FIRETOOL - AN EXPERT-SYSTEM FOR THE USE OF PRESCRIBED FIRES IN BRAZILIAN SAVANNAS

1. A prototype expert system, FIRETOOL, was developed to help decision makers and managers use prescribed burns for the ecological managemen t of Brazilian savannas (cerrado) conservation areas. 2. The expertise necessary for producing guidelines for fire management in cerrados, t hat was used in FIRETOOL, came from the authors' experience, literatur e and an interview survey of Brazilian scientific researchers and mana gers of national parks and ecological reserves. 3. The knowledge was e ncoded in a commercial expert system shell, KnowledgePro, and auxiliar y programs were used for drawing and presenting the figures. 4. FIRETO OL has four subsystems: STARTING presents the program and gives instru ctions on how to design a short-term burning plan; FIRERISK assesses t he risk of a wildfire in the site and its likely intensity; FIREUSE es timates whether a prescribed burn is necessary and suggests the most a ppropriate fire regime; and PROCEDURE gives directions on basic techni ques for carrying out controlled fires and for making firebreaks. 5. F IRETOOL was initially tested against the assessments of an expert on c errado fire ecology. A few adjustments enabled the system to give asse ssments and recommendations consistent with this expert. 6. The develo pment of FIRETOOL allowed most of the existing information on cerrado fire ecology to be assembled, analysed and used for practical problem solving. Manager's difficulties were better perceived and many knowled ge gaps were identified, thus giving directions to improve decision ma king and research. 7. A field test of the FIRETOOL knowledge base woul d verify its potential use as a tool for providing information on deci sion making of cerrado management, and for training the staff of conse rvation areas.