Fuel loading in Eucalyptus dunnii and Pinus taeda plantations in southern Brazil

An inventory was conducted in the Tres Barras county, state of Santa Catarina, Brazil (26 o 15'S latitude and 50 o 48'W longitude), in order to develop predicting models for fuel loading in Eucalyptus dunnii and Pinus taeda (loblolly pine) plantations. Sampling was done in eucalyptus stands with 22, 34, 55, 78, 92, 103, 113 and 124 months, and pine stands with 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, and 17 years of age, covering the whole rotation of the plantations. In eucalyptus, age was the variable that provided best fits for all predicting models, except live surface fuel, that was best predicted through the understory vegetation height and basal area. In loblolly pine, fuel bed depth was the variable that provided best fits for all predicting models, and the inclusion of other independent variables did not improve the models precision.