학술논문

Current Wildland Fire Patterns and Challenges in Europe: A Synthesis of National Perspectives
Document Type
article
Author
Nieves Fernandez-AnezAndrey KrasovskiyMortimer MüllerHarald VacikJan BaetensEmira HukićMarijana Kapovic SolomunIrena AtanassovaMaria GlushkovaIgor BogunovićHana FajkovićHakan DjumaGeorge BoustrasMartin AdámekMiloslav DevetterMichaela HrabalikovaDalibor HuskaPetra Martínez BarrosoMagdalena Daria VaverkováDavid ZumrKalev JõgisteMarek MetslaidKajar KosterEgle KösterJukka PumpanenCaius Ribeiro-KumaraSimone Di PrimaAmandine PastorCornelia RumpelManuel SeegerIoannis DaliakopoulosEvangelia DaskalakouAristeidis KoutroulisMaria P. PapadopoulouKosmas StampoulidisGavriil XanthopoulosRéka AszalósDeák BalázsMiklós KertészOrsolya ValkóDavid C. FingerThrostur ThorsteinssonJessica TillSofia BajoccoAntonio GelsominoAntonio Minervino AmodioAgata NovaraLuca SalvatiLuciano TelescaNadia UrsinoAris JansonsMara KitenbergaNormunds StivrinsGediminas BrazaitisVitas MarozasOlesea CojocaruIachim GumeniucVictor SfeclaAnton ImesonSander VeraverbekeRagni Fjellgaard MikalsenEugeniusz KodaPiotr OsinskiAna C. Meira CastroJoão Pedro NunesDuarte OomDiana VieiraTeodor RusuSrđan BojovićDragana DjordjevicZorica PopovicMilan ProticSanja SakanJan GlasaDanica KacikovaLubomir LichnerAndrea MajlingovaJaroslav VidoMateja FerkJure TičarMatija ZornVesna ZupancM. Belén HinojosaHeike KnickerManuel Esteban Lucas-BorjaJuli PausasNuria Prat-GuitartXavier UbedaLara VilarGeorgia DestouniNavid GhajarniaZahra KalantariSamaneh Seifollahi-AghmiuniTurgay DindarogluTugrul YakupogluThomas SmithStefan DoerrArtemi Cerda
Source
Air, Soil and Water Research, Vol 14 (2021)
Subject
Environmental sciences
GE1-350
Language
English
ISSN
1178-6221
11786221
Abstract
Changes in climate, land use, and land management impact the occurrence and severity of wildland fires in many parts of the world. This is particularly evident in Europe, where ongoing changes in land use have strongly modified fire patterns over the last decades. Although satellite data by the European Forest Fire Information System provide large-scale wildland fire statistics across European countries, there is still a crucial need to collect and summarize in-depth local analysis and understanding of the wildland fire condition and associated challenges across Europe. This article aims to provide a general overview of the current wildland fire patterns and challenges as perceived by national representatives, supplemented by national fire statistics (2009–2018) across Europe. For each of the 31 countries included, we present a perspective authored by scientists or practitioners from each respective country, representing a wide range of disciplines and cultural backgrounds. The authors were selected from members of the COST Action “Fire and the Earth System: Science & Society” funded by the European Commission with the aim to share knowledge and improve communication about wildland fire. Where relevant, a brief overview of key studies, particular wildland fire challenges a country is facing, and an overview of notable recent fire events are also presented. Key perceived challenges included (1) the lack of consistent and detailed records for wildland fire events, within and across countries, (2) an increase in wildland fires that pose a risk to properties and human life due to high population densities and sprawl into forested regions, and (3) the view that, irrespective of changes in management, climate change is likely to increase the frequency and impact of wildland fires in the coming decades. Addressing challenge (1) will not only be valuable in advancing national and pan-European wildland fire management strategies, but also in evaluating perceptions (2) and (3) against more robust quantitative evidence.