Post fire indicators of fire intensity at indigenous forest margins in the southern Cape, South Africa: research note

Abstract

The aim of this study was to identify post fire indicators of fire intensity at indigenous forest margins in the southern Cape. Three sites in the southern Cape were subjectively chosen in recently burnt areas to represent areas of varying fire intensity. Tree mortality outside the forest edge confirmed our subjective classification of the three sample sites into high, medium and low fire intensity sites. Fire intensity was correlated to Virgilia divaricata seedling density, species richness, the width of the Virgilia divaricata strip and the width of the burnt forest margin. These easy to measure parameters could in future be used as practical field indicators of post fire intensity. Fire intensity could then be correlated to changes in forest species composition and structure to further quantify the impacts of fires on the indigenous forest margin.


Southern African Forestry Journal No.194 2002: 59-64