Are wildfires a disaster in the Mediterranean basin? - A review

• Published in: International journal of wildland fire Vol. 17; no. 6; pp. 713 - 723
• Main Authors: Pausas, Juli G, Llovet, Joan, Rodrigo, Anselm, Vallejo, Ramon
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Collingwood, Victoria: CSIRO Publishing 2008
• Subjects: anthropogenic activities; broadleaved evergreen forests; disasters; ecosystems; fire ecology; fire regime; forest plantations; forest regeneration; history; land use; perceptions (cognitive); Pinus; plant communities; plant growth; Quercus; regrowth; resilience; sensitivity; shrublands; soil erosion; species differences; trees; vegetation; wildfires; woodlands; Mediterranean region

Evolutionary and paleoecological studies suggest that fires are natural in the Mediterranean basin. However, the important increase in the number of fires and area burned during the 20th century has created the perception that fires are disasters. In the present paper, we review to what extent fires...