Interregional comparative analysis of wild land fires in Spain

  • M. Barjadi Universitat de Lleida
  • D. Molina
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5424/610
Keywords: Wildland fire, Severity index, Frequency index, Fire cause, Spain, 1986-95 decade

Abstract

We groups Spanish mainland provinces in three regions in order to accomplish this study: Northwest (NW), Mediterranean Coast (LM) and Interior (IP) aimed to explain if there are differences in today’s (decade 1986-95) wildland fire regimes. This grouping follows variations in both climatic conditions, human population densities and land uses, which influence fire causes and behavior. We calculate the frequency index (FI = number of fires / 10000 ha of wildlands) and the severity index (SI = area swept by fire ( 100 / total area of wildands). The latest index was recalculated for both forested and non-forested wildlands. Northwest region has higher FI (27.9) than Interior (4.1) and Mediterranean Coast (6.1) regions. Although frequency indexes for Interior and Mediterranean Coast are lower, the ratio area swept by fire over total forest area do not differ from Northwest ratio. Northwest region has SI values for non-forested wildlands (2.0) higher than other regions (0.4 for IP; and 0.8 for LM). Careful characterization of these regions through meteorological and social factors can help to understand those differences, especially the ones regarding causes.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.
Published
1999-06-01
How to Cite
Barjadi, M., & Molina, D. (1999). Interregional comparative analysis of wild land fires in Spain. Forest Systems, 8(1), 151-170. https://doi.org/10.5424/610
Issue
Vol. 8 No. 1 (1999)
Section
Research Articles

© CSIC. Manuscripts published in both the printed and online versions of this Journal are the property of Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, and quoting this source is a requirement for any partial or full reproduction.

All contents of this electronic edition, except where otherwise noted, are distributed under a “Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International” (CC BY 4.0) License. You may read here the basic information and the legal text of the license. The indication of the CC BY 4.0 License must be expressly stated in this way when necessary.

Self-archiving in repositories, personal webpages or similar, of any version other than the published by the Editor, is not allowed.

Crossref
Scopus
Google Scholar
Europe PMC