Characterizing potential wildland fire fuel in live vegetation in the Mediterranean region

• Published in: Annals of forest science. Vol. 74; no. 1; pp. 1 - 14
• Main Authors: Fares, Silvano, Bajocco, Sofia, Salvati, Luca, Camarretta, Nicolò, Dupuy, Jean-Luc, Xanthopoulos, Gavriil, Guijarro, Mercedes, Madrigal, Javier, Hernando, Carmen, Corona, Piermaria
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Paris Springer Paris 01.03.2017; Springer Nature B.V; Springer Nature (since 2011)/EDP Science (until 2010)
• Subjects: basins; Biomass; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Ecological effects; Environment; Evaluation; fire spread; Flammability; Forest biomass; Forest fires; Forestry; Forestry Management; fuel moisture index; Fuels; fuels (fire ecology); Leaves; Lidar; Life Sciences; Literature reviews; Management; Mediterranean region; Moisture; Moisture content; Organic chemistry; Organic compounds; phenology; planning; prediction; Remote sensing; Review Paper; Seasonal variations; Standardization; Tree Biology; Uncertainty; Vegetal Biology; Vegetation; Vegetation cover; VOCs; Volatile organic compounds; Wildfires; wildland fire management; Wood Science & Technology; Mediterranean Area; Mediterranean region; Biogenic volatile organic compounds; Mediterranean forests; Live fuel vegetation; Plant moisture; Remote sensing; LiDAR; mediterranean region; région méditerranéenne; Plantmoisture; flore sauvage; remote sensing; humidité; végétation dynamique; télédétection; composé organique; water content; organic compounds; lidar; dynamique du combustible; optical radar
• ISSN: 1286-4560; 1297-966X
• DOI: 10.1007/s13595-016-0599-5

Key message Fuel moisture and chemical content affecting live plant flammability can be measured through laboratory and field techniques, or remotely assessed. Standardization of methodologies and a better understanding of plant attributes and phenological status can improve models for fire management. Context Wildland fire management is subject to manifold sources of uncertainty. Beyond the difficulties of predicting accurately the fire behavior, uncertainty stems from incomplete understanding of ecological susceptibility to fire. Aims We aimed at reviewing current knowledge of (i) plant attributes and flammability: fuel moisture and chemical content in leaves; (ii) experimental evaluation of flammability in the laboratory and in the field; and (iii) proxy evaluation of flammability: vegetation cover assessment at large scale, fuel seasonality, and biomass distribution using remote sensing and Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) techniques. Methods We conducted a review of scientific literature from the last two decades on the three selected issues, with a specific focus on the Mediterranean region. Results We have evidenced important knowledge gaps: (i) developing standardized methodologies for laboratory- and field-scale assessment of vegetation flammability; (ii) introducing reliable approaches to test the impact of biogenic volatile organic compounds on fire spread; (iii) improving the analysis of spatiotemporal changes in vegetation dynamics, acknowledging distinctive vegetation phenological status as a relevant driver affecting leaf biomass and moisture contents; and (iv) further exploring the processes that shape fuel dynamics to understand how fuel characteristics change over time and space. Conclusion We propose some improvements in the current knowledge of vegetation science and wildland fire ecology, aiming to generate more realistic models and effective planning in support of fire management in the Mediterranean basin.