Woods, Georgina2024-01-112024-01-112023https://hdl.handle.net/10182/16737Anthropogenic drivers of climate change are altering the nature of fires globally. Hotter, drier and windier weather conditions are contributing to lengthening of fire seasons and making ignitions easier in many parts of the world, including Canterbury, New Zealand. The looming threat of increasingly destructive wildfire events highlights the need for further research into wildfire management. One tool that has the potential to reduce or stop the spread of wildfire is green firebreaks. To understand which plant species are good candidates for green firebreaks, we empirically test their flammability, i.e. their capacity to ignite and sustain a fire. However, there is generally a lack of information of flammability on plant species found in agricultural landscapes. Additionally, flammability is potentially affected by plant physiology and phenology changes throughout the year, though again research on this is scarce. Filling these research gaps will benefit rural landholders, iwi, governments and ultimately assist with reconfiguring rural landscapes. While it is vital to produce such information it is also important to ensure such information is reaching those who need it. Hence, it is necessary to understand the perceived fire risk of rural landholders in Canterbury. This will help in indicating whether plant flammability research will be taken up and how to create science communication strategies which are effective and efficient. This dissertation intends to address both of these knowledge gaps by testing the shoot flammability of common agricultural pasture, crop and weed species that are found in agricultural landscapes in Canterbury, New Zealand across different times of the year and also investigate the perceptions that Canterbury rural landholders have towards fire risk on their properties. The results showed that lucerne (Medicago sativa) was consistently the least flammable species, whereas wheat (Triticum aestivum) and barley (Hordeum vulgare) were consistently the most flammable species. Half of the species tested did vary in flammability across sampling periods throughout the year, while the other half did not. This suggests that species- specific plant flammability research is critical when assessing the suitability of species for green firebreaks. The species identified as being low in flammability year round were: lucerne (Medicago sativa), white clover (Trifolium repens), cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata) and yarrow (Achillea millefolium); these would be good candidates for green firebreaks in agricultural landscapes. The survey found that the mean annual fire risk rating of rural landholders did not change across system type (dairy, cropping, or sheep and beef) or land type (flat, rolling-moderate hill country, steep). Furthermore, the mean annual fire rating was similar across all rural landholders, most consistently being scored as moderate risk. Of the sheep and beef farmers, the seasonal annual fire risk rating did not change across land type and showed consistent trends across each season with fire risk perceived to be highest in summer and lowest in winter. This suggests that as fire risk is perceived similarly across system and land type of the surveyed farmers, plant flammability research can be communicated in a streamlined approach to stakeholders, with relevant changes made where necessary (e.g. certain plant species will be grown in some systems more commonly than others). My study has identified species that are good candidates for green firebreaks and that rural landholders are aware of fire risk on their properties, with the seasonal risk rating of sheep and beef farmers coinciding with the fire season in New Zealand. Overall, this will help to redesign agricultural landscapes and take appropriate precaution at times of the year where fire risk is higher than others, depending on the system type.enwildfirecropspasturesweedsgreen firebreaksfire riskrural landholdersagricultureperceptionsCanterburyflammabilityplant flammabilityseasonal variationfirebreaksDissertationANZSRC::410205 Fire ecologyhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Attribution 4.0 International