Research Grants (Generic)

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Prescribed burns are an integral part of the habitat maintenance at Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge. In addition to fostering favorable tree species succession, burning can increase soil carbon through charcoal production. However, burning also produces gas and particle phase atmospheric emissions coming from the refuge which may come under future scrutiny by local, state, and Federal air quality regulatory agencies. During the consumption of fuels, partitioning of material into onsite carbon and dispersed emissions may be influenced by types of biomass consumed, fuel condition, and fire meteorology season. Therefore it is important to assess this balance of burned material to help foster future continued use of prescribed burning as a management tool, understand soil ecosystem benefits, and preempt future air quality management issues through critical data acquisition. This study is a two part approach in which both on and offsite transport of burn biomass are attempted to be accounted.

High