http://http://dspace.unitus.it:80 The DSpace digital repository system captures, stores, indexes, preserves, and distributes digital research material. Fri, 24 May 2013 13:29:38 GMT 2013-05-24T13:29:38Z http://hdl.handle.net/2067/1944 Title: Post-fire forest management in southern Europe: a COST action for gathering and disseminating scientific knowledge. Authors: Corona, Piermaria; Barbati, Anna; Arianoutsou, Margarita; De Las Heras, Jorge; Fernandes, P.; Moreira, F.; Papageorgiou, K.; Vallejo, Ramon V.; Xanthopoulos, Gavriil Abstract: Every year about 45 000 forest fires occur in Europe, burning half a million hectares of forests and rural lands; between 1995 and 2004, more than 4 million hectares burned in the Mediterranean Region alone. Post-fire management of burned areas has been given much lesser attention than combating or preventing fires. However, important questions raise public concern and call for sound scientific knowledge to undertake appropriate post-fire actions: e.g., how to evaluate fire damages in economical terms? How to manage burned areas? Is it possible to establish, in the long-term, less flammable and more fire resilient forests and landscapes? To address these questions, a network of researchers and practitioners working in the field of fire ecology and forest management from all around Europe has been established in the frame of “COST Action FP0701-Post-Fire Forest Management in Southern Europe”, supported by the European Union Research and Technology Development Framework Program. The Action aims to: i) develop and disseminate scientifically based decision criteria for planning post-fire forest management, from the stand to the landscape level; ii) translate this scientific knowledge into management practices; iii) connect scientists and stakeholders for exchanging experiences, evaluating these practices, and putting them into practice. To achieve these objectives the scientific groups involved will a) review and summarize the current scientific knowledge on post-fire management in Europe, by gathering and evaluating the results of previous and ongoing research; b) translate this knowledge into technical recommendations, by producing thematic reports, a book on the state-of-the-art of scientific knowledge on post fire assessment, and an electronic handbook on post-fire restoration; c) disseminate this knowledge to stakeholders, practitioners and decision makers. Besides publications and a project website already active (http://uaeco.biol.uoa.gr/cost/), training schools and one major conference will be organized. Although focused on Southern Europe, the outcomes of this Action will be crucial for central and northern European countries as well, as climate change and land use changes often leading to more homogeneous and expanding forest areas are already increasing fire hazard in those regions. Thu, 31 Dec 2009 23:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2067/1944 2009-12-31T23:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2067/2315 Title: Setting the Scene for Post-Fire Management Authors: Moreira, Francisco; Arianoutsou, Margarita; Vallejo, V. Ramon; de las Heras, Jorge; Corona, Piermaria; Xanthopoulos, Gavriil; Fernades, Paulo; Papageorgiou, Kostas Description: Il capitolo, che fa parte del volume "Post-Fire Management and Restoration of Southern European Forests",è disponibile sul sito dell'editor www.springer.com. Sat, 31 Dec 2011 23:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2067/2315 2011-12-31T23:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2067/2348 Title: Landscape-wildfire interactions in southern Europe: implications for landscape management Authors: Moreira, Francisco; Viedma, Olga; Arianoutsou, Margarita; Curt, Thomas; Koutsias, Nikos; Rigolot, Eric; Barbati, Anna; Corona, Piermaria; Vaz, Pedro; Xanthopoulos, Gavriil; Mouillot, Florent; Bilgili, Ertugrul Abstract: Every year approximately half a million hectares of land are burned by wildfires in southern Europe, causing large ecological and socio-economic impacts. Climate and land use changes in the last decades have increased fire risk and danger. In this paper we review the available scientific knowledge on the relationships between landscape and wildfires in the Mediterranean region, with a focus on its application for defining landscape management guidelines and policies that could be adopted in order to promote landscapes with lower fire hazard. The main findings are that (1) socio-economic drivers have favoured land cover changes contributing to increasing fire hazard in the last decades, (2) large wildfires are becoming more frequent, (3) increased fire frequency is promoting homogeneous landscapes covered by fire-prone shrublands; (4) landscape planning to reduce fuel loads may be successful only if fire weather conditions are not extreme. The challenges to address these problems and the policy and landscape management responses that should be adopted are discussed, along with major knowledge gaps. Description: L'articolo è disponibile sul sito dell'editore www.elsevier.com Fri, 31 Dec 2010 23:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2067/2348 2010-12-31T23:00:00Z