Mapping and assessment of ecological vulnerability to wildfires in Europe

[Background]: Wildfires play a significant and complex role in ecosystems, influencing various aspects of their functioning and structure. These natural disturbances can positively and negatively impact ecosystems, shaping landscapes, nutrient cycles, biodiversity, and ecological processes. This stu...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Arrogante-Funes, Fátima, Mouillot, Florent, Moreira, Bruno, Aguado, Inmaculada, Chuvieco, Emilio
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2024
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/373852
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/373852
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Ecological vulnerability to wildfires
Recovery time
Ecological values
Coping capacity
Wildfires
Vulnerability assessment
Descripción
Sumario:[Background]: Wildfires play a significant and complex role in ecosystems, influencing various aspects of their functioning and structure. These natural disturbances can positively and negatively impact ecosystems, shaping landscapes, nutrient cycles, biodiversity, and ecological processes. This study focuses on assessing and integrating the different factors that affect the ecological vulnerability to wildfires at the European scale. Our methodology follows three steps. Firstly, ecological values based on biological distinctiveness and conservation status were estimated to understand pre-fire conditions better. Secondly, we obtain vegetation’s coping capacity (or resistance) to the impacts of fire, considering the functional traits of plants and fire characteristics through a fire extreme scenario. Finally, post-fire recovery time was calculated by considering the species-specific recovery time, recovery starting time, growth recovery rate, and the environmental constraints affecting the optimal vegetation response. These three variables were combined using a dynamic model that assumed the change of value due to wildfires integrated throughout the recovery time.