The bark is a protective tissue of the tree-cambium and the exposition to temperatures above 60oC for 1 to 2 minutes, which is one of the main factors that cause tree mortality in forest fires. In this research, it was studied the bark protection levels of Eucalyptus grandis and of three tree-species of 'cerrado': Pterodon pubescens, Sclerolobium paniculatum and Vochysia thyrsoidea and the effects of these tree bark architectures in heat transfer. Samples were taken from bark panels representing five trees of each species. The time of heat exposure required to damage the tree-cambium until temperature reached 60oC (lethal temperature) and the roughness coefficient (architecture) was estimated by the ratio between the actual area and the nominal sample area. The Sclerolobium paniculatum, with thinner bark, showed the shortest time and Eucalyptus grandis and Pterodon pubescens the longer time. The only exception was Vochysia thyrsoidea with a greater thickness and showed the shortest times. The tree species with the highest correlation between time and the total thickness was Sclerolobium paniculatum (r = 0,93). Pterodon pubescens and Eucalyptus grandis showed r = 0,73 and r = 0,56, respectively and Vochysia thyrsoidea presented the lower correlation coefficient (0,34). The highest roughness was observed for Vochysia thyrsoidea, which was significantly different from the other tree-species. However, the correlation coefficient between time and surface roughness was not significant for all tree-species, which suggest that the increase of the roughness did not affect the heat transfer through the bark.
heat transfer; tree architecture and bark
