specific data. Prototype maps were developed to improve the understanding of where and what type of work was performed and format them in ways that could be useful to decision makers in wildfire suppression situations. Working 12 directly with mitigation personnel, 22 additional project locations were identified. During the 2007 season, four wildfires impacted mitigation projects and fire fighters did attribute the ease of containment to fuels reduction. Factors that contributed to lack of spatial data are addressed and suggestions for improving the institutional structure of data management in the future are given.