Search results for "Fire regime"
showing 10 items of 12 documents
The sedimentary and remote-sensing reflection of biomass burning in Europe
2018
Aim: We provide the first European-scale geospatial training set relating the charcoal signal in surface lake sediments to fire parameters (number, intensity and area) recorded by satellite moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensors. Our calibration is intended for quantitative reconstructions of key fire-regime parameters by using sediment sequences of microscopic (MIC from pollen slides, particles 10-500 µm) and macroscopic charcoal (MAC from sieves, particles > 100 µm). Location: North-south and east-west transects across Europe, covering the mediterranean, temperate, alpine, boreal and steppe biomes. Time period: Lake sediments and MODIS active fire and burned area…
Previous fire occurrence, but not fire recurrence, modulates the effect of charcoal and ash on soil C and N dynamics in Pinus pinaster Aiton forests.
2021
Abstract Understanding the effects of fire history on soil processes is key to characterise their resistance and resilience under future fire events. Wildfires produce pyrogenic carbonaceous material (PCM) that is incorporated into the soil, playing a critical role in the global carbon (C) cycle, but its interactions with soil processes are poorly understood. We evaluated if the previous occurrence of wildfires modulates the dynamic of soil C and nitrogen (N) and microbial community by soil ester linked fatty acids, after a new simulated low-medium intensity fire. Soils with a different fire history (none, one, two or three fires) were heat-shocked and amended with charcoal and/or ash deriv…
Fire danger estimation from MODIS Enhanced Vegetation Index data: application to Galicia region (north-west Spain)
2011
Galicia, in north-west Spain, is a region especially affected by devastating forest fires. The development of a fire danger prediction model adapted to this particular region is required. In this paper, we focus on changes in the condition of vegetation as an indicator of fire danger. The potential of the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) together with period-of-year to monitor vegetation changes in Galicia is shown. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), onboard the Terra satellite, was chosen for this study. A 6-year dataset of EVI images, from the product MOD13Q1 (16-day composites), together with fire data in a 10 × 10-km grid basis, were used. Logistic regression was…
Influence of vegetation recovery on soil hydrology and erodibility following fire: an 11-year investigation
2005
The present study investigates long-term changes in soil hydrological properties and erodibility during the regrowth of different types and densities of vegetation following a severe wildfire in the Serra Grossa Range, eastern Spain. Twelve plots of similar slope and soil characteristics, naturally recolonized by four different plant species (trees, herbs, shrubs and dwarf shrubs) were examined using rainfall simulations during an 11-year period. The mean erosion rate was 80 g m−2 h−1, 6 months after the fire under wet-winter conditions, declining to 30 g m−2 h−1 in the following summer and reaching <10 g m−2 h−1 after 2 years. Considerable variation under the different vegetation types …
Great tit (Parus major) breeding in fire-prone oak woods: differential effects of post-fire conditions on reproductive stages
2011
Wildfires negatively affect the overall reproductive success of several woodland avian species, but there is scarce information about which stages of the nesting cycle are specifically affected. We conducted a 3-year study to identify the effects of fire on the reproductive parameters of the great tit (Parus major) and the survival of its nests at different stages of the nesting cycle. We recorded the occupancy rate, clutch and brood size, hatching, fledging and nesting success in nest boxes placed on study plots with different post-fire age. By examining the post-fire succession, we analysed the survival of eggs and nestlings under predation risks. As the forest matured after a wildfire, …
Holocene fire activity during low-natural flammability periods reveals scale-dependent cultural human-fire relationships in Europe
2018
Abstract Fire is a natural component of global biogeochemical cycles and closely related to changes in human land use. Whereas climate-fuel relationships seem to drive both global and subcontinental fire regimes, human-induced fires are prominent mainly on a local scale. Furthermore, the basic assumption that relates humans and fire regimes in terms of population densities, suggesting that few human-induced fires should occur in periods and areas of low population density, is currently debated. Here, we analyze human-fire relationships throughout the Holocene and discuss how and to what extent human-driven fires affected the landscape transformation in the Central European Lowlands (CEL). W…
Prehistoric land use at an archaeological hot-spot (the rock art park of Campo Lameiro, NW Spain) inferred from charcoal, synanthropic pollen and non…
2013
Pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs and charcoal from a colluvial soil surrounded by prehistoric petroglyphs (Campo Lameiro, NW Spain) were studied in order to assess the nature of human activities and their impact on Holocene vegetation patterns. Several phases of anthropogenic impact were observed. (i) Between 7.6 and 6.5 ka cal BP, synanthropic taxa (Urtica dioica type, Plantago lanceolata type) and coprophilous fungi (e.g. Sporormiella-type) are indicative of early (pre-agricultural) creation of small patches of pasture using fire, possibly for incipient animal husbandry or as part of a deliberate strategy to improve game availability. Such activities only had a minor effect on the deciduou…
Broadleaf deciduous forest counterbalanced the direct effect of climate on Holocene fire regime in hemiboreal/boreal region (NE Europe)
2017
Abstract Disturbances by fire are essential for the functioning of boreal/hemiboreal forests, but knowledge of long-term fire regime dynamics is limited. We analysed macrocharcoal morphologies and pollen of a sediment record from Lake Lielais Svētiņu (eastern Latvia), and in conjunction with fire traits analysis present the first record of Holocene variability in fire regime, fuel sources and fire types in boreal forests of the Baltic region. We found a phase of moderate to high fire activity during the cool and moist early (mean fire return interval; mFRI of ∼280 years; 11,700–7500 cal yr BP) and the late (mFRI of ∼190 years; 4500–0 cal yr BP) Holocene and low fire activity (mFRI of ∼630 y…
Application of artificial neural networks and logistic regression to the prediction of forest fire danger in Galicia using MODIS data
2012
Fire danger models are a very useful tool for the prevention and extinction of forest fires. Some inputs of these models, such as vegetation status and temperature, can be obtained from remote sensing images, which offer higher spatial and temporal resolution than direct ground measures. In this paper, we focus on the Galicia region (north-west of Spain), and MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) images are used to monitor vegetation status and to obtain land surface temperature as essential inputs in forest fire danger models. In this work, we tested the potential of artificial neural networks and logistic regression to estimate forest fire danger from remote sensing and f…
Holocene interactions between climate, vegetation, land-use and the fire regime in coastal Southern Sicily: evidences from new sedimentary records
2008
We used a new sedimentary record to reconstruct the Holocene vegetation and fire history of Gorgo Basso, a coastal lake in south-western Sicily (Italy). Pollen and charcoal data suggest a fire-prone open grassland near the site until ca 10,000 cal yr BP (8050 cal BC), when Pistacia shrubland expanded and fire activity declined, probably in response to increased moisture availability. Evergreen Olea europaea woods expanded ca 8400 to decline abruptly at 8200 cal yr BP, when climatic conditions became drier at other sites in the Mediterranean region. Around 7000 cal yr BP evergreen broadleaved forests (Quercus ilex, Quercus suber and O. europaea) expanded at the cost of open communities. The …