USE OF FOREST ECOSYSTEM CLASSIFICATION SYSTEMS IN FIRE MANAGEMENT

Forest Ecosystem Classification (FEC) systems have been used in the pa st mainly for forest management decision-making. FEC systems can also serve an important role for decision-making in other disciplines, such as fire management for both wildfire suppression and prescribed burni ng operations. FEC systems can provide an important means of identifyi ng potential fuels that may be present on a forest site. This fuel inf ormation, in combination with current fire weather conditions, as dete rmined by the Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index (FWI) system, can ass ist fire managers in determining potential fire behaviour if ignition should occur. FEC systems provide a means of identifying the possible presence of a live understory vegetation component, a fuel layer that has been largely ignored in the past due to a lack of information. Den se understory vegetation can produce a very moist microclimate that ca n effectively hinder fire spread. The use of FEC systems can help in s etting priorities on which wildfires need to be attacked aggressively. For prescribed burning, FEC systems can assist in achieving burn obje ctives better and more safely.