Skip to main content

FRAMES logo
Resource Catalog

Document

Type: Journal Article
Author(s): Lasse Loepfe; Jordi Martinez-Vilalta; Josep Piñol
Publication Date: 2011

Fire regimes depend on climate, vegetation structure and human influences. Climate determines the water content in fuel and, in the longer term, the amount of biomass. Humans alter fire regimes through increased ignition frequency and by hindering the spread of fire through fire suppression and fuel fragmentation. Here, we present FIRE LADY (FIre REgime and LAndscape DYnamics), a spatially explicit fire regime model that takes into account daily weather data, topography, vegetation growth, fire behaviour, fire suppression and land use changes. In this model, vegetation growth depends on water availability, and stem diameter and stand density are the fundamental parameters. Fire behaviour is modelled using the Rothermel equations and taking into account both crown fire and spotting. Human influences on fire regime, such as ignition frequency, fire suppression and land use changes, are explicitly modelled. The model was calibrated for three regions in NE Spain and reproduces fire regimes, changes in land cover distribution and tree biomass with promising accuracy. The explicit modelling of human influences makes the model a useful and unique tool for assessing the impacts of climate change and informing local fire regime management strategies. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Citation: Loepfe, L., J. Martinez-Vilalta, and J. Pinol. 2011. An integrative model of human-influenced fire regimes and landscape dynamics. Environmental Modelling & Software, v. 26, no. 8, p. 1028-1040. 10.1016/j.envsoft.2011.02.015.

Cataloging Information

Topics:
Regions:
Keywords:
  • crown fires
  • diameter classes
  • Europe
  • fire management
  • fire regime
  • fire regimes
  • fire suppression
  • fire suppression
  • forest management
  • land use
  • land use change
  • landscape dynamics
  • plant growth
  • population density
  • rate of spread
  • Spain
  • spot fires
  • vegetation growth
  • wildfires
Tall Timbers Record Number: 26348Location Status: Not in fileCall Number: Not in FileAbstract Status: Fair use, Okay, Reproduced by permission
Record Last Modified:
Record Maintained By: FRAMES Staff (https://www.frames.gov/contact)
FRAMES Record Number: 49867

This bibliographic record was either created or modified by Tall Timbers and is provided without charge to promote research and education in Fire Ecology. The E.V. Komarek Fire Ecology Database is the intellectual property of Tall Timbers.