Rebetez Martine

Preventing Forest Fires in a Changing Environment in Ticino, Southern Switzerland: a Social and Environmental Approach

Project Number: C01.0060

Project Type:	Research_Project
Project Duration:	01/01/2002 - 12/31/2004
Funding Source:	BBW ,
Project Leader:	Prof. Martine Rebetez Walddynamik / Ökosystem-Ökologie Institut de Géographie IGG, Université de Neuchâtel WSL Espace Tilo-Frey 1 2000 Neuchâtel Phone: +41 (0) 32 718 15 10 ; +41 (0) 32 718 18 12 FAX: +41 (0) 32 718 17 01 e-Mail: martine.rebetez(at)wsl.ch http://www.wsl.ch/

related to this project.

for which the project has a relevance.

Keywords:
Forest
Fire
Ticino
Ecosystems
Management

Abstract:
Forest fires are common events in winter in Ticino, southern Switzerland. During winter little precipitation and strong Foehn winds occur, resulting in frequent droughts. This drastically dries out the fuel available, and forest fires are likely to burn intensely. Forests are valued by humans for several reasons, and fires reduce their perceived value. Ironically, people are the primary source of ignition of forest fires. We assess this dual role in an integrated manner to better understand human behaviour towards forest fire phenomena, linking our results to climate change and its impacts.

Climate is a key element, which affects relative humidity within the forests. In Southern Switzerland, we have observed increasing trends in extreme drought, probably linked to climatic change. These changes are more important than changes in annual precipitation sums. An increase in extreme drought implies a higher risk for forest fires. Climate also governs the nature of vegetation and the fuel load in the forests. Climatic changes might lead to modifications of the current species composition in the forests. Furthermore, not all vegetation types burn similarly and some trees are more resistant to fire than others. These changes may well affect the behaviour of forest fires and their altitudinal distribution.

Available fuel in the forests builds up from natural vegetation growth, but largely depends on agro-forestry activities. Fuel consists of standing and fallen wood (live and dead), leaves or needles (dry and humid) on the ground and trees, and grasses (dry or green). The quantity and quality available matters because it defines the intensity of a fire event.

Forest fires cannot be regarded as natural phenomena in the South of Switzerland because they are mostly anthropogenically triggered. The changing climatic patterns set new conditions for the forests, however, climate and vegetation response cannot explain the sudden increase in forest fires events by themselves. Research focus is now set on public perception of fire and behaviour in order to develop optimal fire mitigation strategies that rely on sound ecological and social knowledge

URL: http://www.wsl.ch/projects/forest_fire/project-en.ehtml

Publications:
Reinhard M., Rebetez M., Schlaepfer R., 2005. Recent Climate Change: Rethinking drought in the Context of Forest Fire Research in Ticino, South of Switzerland, Theor. Appl. Clim, published online March 31.


Last update: 9/23/05
Source of data: ProClim- Research InfoSystem (1993-2024)
Update the data of project: CH-2376

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