7th Workshop on Forest Fire Management - EARSeL, European ...

ANALYSIS OF HUMAN-CAUSED WILDFIRE OCCURRENCE AND LAND USE
CHANGES IN FRANCE, SPAIN AND PORTUGAL
L. Vilar & M.P. Martín
Centre for Human and Social Sciences. Spanish Council for Scientific Research,
Madrid, Spain
lara.vilar@cchs.csic.es; mpilar.martin@cchs.csic.es
A. Camia
Joint Research Centre of the European Commission,
Institute for Environment and Sustainability, Ispra (VA), Italy
andrea.camia@jrc.ec.europa.eu
Abstract: In Southern European countries, where anthropogenic activity
plays an important role in altering natural dynamics of ecosystems, wildfire
is a dominant feature of the landscape. This paper explores the relationship
between human caused fires and land use changes in France, Spain and
Portugal. The Fisher exact test has been applied to examine the significance
of this association at provincial level (NUTS level 3). The increase in urban
use between 1990 and 2000 was found to be associated with the decrease
of negligent fires in France and Spain. The preliminary regional view provided
in this work can contribute to the understanding of main driving factors
of biomass burning at continental and global scales.
1 - Introduction
Mediterranean ecosystems can not be fully understood without considering
the role of fires. Natural fires have been essential to maintain biodiversity
in the area. Fire has been also a widely used tool to manage the territory.
However, in the last decades, natural fire regimes have experienced significant
alterations (Westerling et al., 2006, FAO, 2007). Understanding the
mechanisms behind fire occurrence is expected to improve fire prevention
activities, supporting fire risk assessment and reducing the negative
impacts of wildland fires. The aim of this paper is to explore the relationship
between human caused wildland fires and land use changes in the
European Mediterranean countries during the last decades (1986-2006).
2 - Methods
2.1 - Study areas
The study areas are three European Mediterranean countries: France, Spain
and Portugal. In these countries fire plays an important role, causing
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