Comparing fire behavior and severity between a wildfire and a controlled burn in an Atlantic shrubland
[Background] Climate and land-use changes are leading to landscape homogenization and fire regime modification in many fire-prone ecosystems. Controlled burns are increasingly being used as a landscape management tool, and a full understanding of the characteristics and impacts of this practice is e...
| Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | article |
| Status: | Published version |
| Publication Date: | 2025 |
| Country: | España |
| Institution: | Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) |
| Repository: | DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:digital.csic.es:10261/410806 |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10261/410806 https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/105020434890 |
| Access Level: | Open access |
| Keyword: | Technical fire Fire behavior Fire ignition patterns High-intensity burn Prescribed fire Smoldering |
| Summary: | [Background] Climate and land-use changes are leading to landscape homogenization and fire regime modification in many fire-prone ecosystems. Controlled burns are increasingly being used as a landscape management tool, and a full understanding of the characteristics and impacts of this practice is essential. Here we compared a high-moderate intensity controlled burn, carried out outside the normal prescribed burning period, with a wildfire in Atlantic shrublands (NW Iberian Peninsula) which occurred only one week after the controlled burn. We assessed fire behavior, fire severity, and fuel load reduction under different fire behaviors/ignition patterns in both types of fires. Fire behavior was analyzed using weather stations, thermocouples, unmanned aerial vehicles, and photos, and fire severity was assessed in the field using the Composite Burn Index, the post-fire branch diameter, and the percentage of smoldering, and also via remote sensing metrics. |
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