Which type of fuel would you likely find in the canopy of a forest?

The type of fuel you would likely find in the canopy of a forest is aerial fuels. Aerial fuels consist of vegetation that is elevated above the ground, such as tree branches, leaves, and crowns of trees. These fuels are significant in wildland fire behavior because they can contribute to the spread of fire by allowing it to jump between treetops, leading to crown fires, which are particularly intense and difficult to control.

In contrast, ground duff refers to the organic matter on the forest floor, like decomposed leaves and other leaf litter, while surface fuels are those that lie on the ground and include things like grasses and small shrubs. Heavy fuels typically pertain to larger, more substantial materials that require significant energy to ignite and sustain a fire, such as logs or large branches. Aerial fuels, being part of the upper canopy, pose unique challenges for fire management and response because they are less accessible and can lead to rapid fire spread in the vertical plane of the forest environment.