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Estimating the vulnerability of Everglades peat to combustion
- Date Issued:
- 2012
- Summary:
- Fire occurrences in the Everglades have increased since hydrologic alterations began, yet the vulnerability of Everglades peat to combustion during wildfires has yet to be determined. Natural fire regimes help maintain ecosystem functions and services and disruptions of natural disturbance regimes can have detrimental impacts, jeopardizing ecosystem health. Severe peat combustion can destroy native vegetation, alter microtopography, and release large amounts of stored carbon into the atmosphere. To create a better understanding of the mechanistic controls on Everglades ground fires, the soil's physical properties within several sites of Water Conservation Area 3 and how changes in water table affect these physical characteristics were determined. Areas disturbed by hydrologic alterations contain higher mineral content and therefore require lower water content to combust when compared to preserved regions. Changes in water tables have a significant effect on soil moisture and lower water tables drastically increase the vulnerability of a region.
Title: | Estimating the vulnerability of Everglades peat to combustion. |
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Name(s): |
Johnson, James. Charles E. Schmidt College of Science Center for Environmental Studies |
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Type of Resource: | text | |
Genre: | Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation | |
Date Issued: | 2012 | |
Publisher: | Florida Atlantic University | |
Physical Form: | electronic | |
Extent: | x, 84 p. : ill. (some col.) | |
Language(s): | English | |
Summary: | Fire occurrences in the Everglades have increased since hydrologic alterations began, yet the vulnerability of Everglades peat to combustion during wildfires has yet to be determined. Natural fire regimes help maintain ecosystem functions and services and disruptions of natural disturbance regimes can have detrimental impacts, jeopardizing ecosystem health. Severe peat combustion can destroy native vegetation, alter microtopography, and release large amounts of stored carbon into the atmosphere. To create a better understanding of the mechanistic controls on Everglades ground fires, the soil's physical properties within several sites of Water Conservation Area 3 and how changes in water table affect these physical characteristics were determined. Areas disturbed by hydrologic alterations contain higher mineral content and therefore require lower water content to combust when compared to preserved regions. Changes in water tables have a significant effect on soil moisture and lower water tables drastically increase the vulnerability of a region. | |
Identifier: | 830002863 (oclc), 3358594 (digitool), FADT3358594 (IID), fau:4027 (fedora) | |
Note(s): |
by James Johnson. Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2012. Includes bibliography. Mode of access: World Wide Web. System requirements: Adobe Reader. |
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Subject(s): |
Ecological engineering Conservation of natural resources Fire ecology -- Florida -- Everglades National Park Everglades National Park (Fla.) -- Ecology |
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Persistent Link to This Record: | http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3358594 | |
Use and Reproduction: | http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ | |
Host Institution: | FAU |