Quantificação do material combustível superficial em unidade de conservação no Semiárido da Paraíba.

Abstract

Quantification of surface combustible material in a conservation unit in the semiarid region of Paraíba. Knowing the type and amount of combustible material in the forest floor is essential for the estimation of parameters related to fire behavior. This work was developed in an area of Caatinga in the Private Natural Heritage Reserve (PNHR) belonging to Tamanduá Farm, located in the town of Santa Terezinha (PB) to quantify the material fuel in the forest floor. Samples were collected from October to December/2009 demarcated into seven transects in the Reserve. With the aid of a template was demarcated portion of 1m x 1m which was collected combustible material, living and dead, which was weighed to determine wet weight and then oven-dried to obtain dry weight. All material was further separated into leafy and non leafy to determine the share of each class in the composition of combustible material. Moreover, there was the burning of all combustible material collected in each transect to assess the speed of propagation, the burning time and percentage burned. The greatest amount of combustible material was obtained in November with 535.3 g m2. In relation to the physiological state of the waste, the largest contribution to the formation of combustible material was dead. The highest rate of spread of fire line was 0.028 m s-1 and the lowest 0.002 m s-1, being classified as slow.