Fires and landscape conservation in mediterranean ecosystems

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Abstract

Protected areas are some of the last remaining areas on Earth where fire can play its natural role at a landscape-scale. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has developed a system for categorizing protected areas. The role fire can play in the various categories depends on the management objectives of the category, the size of the individual units, and the laws and policies of the country in which the unit is located. An analysis of all the IUCN protected areas showed that 505 areas had the potential for conserving landscape fire. Areas in Europe, Africa, South America, Australia, and North America show promise for being able to include fire in the conservation of landscapes. Examples from South Africa, Australia, and the United States show how fire can be incorporated at the landscape scale. Future challenges include increasing urban encroachment, climate change, and air pollution. Society will have to deal with these challenges if fire is to continue its essential ecological role in Mediterranean ecosystems.

Publication type Book chapter
Publication Subtype Book Chapter
Title Fires and landscape conservation in mediterranean ecosystems
DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-01754-4_3
Year Published 2009
Language English
Publisher Springer
Contributing office(s) Western Ecological Research Center
Description 16 p.
Larger Work Type Book
Larger Work Subtype Monograph
Larger Work Title Earth Observation of Wildland Fires in Mediterranean Ecosystems
First page 24
Last page 39
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