Calibration assessment of forest flammability potential in Italy
Author(s)
Corona, Piermaria
Ferrari, Barbara
Cartisano, Rosaria
Barbati, Anna
Date Issued
2014
Type
article
Abstract
Fuel flammability is defined as the relative ease with which a fuel will ignite and burn with a flame. Different forest types have different intrinsic “baseline” flammabilities, depending on the susceptibility to burn of the main tree
species that build up the forest cover. In this perspective, we apply a foresttype
based approach to classify and map the flammability level of the forests in
Italy. Baseline forest type-based flammability values provided at European
level have been assigned to a national forest types map, derived from Corine Land Cover 2006. Flammability values have been then further calibrated against the Burned Area Selection Ratio, a measure of the actual incidence of wildfires among different forest types. Accordingly, a calibrated flammability
index was derived by simple linear regression, so that predicted flammability
reflects more accurately the observed fire incidence among different forest types in Italy. Findings show that the flammability of forest types ranges from low to high: on average, the 17% of the forest cover has medium to high flammability,
with wide regional variability. Notably, in four Regions (Sardegna, Sicilia,
Puglia, Calabria) over one third of total forest area has medium to high flammability. Large scale mapping of forest flammability is crucial to define long-term priorities among forest areas as to how to distribute fire management effort. Areas falling into medium to high flammability classes should be
given priority for implementing fuel management treatments in order to mitigate
fire hazard from the stand to the landscape scale.
Citation
Corona, P. et al. 2014. Calibration assessment of forest flammability potential in Italy. "iForest" 7: 300-305
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