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Introduction
Skills and Expertise
Publications
Publications (106)
En el contexto de proyectos de investigación nacionales (Madrigal et al. 2022a) y el proyecto INTERREG POCTEPCILIFO (www.cilifo.eu), se ha abordado el reto de utilizar fuegos experimentalespara gestionar ecosistemas RN2000 reduciendo el peligro de incendios. En este capítulo se presentan los resultados de dos tipos de ecosistemas contrastados, uno...
Live fuel moisture content (LFMC) influences many fire-related aspects, including flammability, ignition, and combustion. In addition, fire spread models are highly sensitive to LFMC values. Despite its importance, LFMC estimation is still elusive due to its dependence on plant species traits, local conditions, and weather patterns. Although LFMC m...
Climate change and land-use changes are the main drivers altering fire regimes and leading to the occurrence of megafires. Current management policies mainly focus on short-term restoration without considering how climate change might affect regeneration dynamics. We aimed to test the usefulness of ecological niche models (ENMs) to integrate the ef...
Canopy fuel characterization is critical to assess fire hazard and potential severity in forest stands. Simulation tools provide useful information for fire prevention planning to reduce wildfire impacts, provided that reliable fuel maps exist at adequate spatial resolution. Free airborne LiDAR data are becoming available in many countries providin...
In recent years, the incidence of forest fires in the wildland-urban interface areas (WUI) is becoming increasingly relevant. This is a relatively new scenario for the fight against forest fires, with its own characteristics for prevention and extinction. One of the main aspects to consider is the vegetation of these areas. In this sense, it is imp...
El papel de la vegetación en la protección pasiva frente a los incendios forestales en la interfaz urbano-forestal. Aplicación a la Comunidad de Madrid
En este estudio se describe, por primera vez, la comunidad de hongos de los bosques naturales de Pinus nigra mediterráneos. Nuestros resultados sugieren que las quemas prescritas son compatibles con la presencia de comunidades de hongos del suelo, aunque se hace necesario replicar este estudio en plantaciones forestales para contrastar la resilienc...
En un contexto de cambio climático, los incendios forestales suponen una grave amenaza para los ecosistemas arbolados de todo el mundo, modificando sus dinámicas naturales. Los ecosistemas mediterráneos están comúnmente afectados por incendios forestales, y las quemas prescritas se presentan en ellos como una herramienta eficaz para reducir su ries...
La caracterización de la cantidad y distribución espacial de la biomasa aérea en masas arboladas es clave para evaluar el riesgo de incendio y su severidad potencial, así como para planificar actuaciones preventivas orientadas a reducir su impacto. La tecnología LiDAR permite generar cartografía de variables descriptivas de la estructura de los com...
In the context of global change, wildfires are not only a threat but are also increasing in their severity in forest ecosystems worldwide, affecting and modifying vegetation, wildlife, and fungal dynamics. Mediterranean ecosystems are frequently affected by fire and prescribed burning is being increasingly used as a tool to reduce the risk and seve...
The study of the short-term post-burn tree growth in a mixed stand of Pinus nigra and Pinus pinaster and in a pure stand of P. nigra in the Cuenca Mountains (Spain) will enable us to determine the disturbance of prescribed burning conducted in two seasons. Dendrochronological methods and mixed modelling were used to investigate whether tree growth...
Context
Climate change and land-use changes are the main drivers altering fire regime and leading to the occurrence of megafires. Current management policies focus on short-term restoration without considering how climate change affects regeneration dynamics.
Objectives
We aimed to test the usefulness of ecological niche models (ENMs) in post-fire...
Serotiny is a well-known fire adaptive trait in some species, as the Mediterranean conifer Pinus halepensis. However, information about cone opening mechanisms during wildfires and consequences on post fire dispersal is scarce. In addition, standardized methods allowing a realistic simulation of heating modes at bench-scale are not available. In th...
In this study, we evaluated changes in the potential flammability of different Mediterranean shrub species in a pine (Pinus pinea) forest in the Doñana Natural Park (of SW Spain) as a result of goat grazing. Plant height, total biomass, fine fuel biomass and leaves/wood ratio were measured in individual plants of each species in both grazed and ung...
Several plant chemical traits (cellulose, tannins and terpenes) have been related to plant flammability. Contrastingly, no study has focused on the relationship between plant flammability and physico-chemical leaf litter traits with a focus on cuticular wax concentration. This study focuses on alkane cuticular waxes because of their relatively low...
Fire management can play a key role in ensuring stand maintenance in future scenarios of global change, particularly in Pinus nigra stands, which are known to be adapted to low-intensity surface fires through characteristics such as thick bark. In this study, laboratory tests were carried out to quantify cambium damage and fire resistance in P. nig...
Research Highlights: Litterfall biomass after prescribed burning (PB) is significantly influenced by meteorological variables, stand characteristics, and the fire prescription. Some of the fire-adaptive traits of the species under study (Pinus nigra and Pinus pinaster) mitigate the effects of PB on litterfall biomass. The Bayesian approach, tested...
Previous research has demonstrated that remote sensing can provide spectral information related to vegetation moisture variations essential for estimating live fuel moisture content (LFMC), but accuracy and timeliness still present challenges to using this information operationally. Consequently, many regional administrations are investing importan...
To explore the possible relationship between diseased trees and wildfires, we assessed the flammability of canker-resistant and susceptible common cypress clones that were artificially infected with Seiridium cardinale compared to healthy trees. This study explored the effect of terpenoids produced by the host plant in response to infection and the...
Key message
Wildfire danger and burnt areas should increase over the century in southern Europe, owing to climate warming. Fire-prone area expansion to the north and to Mediterranean mountains is a concern, while climate-induced burnt area increase might be limited by fuel availability in the most arid areas. Further studies are needed to both asse...
Litterfall production and composition, fall pattern and nutrient content were studied in a mixed stand of Pinus nigra and Pinus pinaster (El Pozuelo), as well as in a pure stand of Pinus nigra (Beteta) in the Cuenca Mountains in order to determine the effect of two-season prescribed burning treatments. Needles were the most abundant fraction. Pinec...
Wildfire is the main disturbance in forested ecosystems of southern Europe and is due to complex interactions between climate-weather, fuels and people. Warmer and drier conditions projected in this region are expected to profoundly affect wildfires, which will impact ecosystems and humans. We review the scientific literature addressing the assessm...
Airborne LiDAR has been proven very useful to characterize 3D forest structure, being a revolution on data gathering at large scale. Previous studies have shown different success of LiDAR for crown fuel characterization at different laser pulse densities. However, most of the studies comparing the effect of laser pulse density used simulated data f...
El proyecto que se presenta aborda una problemática de especial interés científico-tecnológico, ecológico y socio-económico relativa a los incendios forestales. Científico-tecnológico, por la escasez de información aplicable y fiable sobre el comportamiento del fuego de copa y por el estado incipiente de desarrollo de los modelos predictivos de com...
The stone pine (Pinus pinea L.) has thick bark as an adaptation to wildfire. In this study, laboratory tests were carried out to quantify the influence of bark thickness on flammability and fire resistance in this species. Heating rate in the cambium and the time to reach lethal temperatures in living tissues were determined using a mass loss calor...
behaviour. Reliable and updated estimations of LFMC are needed by fire managers for operational wildfire risk assessment. However, detailed and constant monitoring of LFMC in the field is costly and time-consuming. Remote sensing technologies are an important source of geospatial data that can provide spectral information related to LFMC at differe...
The defence system of Pinus spp. has been exploited to obtain resin for hundreds of years, and studying ways of enhancing yields continues to be important. In this study, we hypothesize that prescribed burning will increase secretory structures and/or resin yield in pine stands. To test this hypothesis, we applied an experimental burning treatment...
Fire Effects on Soil Properties brings together current research on the effects of fire on the physical, biological and chemical properties of soil. Written by over 60 international experts in the field, it includes examples from fire-prone areas across the world, dealing with ash, meso and macrofauna, smouldering fires, recurrent fires and managem...
Live fuel moisture content is a major driver of wildfire behavior, and a key component in fire danger rating systems. Due to climate change, Mediterranean countries are suffering more frequent extreme weather conditions and an extension of fire season along the year. Therefore, public administrations in Spain are investing important amounts of reso...
The defence system of Pinus spp. has been exploited to obtain resin for hundreds of years, and studying ways of enhancing yields continues to be important. In this study, we hypothesize that prescribed burning will increase secretory structures and/or resin yield in pine stands. To test this hypothesis, we applied an experimental burning treatment...
Vertical fuel structure is critical for fire hazard assessment in forest ecosystems. Forest stands with ladder fuels are more prone to crown fires because of canopy fuel continuity. However, characterization of ladder fuels is difficult in the field and few studies have developed explicit measurement procedures to account for these hazardous fuel s...
Geographical and climate characteristics of the sampling sites. Characteristics of the protection mixed forests of Cupressus sempervirens and Quercus ilex in Monte Morello area, Florence (Italy) and of Juniperus thurifera and Quercus faginea in Sela, Guadalajara (Spain).
Litter bed ignition and fire propagation tests were performed on a fire bench using a flaming cube of wood as an ember (a,b) and a cotton wick to simulate the advancing surface fire front (c), respectively.
Stand structure in the C. sempervirens-Q. ilex mixed forest (Florence, Italy) (A), and in the J. thurifera-Q. faginea mixed forest (Guadalajara, Spain) (B).
Shape of twigs with foliage in Q. ilex
(C) and C. sempervirens
(B) and Q. faginea
(A) and J. thurifera
(D).
In the Mediterranean region, wildfires are a major disturbance, determined by ecosystem and forest species characteristics. Both the flammability and resistance to fire of a mixed forest may vary from those of the individual species. Two mixed Mediterranean woodlands, a Cupressus sempervirens and Quercus ilex stand in Italy; and a Juniperus thurife...
Se presentan resultados preliminares desarrollados en el marco del proyecto GEPRIF para la evaluación y modelización de los combustibles forestales, tanto en relación con su componente estructural (distribución espacial) como su componente dinámica (variación estacional), a partir de la integración de distintas tecnologías de información geográfica...
Fire severity, defined as the magnitude of fire effects in an ecosystem, is a key factor to consider in planning management strategies for protecting forests against fire. Although prescribed burning has been used as a fuel reduction tool in forest ecosystems, it is quite limited in the Mediterranean region. Furthermore, little is known about how t...
Key message: The high flammability of some companion species inQuercus suberforests, estimated in laboratory tests, could potentially generate an increase in fire vulnerability and in fire risk. Context: Recurrent wildfire is one of the main causes of forest degradation, especially in the Mediterranean region. Increased fire frequency and severity...
Aims of study: To conduct the first full-scale crown fire experiment carried out in a Mediterranean conifer stand in Spain; to use different data sources to assess crown fire initiation and spread models, and to evaluate the role of convection in crown fire initiation.
Area of study: The Sierra Morena mountains (Coordinates ETRS89 30N: X: 284793-28...
La disponibilidad de una cobertura completa de datos LiDAR del Plan Nacional de Ortofotografía
Aérea está generalizando su uso para aplicaciones forestales. Entre los posibles usos de esta
tecnología se incluye la generación de cartografía continua de variables estructurales utilizadas como
dato de entrada en programas de simulación de incendios. S...
Key messageFuel 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. ContextWildland fire management is subject to m...
The Mediterranean basin is a fire-prone area and is expected to continue being so according to projected
climate and socioeconomic changes. Sustainable exploitation of forest biomass could have a positive effect on
wildfire hazard mitigation. A modelling approach was used to compare how four different Scenarios for biomass collection for energy use...
Prescribed fire has been widely used as a fuel reduction tool and silvicultural treatment in Mediterranean forest ecosystems. However, other than the fact that fire may alter microsite conditions, little is known about the impact of prescribed burning on the natural regeneration of Spanish black pine (Pinus nigra Arn. ssp. salzmanii). In this study...
Accurate determination of flammability is required in order to improve knowledge about vegetation fire risk. Study of the flammability of different plant species is essential for the Mediterranean area, where most ecosystems are adapted to natural fire but vulnerable to recurrent human-induced fires, which are the main cause of forest degradation....
This study proposes new bench-scale protocols for evaluating the flammability of bark and its involvement in resistance of trees to fire. Samples of cork from Algerian oak forests (Quercus suber) were selected for flammability testing. A mass loss calorimeter device, arranged in the standard horizontal configuration, was used to determine Heat Rele...
Fuel management is one of the main challenges for wildfire prevention in the Mediterranean region, where wildfires have important environmental and socioeconomic effects. Different treatments are usually applied in fire-prone shrubland to try to modify its flammability. However, a knowledge gap on the effectiveness of fuel management techniques sti...
Spain is one of the Mediterranean countries most severely affected by wildfires during the last 30 years, despite enhanced fire suppression efforts. At present, forest area is increasing more in Spain than in any other European country, and also has one of the highest densities of fire ignitions. However, forest management plans have been developed...
Se estudian los regimenes selvícolas más adecuados para la utilización energética y maderable de las masas de pino carrasco (Pinus halepensis) del Macizo del Caroig, partiendo de los datos de un inventario LIDAR y de una revision bibliográfica amplia sobre la especie. Se proporcionan datos sobre los sistemas de aprovechamiento más adecuados, sus re...
Aim of study: The present study is the first attempt to characterize and map wildland-urban interfaces (WUIs) in eastern Spain (province of Valencia) and its relationship with wildfire occurrence. Area of study: The study area is located in eastern Spain in the province of Valencia. The area covers 246,426 ha and includes four administrative depart...
Assessment of the flammability of ornamental vegetation (particularly hedges) planted around houses is necessary in light of the increasing urbanization of the wildland-urban interfaces (WUIs) and the high fire occurrence in such areas. The structure and flammability of seven of the species most frequently planted as hedges in Provence (southeaster...
Se presenta la primera fase de un estudio para la cuantificación de compuestos orgánicos volátiles de origen biogénico (BVOCs) en un dosel de un masa de Pinus pinea. Se emplean por primera vez discos de espuma de poliuretano impregnados (discos SIP) para la captación de terpenos. Se presentan los resultados de puesta a punto del método de muestreo...
Una estimación precisa de la carga de combustible del dosel consumida durante fuegos de copa activos es crítica para mejorar nuestro conocimiento del comportamiento del fuego de copa y para una cuantificación más precisa de las emisiones de los gases que se producen durante estos incendios. La información sobre consunciones en incendios reales es m...
The present study proposes a new method in order to evaluate the flammability of live plant parts at bench-scale. Flammability parameters were estimated by the use of a mass loss calorimeter, and fuel moisture content was evaluated by the use of moisture analyser. Forest fuels (Pinus pinaster, Cistus laurifolius, Lavandula stoechas and Daphne gnidi...
Fuel bulk density and fuel moisture content effects on fire rate of spread were assessed in shrub fuels, comparing experimental data observed in outdoor wind tunnel burns and predictions from the physically-based model FIRETEC. Statistical models for the combined effects of bulk density and fuel moisture content were fitted to both the experimental...
• Introduction
The abandonment of rural areas has led to an increase of the fire-prone European gorse (Ulex europaeus L.) communities in some regions, where prescribed burning is a technique applied to control them. Understanding flammability changes after treatments is crucial for the sustainable use of fire.
• Objectives
The objectives of this st...
Fuel management is commonly used to reduce fire risk in fire-prone shrubland, but information about the real efficacy of the different techniques is scarce. In this study, we assessed in the laboratory the effects of different treatment types on fire initiation risk in a mixed heathland. The effects of two mechanical treatments and of prescribed bu...
• Introduction
Wildfires are considered the most important disturbance in the Mediterranean Basin, and some are propagated over long distances due to lift-off and ignition of firebrands.
• Objectives
To improve our knowledge of firebrands involved in spotting fires, flammability characteristics of eight types of firebrands commonly generated by wil...
An adapted bench-scale Mass Loss Calorimeter (MLC) device is proposed for evaluating effective heat of rapid flaming combustion
of fine Mediterranean forest fuels. The MLC apparatus uses a calibrated thermopile to quantify heat release rate (HRR) as
an alternative to the classical oxygen consumption measurement. A porous holder was used to simulate...
A FTIR spectroradiometer working in a short open-path configuration has been implemented coupled to a Mass Loss Calorimeter to measure in situ and simultaneously the concentrations of the main gaseous carbon-related by-products from the combustion of forest fuels. A proper methodology to retrieve accurate values of CO and CO2 concentrations has bee...
Experimental tests were carried out with an adapted bench-scale mass loss calorimeter (MLC) and also in an outdoor wind tunnel to estimate the heat release rate (HRR) of a forest fuel bed. The MLC apparatus uses a calibrated thermopile to quantify the HRR, as an alternative to the classical measurement of oxygen consumption due to combustion. Addit...
In the present study, a smouldering fire was reproduced in a substrate from a Pinus pinaster forest in the southeastern Iberian Peninsula. Experiments were carried out, in laboratory, using soil monoliths to assess
the short-term fire-induced effects on germination, survival and morphological traits in young (3-year-old) specimens of Pinus pinaster...
In this work an adapted bench-scale Mass Loss Calorimeter (MLC) device is
used to measure HRR for forest fuels. The MLC has the same heating unit as a
standard cone calorimeter, but a) the physical basis to measure HRR in a MLC
(by using a calibrated thermopile) is different than the one used in the standard
cone calorimeter (oxygen consumption met...
Mechanical treatments are traditionally used to modify the fuel complex in shrubland, but information about their actual effectiveness in reducing the risk of wildfire initiation is scarce. The effects of two mechanical fuel treatments (shrub clearing with crushing and manual removal) on flammability in a shrubland community in north-western Spain...
