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Fire occurrence zoning from local to global scale in the European Mediterranean basin: implications for multi-scale fire management and policy

Nikos Koutsias (1)   , Britta Allgöwer (2), Kostas Kalabokidis (3), Giorgos Mallinis (4), Panagiotis Balatsos (5), Johann G Goldammer (6)

iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry, Volume 9, Issue 2, Pages 195-204 (2015)
doi: https://doi.org/10.3832/ifor1513-008
Published: Nov 12, 2015 - Copyright © 2015 SISEF

Research Articles


This study proposes and evaluates a relatively new concept for fire occurrence zoning based on documented historical fire records. The proposed method creates continuous kernel density surfaces based on wildland fire ignition observations. Kernels have the advantage of directly producing density estimates that are not influenced by grid size or localization effects. Within this scheme, kernel density surfaces have been created and reclassified to construct fire occurrence zones at local to global scales in the Mediterranean Basin. Specifically, fire occurrence zones were created for the European scale (European Mediterranean Basin), national scale (Greece), regional scale (Peloponnese, Greece) and local scale (Chalkidiki, Greece). To evaluate fire occurrence zones, we compared the observed with the expected distribution of the number of fires within these zones using a Monte Carlo randomization test, finding that these numbers were statistically different in all cases. The deviations observed from the expected distributions towards the high occurrence zone indicated their successful assessment and value. In this paper, we further discuss their potential role and use for multi-scale fire management and policy in a European context.

  Keywords


Fire Occurrence Zones, Kernel Density Interpolation, Local Scale, Regional Scale, National Scale, European Scale, Greece

Authors’ address

(1)
Nikos Koutsias
Department of Environmental and Natural Resources Management, University of Patras, G. Seferi 2, GR-30100 Agrinio (Greece)
(2)
Britta Allgöwer
Museum of Natural History, Canton of Lucerne, Kasernenplatz 6, CH-6003 Lucerne (Switzerland)
(3)
Kostas Kalabokidis
Department of Geography, University of the Aegean, University Hill, GR-81100 Mytilene (Greece)
(4)
Giorgos Mallinis
Department of Forestry & Management of the Environment and Natural Resources, Democritus University of Thrace, Pantazidou 193, GR-68200 Orestiada (Greece)
(5)
Panagiotis Balatsos
Ministry of Environment, Energy, and Climatic Change, Directorate General for Development and Protection of Forests and Natural Environment, Halkokondili 31, GR-10164, Athens (Greece)
(6)
Johann G Goldammer
Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC), Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, c/o Freiburg University/ United Nations University, Georges-Koehler-Allee 75, D-79110 Freiburg (Germany)

Corresponding author

 
Nikos Koutsias
nkoutsia@upatras.gr

Citation

Koutsias N, Allgöwer B, Kalabokidis K, Mallinis G, Balatsos P, Goldammer JG (2015). Fire occurrence zoning from local to global scale in the European Mediterranean basin: implications for multi-scale fire management and policy. iForest 9: 195-204. - doi: 10.3832/ifor1513-008

Academic Editor

Davide Ascoli

Paper history

Received: Nov 24, 2014
Accepted: Sep 11, 2015

First online: Nov 12, 2015
Publication Date: Apr 26, 2016
Publication Time: 2.07 months

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