Forest fires and fire management in Sweden : a comparison with Spain

Forest fires have been an influential disturbance on the flora and the fauna both in the Boreal and in the Mediterranean regions. Through this project, it has been shown that this problem is very different from one region to the other. In the Boreal region, there is a lack of forest fires due to the...

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Main Author: López, Jerónimo
Format: L3
Language:Inglés
Published: SLU/Dept. of Forest Products 2003
Subjects:
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author López, Jerónimo
author_browse López, Jerónimo
author_facet López, Jerónimo
author_sort López, Jerónimo
collection Epsilon Archive for Student Projects
description Forest fires have been an influential disturbance on the flora and the fauna both in the Boreal and in the Mediterranean regions. Through this project, it has been shown that this problem is very different from one region to the other. In the Boreal region, there is a lack of forest fires due to the intense and efficient fight against them, which may result in a less diverse flora and fauna. In the Mediterranean region the forest fires burn every year a large surface, sometimes even jeopardizing people's lives. This enormous difference is mainly due to climatic and socio-economic factors. In Boreal regions, the main cause for forest fires is lightning ignition, while in the Mediterranean region it involves just a low percentage of the total forest fires; most of them are caused by men, with a high incidence of arson due to different conflicts. Once that the forest fires are not any longer a problem in the Boreal region, the use of prescribed burning has received a renewed interest. By mean of this, it is tried to favour the different fire-adapted organisms and to create favourable conditions for forest regeneration. Different studies have shown the benefits of the forest fires for the regeneration of several species. The present goal for forest companies, as expressed in their policies and in the forest certification criteria, is to burn a specific amount of land. It is likely that in the future, emphasis will shift towards obtaining maximal ecological gains with the aid of fire. The problem of fire management is not to abolish fire but to establish its proper proportion, to reconcile fire use with fire control. What this means specifically will vary with the specific purposes of specific lands. Within the Mediterranean region the current situation is completely different. Despite all the efforts made and all the money invested, forest fires keep on being a serious problem. The number of forest fires is increasing every year, although the total area burnt is slightly decreasing. Even though a big effort is being made throughout this entire region, forest fires still spread over large surfaces every year. Throughout this project, I have also gone through the different ways of fighting forest fires, from the prevention to the extinction, and some of the new technologies that are already being used.
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institution Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
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publishDate 2003
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spelling RepoSLU113982017-10-06T08:27:29Z Forest fires and fire management in Sweden : a comparison with Spain López, Jerónimo forest fire fire management Forest fires have been an influential disturbance on the flora and the fauna both in the Boreal and in the Mediterranean regions. Through this project, it has been shown that this problem is very different from one region to the other. In the Boreal region, there is a lack of forest fires due to the intense and efficient fight against them, which may result in a less diverse flora and fauna. In the Mediterranean region the forest fires burn every year a large surface, sometimes even jeopardizing people's lives. This enormous difference is mainly due to climatic and socio-economic factors. In Boreal regions, the main cause for forest fires is lightning ignition, while in the Mediterranean region it involves just a low percentage of the total forest fires; most of them are caused by men, with a high incidence of arson due to different conflicts. Once that the forest fires are not any longer a problem in the Boreal region, the use of prescribed burning has received a renewed interest. By mean of this, it is tried to favour the different fire-adapted organisms and to create favourable conditions for forest regeneration. Different studies have shown the benefits of the forest fires for the regeneration of several species. The present goal for forest companies, as expressed in their policies and in the forest certification criteria, is to burn a specific amount of land. It is likely that in the future, emphasis will shift towards obtaining maximal ecological gains with the aid of fire. The problem of fire management is not to abolish fire but to establish its proper proportion, to reconcile fire use with fire control. What this means specifically will vary with the specific purposes of specific lands. Within the Mediterranean region the current situation is completely different. Despite all the efforts made and all the money invested, forest fires keep on being a serious problem. The number of forest fires is increasing every year, although the total area burnt is slightly decreasing. Even though a big effort is being made throughout this entire region, forest fires still spread over large surfaces every year. Throughout this project, I have also gone through the different ways of fighting forest fires, from the prevention to the extinction, and some of the new technologies that are already being used. SLU/Dept. of Forest Products 2003 L3 eng https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/11398/
spellingShingle forest fire
fire management
López, Jerónimo
Forest fires and fire management in Sweden : a comparison with Spain
title Forest fires and fire management in Sweden : a comparison with Spain
title_full Forest fires and fire management in Sweden : a comparison with Spain
title_fullStr Forest fires and fire management in Sweden : a comparison with Spain
title_full_unstemmed Forest fires and fire management in Sweden : a comparison with Spain
title_short Forest fires and fire management in Sweden : a comparison with Spain
title_sort forest fires and fire management in sweden : a comparison with spain
topic forest fire
fire management