Divergent Fire Regimes in Two Contrasting Mediterranean Chestnut Forest Landscapes

Humans have historically played a critical role in the management of Mediterranean-type ecosystems (MTEs) through traditional fire use. Although chestnut forests are widespread across the Mediterranean Basin, little is known about their historical fire regimes. Our goal here is to generate testable...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Human ecology : an interdisciplinary journal 2017-04, Vol.45 (2), p.205-219
Main Authors: Seijo, Francisco, Millington, James D.A., Gray, Robert, Mateo, Laura Hernández, Sangüesa-Barreda, Gabriel, Camarero, J. Julio
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aerial photography
Agronomy
Anthropogenic factors
Anthropology
Burning
Chestnut
Community
Development policy
Ecology
Economic development
Ecosystem management
Ecosystems
Environmental Management
Forests
Geography
Human influences
Landscape
Local communities
Management
Photography
Prescribed fire
Social Sciences
Sociology
Strategic management
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Summary:Humans have historically played a critical role in the management of Mediterranean-type ecosystems (MTEs) through traditional fire use. Although chestnut forests are widespread across the Mediterranean Basin, little is known about their historical fire regimes. Our goal here is to generate testable hypotheses about the drivers of fire regime dynamics in chestnut dominated ecosystems. To examine anthropogenic fire management we selected two sites in Spain that have similar biophysical characteristics but divergent levels of economic development and fire management policies. Fire regimelandscape feedbacks were characterized through a pilot dendroecological study, official fire statistics, aerial photography and forest inventory data. Our results suggest that fire incidence in both sites has increased since the pre-industrial era but fire season, fire size, and forest structure have changed to a greater extent in the more developed site. These changes are probably driven by the decline in annual anthropogenic burning of litterfall by local communities at the more developed site during the non-vegetative season.
ISSN:0300-7839
1572-9915
DOI:10.1007/s10745-016-9879-9