LTERN Data Portal

Three Parks Savanna Fire-effects Plot Network: Plot-based Fire Severity Monitoring, Litchfield National Park, Northern Territory, Australia, 2012

Citation

Russell-Smith, J; Darwin Centre for Bushfires Research, Charles Darwin University; Parks and Wildlife Commission of the Northern Territory (): Three Parks Savanna Fire-effects Plot Network: Plot-based Fire Severity Monitoring, Litchfield National Park, Northern Territory, Australia, 2012. Long Term Ecological Research Network. http://www.ltern.org.au/knb/metacat/ltern.59.31/html

Download EML
Identifier
docid
ltern.59.31
Data Creators
Individual
Professor Jeremy Russell-Smith
Position
Plot Leader
Organization
Charles Darwin University
Organization
Darwin Centre for Bushfires Research, Charles Darwin University
Organization
Parks and Wildlife Commission of the Northern Territory
Abstract

A total of 220 permanent monitoring plots (40 m x 20 m) were established across three parks (Kakadu, Litchfield and Nitmiluk) in 1994-1995 to monitor biotic change. Of these, 41 plots are located in Litchfield. These sample a variety of landform and vegetation type /habitat conditions. A substantial proportion of plots were positioned deliberately at sites likely to reveal environmental dynamics, especially at ecotones and in patches of fire-sensitive vegetation. For example stands of Callitris, sandstone heaths. As well, many plots are located at, or in the near vicinity of, intensively managed sites such as camp-grounds and other tourist destinations. A synopsis of related data packages which have been collected as part of the Three Park Savanna Fire-effects Plot Network’s full program is provided at http://www.ltern.org.au/index.php/ltern-plot-networks/three-parks-savanna.

Contacts for Questions on the Use and Interpretation of Data
Individual
Professor Jeremy Russell-Smith
Position
Plot Leader
Organization
Charles Darwin University
Address
Darwin. NT 0909
Australia
Phone
voice
08 8988 6215
Email Address
jeremy.russell-smith@cdu.edu.au
Project Information and Data Owners
Title
Three Parks Savanna Fire-effects Plot Network
Personnel
Role
Data Owner
Individual
Professor Jeremy Russell-Smith
Position
Plot Leader
Organization
Charles Darwin University
Funding

Since 2012 this project has been part of the Long Term Ecological Research Network (LTERN). This work was supported by the Australian Government's Terrestrial Ecosystems Research Network (www.tern.org.au) - an Australian research infrastructure facility established under the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy and Education Infrastructure Fund - Super Science Initiative through the Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education. This project has also received funding through Parks Australia, NT Parks & Wildlife Service, Tropical Savannas CRC, and Darwin Centre for Bushfires Research (Charles Darwin University).

Methods and Sampling Information
Methods
Method Step 1
Description
Plot set-up

The over-all plot sizes are 40 x 20 metre. Each plot is permanently located by a central metal star picket and GPS waypoint. Plots relocated by helicopter have a round large white lid on top to assist sighting the plot from air.

A permanent photo picket with number plate is placed 10 metre inside the plot parallel with the plot sides.

The corners and inner transects are marked by metal droppers.

The inner 40 x 10 metre plot is delineated with measuring tapes. Two 50 metre tapes are laid out 5 metre either side of central photo picket, parallel to the longer central axis, starting at zero on the left hand side heading to the back of the plot, and again at zero on the right hand side heading to the top of the plot.

NB: some plots are not strictly 40 metre due to plot landscape constraints.

Instrument
  • Metal star pickets
  • GPS
  • 50 metre measuring tapes
Method Step 2
Description
Record of fire occurrence

Fire occurrence is recorded based on on-ground plot visits, and from aerial ground-truthing assessments of each park’s satellite-based fire mapping programme.

An assessment is made as to whether the plot was unburnt, patchily burnt (ground cover at least 20% unburnt), or burnt, in three seasonal periods as follows: Wet season (w) - from onset of rains (typically November) until their cessation (typically March - April); Early dry season (e) - from end of wet season until end of July; Late dry season (L) - from August until start of rains.

Method Step 3
Description
Ground-based photos

Photos are supposed to be taken biannually, post wet season and late dry season. Often parks staff only manage one photo per year.

Instrument
  • Digital camera
Method Step 4
Description
Fire severity score

Fire severity is scored for each recorded fire event from plot photos.

Plot photos are scored by a member of the research team and fire managers from the park.

Two seasonal photos per plot in any 1 year are not always available. However, in nearly all instances it is possible to confidently attribute fires to (1) season, given recourse to comprehensive plot records; and (2) severity class, by close examination of differences between foliage condition and vegetation structure in photo temporal sequences.

Note: This method may not detect all fires of very low severity or high patchiness occurring especially in wet or early dry season periods given rapid post-fire regrowth under high soil moisture conditions.

Fire severity is recorded using one or more the following categories:

• 1 = Low

• 2 = Moderate

• 3 = High

• P = Patchily burnt

• U = Unburnt

• B = Burnt. Photo records missing.

• wet = Burn that occurred in the wet season

If no assessment is done the fire severity is recorded as NA.

Instrument
  • Russell-Smith J, Edwards AC (2006) Seasonality and fire severity in savanna landscapes of monsoonal northern Australia. International Journal of Wildland Fire 15, 541–550.
  • Williams RJ, Gill AM, Moore PHR (2003) Fire behaviour. In ‘Fire in tropical savannas: the Kapalga experiment’. (Eds AN Andersen, GD Cook, RJ Williams) pp. 33–46. (Springer-Verlag: New York).
Sampling
Study Extent Description

The forty one plots in this study are all located within the Litchfield National Park located 100 kilometres south west of Darwin, in the Top End of the Northern Territory. Plots are located across the park in a variety of habitats from lowland woodlands to rocky hillsides and ‘table top’ plateau. Occasional data is missing from years due to constraints in accessing sites.

Sampling Description

The forty one plots across the Park were established in 1995 in collaboration with the Park rangers to answers questions relating to fire management and park resources.

Associated Parties
Role
Land managers
Organization
Parks and Wildlife Commission of the Northern Territory
Keywords and Subject Categories
Keywords
  • Fire
  • National Parks
  • Savanna
  • Litchfield
  • Vegetation
LTERN Monitoring Themes
  • Vegetation structure
  • Fire
ANZSRC-FOR
  • 0501
  • 0502
  • 0602
GCMD
  • Earth Science > Biosphere > Ecological Dynamics > Fire Ecology
  • Earth Science > Human Dimensions > Environmental Impacts > Prescribed Burns
  • Earth Science > Biosphere > Vegetation
  • Earth Science > Biosphere > Terrestrial Ecosystems > Savannas
Geographic Coverage
Geographic Description
Litchfield National Park, Northern Territory, Australia
Bounding Coordinates
West
130.684447 degrees
 
East
130.9701 degrees
 
North
-13.038 degrees
 
South
-13.525891 degrees
 
Temporal Coverage
Date
2012
Intellectual Rights, Licence and Usage Conditions

CC-BY-4_0 Special Conditions: Prior to publication of research utilising this data - the data provider (Jeremy Russell-Smith) must be consulted and provide consent.

Data Table
tpsl_plot_based_fire_severity_monitoring_2012_wide_format_p44t76.csv
Name
tpsl_plot_based_fire_severity_monitoring_2012_wide_format_p44t76.csv
Attribute Information
plot
Name
plot
Definition
Plot identifier
Measurement Type
nominal
Measurement Domain
Text Domain
Definition
Character
e2012
Name
e2012
Definition
Early dry season 2012 fire severity score
Measurement Type
nominal
Measurement Domain
Enumerated Domain
Code Definition
1
Low severity burn. Leaf scorch height less than or equal to 2 m and/or patchily burnt (where patchy is defined as at least 20% of plot unburnt). Fire line intensity <<1000
2
Moderate severity burn. Leaf scorch height greater than 2 m scorched to mid-canopy only. Fire line intensity <1000-2000
3
High severity burn. Leaf scorch height greater than 2 m, canopy scorched. Fire line intensity <1000-10000+
P
Patchily burnt (where patchy is defined as at least 20% of plot unburnt).
U
Unburnt. Photo records missing.
B
Burnt. Photo records missing. Unable to score severity.
W
Burn that occurred in the wet season
NA
Not assessed
l2012
Name
l2012
Definition
Late dry season 2012 fire severity score
Measurement Type
nominal
Measurement Domain
Enumerated Domain
Code Definition
1
Low severity burn. Leaf scorch height less than or equal to 2 m and/or patchily burnt (where patchy is defined as at least 20% of plot unburnt). Fire line intensity <<1000
2
Moderate severity burn. Leaf scorch height greater than 2 m scorched to mid-canopy only. Fire line intensity <1000-2000
3
High severity burn. Leaf scorch height greater than 2 m, canopy scorched. Fire line intensity <1000-10000+
P
Patchily burnt (where patchy is defined as at least 20% of plot unburnt).
U
Unburnt. Photo records missing.
B
Burnt. Photo records missing. Unable to score severity.
W
Burn that occurred in the wet season
NA
Not assessed
Physical Structure Description
Object Name
tpsl_plot_based_fire_severity_monitoring_2012_wide_format_p44t76.csv
Text Format
Number of Header Lines
1
Number of Footer Lines
0
Record Delimiter
\r\n
Attribute Orientation
column
Simple Delimited
Field Delimiter
,
Distribution
Online
URL
ltern6.141.1
Access
Access Control
Auth System
knb
Order
allowFirst
Allow:
PermissionPrincipal
[all] cn=submitters,o=unaffiliated,dc=ecoinformatics,dc=org
[read] cn=pn_3parks_savanna,o=unaffiliated,dc=ecoinformatics,dc=org
[read] cn=allusers,o=unaffiliated,dc=ecoinformatics,dc=org
tpsl_plot_based_fire_severity_monitoring_2012_long_format_p44t1164.csv
Name
tpsl_plot_based_fire_severity_monitoring_2012_long_format_p44t1164.csv
Attribute Information
plot
Name
plot
Definition
Plot identifier
Measurement Type
nominal
Measurement Domain
Text Domain
Definition
Format: Park code and survey name _ unique number assigned to plot. e.g. LITFIRE_01 = Litchfield National Park Fire Plots_Plot 1
year
Name
year
Definition
Year of survey
Measurement Type
dateTime
Measurement Domain
Format
YYYY
season
Name
season
Definition
Season
Measurement Type
nominal
Measurement Domain
Enumerated Domain
Code Definition
EDS
Early dry season
LDS
Late dry season
fire_severity_score
Name
fire_severity_score
Definition
Fire severity score
Measurement Type
nominal
Measurement Domain
Enumerated Domain
Code Definition
1
Low severity burn. Leaf scorch height less than or equal to 2 m and/or patchily burnt (where patchy is defined as at least 20% of plot unburnt). Fire line intensity <<1000
2
Moderate severity burn. Leaf scorch height greater than 2 m scorched to mid-canopy only. Fire line intensity <1000-2000
3
High severity burn. Leaf scorch height greater than 2 m, canopy scorched. Fire line intensity <1000-10000+
P
Patchily burnt (where patchy is defined as at least 20% of plot unburnt).
U
Unburnt. Photo records missing.
B
Burnt. Photo records missing. Unable to score severity.
W
Burn that occurred in the wet season
NA
Not assessed
Number Of Records
82
Physical Structure Description
Object Name
tpsl_plot_based_fire_severity_monitoring_2012_long_format_p44t1164.csv
Size
2588 byte
Text Format
Number of Header Lines
1
Record Delimiter
#x0A
Attribute Orientation
column
Simple Delimited
Field Delimiter
,
Distribution
Online
URL
ltern6.142.1
Access
Access Control
Auth System
knb
Order
allowFirst
Allow:
PermissionPrincipal
[all] cn=submitters,o=unaffiliated,dc=ecoinformatics,dc=org
[read] cn=pn_3parks_savanna,o=unaffiliated,dc=ecoinformatics,dc=org
[read] cn=allusers,o=unaffiliated,dc=ecoinformatics,dc=org
Additional Metadata Links
additionalLinks
Additional Metadata : additionalLinks
Metadata
additionalLinks
url
@name
Three Parks Savanna Fire-effects Plot Network home page
http://...
Access
Access Control
Auth System
knb
Order
allowFirst
Allow:
PermissionPrincipal
[read] public
[all] cn=submitters,o=unaffiliated,dc=ecoinformatics,dc=org
[read] cn=pn_3parks_savanna,o=unaffiliated,dc=ecoinformatics,dc=org