Indicative carbon credits feasibly generated using three complementary savanna burning methodologies under enhanced fire management.

a The original emissions abatement methodology incorporated a formal uncertainty assessment for the WALFA region [28], where domain emissions were found to be accurate at the 95% confidence level to within a factor of 30–35% of the mean, with an overall coefficient of variation = 0.16.
b Key steady state fuel load parameters for the FCWF biomass sequestration methodology [22] are derived directly from the original emissions abatement methodology, which includes formal assessment of individual parameter uncertainties [24]. The method is also reliant on reliable fire mapping derived from MODIS imagery, estimated as being 88% accurate when compared with field data [56].
c The living tree biomass sequestration methodology [22] expands on work reported in [27], where the best linear mixed effects model (p < 0.005; R2 = 0.11, determined using Akaike’s Information Criterion), assessing the effects of 7 variables (annual rainfall; plot basal area; fire severity variables, fire seasonality variables) on stem increment, incorporated only fire severity terms. Data were derived from 135 40 X 20 m plots over 10 years of observations. Work on this methodology is ongoing, especially to address potential effects of severe fires on bark removal with implications for calculation of biomass using allometric relationships [23].
(1) each t.CO2-e.y-1 abated or sequestered = 1 carbon credit; (2) enhanced fire management scenarios based on published experience with WALFA [55]; FCWF = fine and coarse woody fuels; (3) for sequestration methods, carbon credits are annualized over 25 years. (4) Brief footnotes concerning method uncertainties are provided below; other details concerning respective methods, calculations, and management assumptions are presented in Supporting Information.