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Nature-Based Solutions to Extreme Wildfires

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A special issue of Fire (ISSN 2571-6255). This special issue belongs to the section "Fire Research at the Science–Policy–Practitioner Interface".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 June 2025 | Viewed by 19457

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Adrián Regos

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Forest Science and Technology Center of Catalonia, Crta. Antiga St Llorenç de Morunys km 2, 25280 Solsona, Catalonia, Spain
Interests: landscape ecology; fire ecology; environmental management; conservation biology; remote sensing; geographic information science
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The perception of fire as a fundamental ecological process is being increasingly accepted by the scientific community, but is not yet well-acknowledged by civil society. Consequently, fire management have been largely focused on suppression rather than prevention, which has paradoxically increased the proneness and flammability of our landscapes. The combined effects of climate and land-use change have complexified the problem by shifting fire regimes from their baselines. The ancient use of fire by local communities as a management tool is another critical factor to understand the role that fire has historically played in shaping landscapes and fire regimes. However, the growing disconnection from nature, together with the lack of a long-term perspective in land management, undermine our ability to find (and eventually implement) efficient and sustainable solutions to the increasing wildfire hazard.

Nature-based Solutions (NbS), defined as ‘solutions that are inspired and supported by nature, which are cost-effective, and simultaneously provide environmental, social and economic benefits and help build resilience’, should enable decision- and policymakers to cope with extreme wildfires while ensuring biodiversity conservation and the long-term supply of ecosystem services.

The goal of this Special Issue is to identify NbS to the societal challenge of extreme wildfires. We encourage authors to submit their articles to this Special Issue if the paper covers at least two of the three abovementioned issues (namely, fire management, biodiversity and/or ecosystem services):

Effects of fire management on ecosystem services.
Effects of fire management on biodiversity.
Trade-offs between fire mitigation and ecosystem services.
Trade-offs between fire mitigation and biodiversity.
Cost–benefit analysis of fire management.

Dr. Adrián Regos
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Fire is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

fire management
extreme wildfires
biodiversity
ecosystem services
nature-based solutions
complex socio-ecological systems
local communities and stakeholders’ perception

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Published Papers (9 papers)

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Research

29 pages, 1110 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Framing Coherence Across EU Policies Towards Integrated Wildfire Risk Management and Nature-Based Solutions

by Eduard Plana, Marta Serra, Annick Smeenk, Adrián Regos, Claudia Berchtold, Maria Huertas, Lola Fuentes, Antoni Trasobares, Julie Nicole Vinders, Conceição Colaço and José Antonio Bonet

Fire 2024, 7(11), 415; https://doi.org/10.3390/fire7110415 - 13 Nov 2024

Viewed by 810

Abstract

Wildfire risk has been exacerbated across Europe by climate change favoring more damaging and severe wildfire events. This evolving wildfire risk context interacts with a broad landscape of EU policies including those on nature conservation, forestry, bioeconomy or climate and energy, all of which may increase or reduce fire hazard and the level of exposure and vulnerability of the values at risk. Coherently addressed, policies may support wildfire disaster risk management synergistically while reducing potential dysfunctions. This research conducts a content analysis of EU policies and initiatives under the European Green Deal with respect to integrated wildfire risk management and related nature-based solutions. The results show that a consistent EU policy framework to address wildfire risk reduction in a synergic way exists, with no major conflicts in the policy design. Nevertheless, better guidance on fire-smart land management practices and the conceptualization of wildfire-related nature-based solutions may enhance a more coherent policy implementation. Additional suggestions around the legal status of wildfire protection and ‘whole of government’ governance frameworks are discussed. Notably, within the laws, policies and initiatives analyzed, the beneficial side of fire addressed by integrated fire management is either missing or not explicitly mentioned, although it is considered in policy-related supporting guidelines. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nature-Based Solutions to Extreme Wildfires)

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14 pages, 13528 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Particulate Matter Production from Prescribed Burns in the Chicagoland Area

by Katherine Petralia and Mark Potosnak

Fire 2024, 7(11), 379; https://doi.org/10.3390/fire7110379 - 25 Oct 2024

Viewed by 543

Abstract

Prescribed burns are a land management tool currently used to aid in fire mitigation and to promote desired plant species and reduce undesired species, which are often invasive species. Currently, there is a public stigma surrounding the negative effects of prescribed burns, which impacts their use near residential areas. There are also particular challenges of conducting prescribed burns in urban and suburban areas. A better understanding of these relatively small-scale prescribed burns and their impact on atmospheric chemistry and air quality can allow for better communication with the public about their positive impacts, as well as for the acknowledgement and quantification of their drawbacks. This study considers the particulate matter concentrations proximate to prescribed fires being conducted in the greater Chicago metropolitan area. We deployed low-cost sensors in the spring and fall of 2022 at four sites. Concentrations of particulate matter exceeded accepted human health exposure limits at locations that burn crews would experience, but levels quickly returned to baseline after the high-intensity phase of the burn. With the ever-expanding wildland–urban interface and increased efforts in ecological restoration, understanding the particulate matter emissions of prescribed fires conducted near populated areas can provide more data regarding air quality impacts. These impacts should be weighed against the ecological benefits of prescribed burns and potential air quality impacts from uncontrolled burns from ecosystems that are not treated with prescribed burns. Measuring air quality impacts can also inform fire management practices with the goal of reducing future emissions. With the very present effects of climate change, understanding baselines regarding prescribed fires can better equip future research and fire professionals in fighting fire with fire. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nature-Based Solutions to Extreme Wildfires)

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17 pages, 2931 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Systematic Approach to Map and Evaluate the Wildfire Behavior at a Territorial Scale in the Northwestern Iberian Peninsula

by Thais Rincón, Laura Alonso, Juan Picos, Domingo M. Molina-Terrén and Julia Armesto

Fire 2024, 7(7), 249; https://doi.org/10.3390/fire7070249 - 13 Jul 2024

Viewed by 1298

Abstract

In the current context of extreme wildfires, understanding fire behavior at a territorial level has proven crucial for territory planning. This type of analysis is usually conducted by analyzing past wildfire statistics. In this study, we forego the past information related to wildfires and analyze, instead, the behavior of the entire territory in the face of wildfires. This allows for the distribution of ignition points to be systematized and for typical and atypical weather scenarios to be considered. This analysis relies on the use of wildfire simulation software. Ignition points used for the simulations were distributed using a systematic 1 × 1 km grid throughout the whole study area. Wildfires were simulated for each ignition point using eight different weather scenarios representing both typical and atypical weather conditions. The fire behavior on the territory was analyzed using rate of spread and intensity parameters for each simulated wildfire. It was observed that this territory is extremely prone to large wildfires both in typical and atypical weather conditions and that there is a tendency for extreme behaviors to develop. Some features were identified as prevention issues that ought to be addressed. This study develops a strategy to evaluate, in a systematic manner, the response of the territory to the threat of wildfires. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nature-Based Solutions to Extreme Wildfires)

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19 pages, 3301 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Optimizing Wildfire Prevention through the Integration of Prescribed Burning into ‘Fire-Smart’ Land-Use Policies

by Silvana Pais, Núria Aquilué, João P. Honrado, Paulo M. Fernandes and Adrián Regos

Fire 2023, 6(12), 457; https://doi.org/10.3390/fire6120457 - 1 Dec 2023

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3699

Abstract

Integrating fire into land management is crucial in fire-prone regions. To evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of prescribed fire (PF), we employed the REMAINS model in NW Iberia’s Transboundary Biosphere Reserve Gerês-Xurés. We tested three levels of prescribed fire treatment effort for shrubland and grassland, employing three spatial allocation strategies: random distribution, prioritization in high-wildfire-risk zones, and creating fuel breaks by utilizing the existing road network. These approaches were assessed in isolation and in combination with three land-use scenarios: Business-as-usual (representing rural abandonment trends), High Nature Value farmland (reversing farmland abandonment), and Fire-Smart forest management (promoting fire-resistant landscapes). Our results confirm that PF is effective in reducing future wildfires (reductions up to 36%), with leverage values ranging from 0.07 to 0.45. Strategic spatial allocation, targeting wildfire-risk areas and existing road networks, is essential for maximizing prescribed fire’s efficiency (leverage effort of 0.32 and 0.45; i.e., approximately 3 ha of PF decrease subsequent wildfire by 1 ha). However, the PF treatments yield the best efficiency when integrated into land-use policies promoting ‘fire-smart’ landscapes (reaching leverage values of up to 1.78 under policies promoting ‘HNVf and ‘fire-smart’ forest conversion). These recommendations strengthen wildfire prevention and enhance landscape resilience in fire-prone regions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nature-Based Solutions to Extreme Wildfires)

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18 pages, 3165 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Harnessing Natural Disturbances: A Nature-Based Solution for Restoring and Adapting Dry Forests in the Western USA to Climate Change

by William L. Baker, Chad T. Hanson and Dominick A. DellaSala

Fire 2023, 6(11), 428; https://doi.org/10.3390/fire6110428 - 9 Nov 2023

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2859

Abstract

Natural disturbances (wildfires, droughts, beetle outbreaks) shaped temperate forests for millennia, including dry forests of the western USA. Could they now best restore and adapt dry forests to climate change while protecting nearby communities? Mechanical fuel-reduction treatments (e.g., thinning) reduce landscape heterogeneity and appear ineffective since <1% of the treated area encounters fire each year and fires are still increasing. We propose and analyze a nature-based solution (NbS), using natural disturbances, to see whether it is feasible, how long it might take, and whether it could more effectively restore and adapt dry forests to climate change. We compared 2010–2019 disturbance rates on ~16 million ha of federal dry forests with historical data. We evaluated how much adaptation is achieved by comparing how trees are selected by treatments and disturbances. We found an NbS, which works with natural disturbances and prioritizes community protection, is feasible in western USA dry forests since disturbances are occurring mostly within historical rates. Natural disturbances, unlike mechanical treatments, select survivors that are more likely to be genetically adapted to survive future disturbances and climate change, while perpetuating ecosystem services. Natural disturbances also could ecologically restore forest heterogeneity, better maintain carbon storage, and reduce management needs. A fully developed disturbance-based NbS could more effectively adapt dry forests to climate change within ~30–40 years if active management is reprioritized to protect the built environment and communities near public forests. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nature-Based Solutions to Extreme Wildfires)

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23 pages, 4102 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Estimating the Trade-Offs between Wildfires and Carbon Stocks across Landscape Types to Inform Nature-Based Solutions in Mediterranean Regions

by Rui Serôdio Simões, Paulo Flores Ribeiro and José Lima Santos

Fire 2023, 6(10), 397; https://doi.org/10.3390/fire6100397 - 14 Oct 2023

Viewed by 2395

Abstract

Climate and land-use changes have been contributing to the increase in the occurrence of extreme wildfires, shifting fire regimes and driving desertification, particularly in Mediterranean-climate regions. However, few studies have researched the influence of land use/cover on fire regimes and carbon storage at the broad national scale. To address this gap, we used spatially explicit data from annual burned areas in mainland Portugal to build a typology of fire regimes based on the accumulated burned area and its temporal concentration (Gini Index) between 1984 and 2019. This typology was then combined with carbon stock data and different landscapes to explore relationships between landscape types and two important ecosystem services: wildfire reduction and carbon stock. Multivariate analyses were performed on these data and the results revealed a strong relationship between landscapes dominated by maritime pine and eucalypt plantations and highly hazardous fire regimes, which in turn hold the highest carbon stocks. Shrubland and mixed landscapes were associated with low carbon stocks and less hazardous fire regimes. Specialized agricultural landscapes, as well as mixed native forests and mixed agroforestry landscapes, were the least associated with wildfires. In the case of agricultural landscapes, however, this good wildfire performance is achieved at the cost of the poorest carbon stock, whereas native forests and agroforestry landscapes strike the best trade-off between carbon stock and fire regime. Our findings support how nature-based solutions promoting wildfire mitigation and carbon stock ecosystem services may prevent and revert land degradation harming Mediterranean regions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nature-Based Solutions to Extreme Wildfires)

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28 pages, 7014 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Exploring Land System Options to Enhance Fire Resilience under Different Land Morphologies

by João Ferreira Silva, Selma B. Pena, Natália S. Cunha, Paulo Flores Ribeiro, Francisco Moreira and José Lima Santos

Fire 2023, 6(10), 382; https://doi.org/10.3390/fire6100382 - 7 Oct 2023

Viewed by 1621

Abstract

Fire is the origin of serious environmental and social impacts in Mediterranean-like landscapes, such as those in California, Australia, and southern Europe. Portugal is one of the southern European countries most affected by fire, which has increased in intensity and extent in the recent decades in response to variations in climate, but mostly due to changes in land systems (LSs), characterized by land use and land cover and also by factors such as management intensity, livestock composition, land ownership structure, and demography. Agricultural activities, which contributed to the management of fuel in the overall landscape, were allocated to the most productive areas, while the steepest areas were occupied by extensive areas of shrubland and monospecific forests, creating landscapes of high fire-proneness. These challenging circumstances call for landscape transformation actions focusing on reducing the burned area, but the spatial distribution of LS is highly conditioned by land morphology (LM), which limits the actions (e.g., farming operations) that can be taken. Considering the constraints posed by the LM, this study investigates whether there is a possibility of transforming the landscape by single modifying the LS from more to less fire prone. To better understand landscape–fire relationships, the individual and interactive effects of the LS and LM on burned areas were also analyzed. Even in the more fire-prone LM types, a 40% proportion of agricultural uses in the landscape results in an effective reduction in the burned area. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nature-Based Solutions to Extreme Wildfires)

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21 pages, 6785 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Wildfires in the Larch Range within Permafrost, Siberia

by Viacheslav I. Kharuk, Evgeny G. Shvetsov, Ludmila V. Buryak, Alexei S. Golyukov, Maria L. Dvinskaya and Il’ya A. Petrov

Fire 2023, 6(8), 301; https://doi.org/10.3390/fire6080301 - 4 Aug 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1827

Abstract

Throughout the larch range, warming leads to frequent fires and an increase in burned areas. We test the hypothesis that fires are an essential natural factor that reset larch regeneration and support the existence of larch forests. The study area included Larix sibirica and L. gmelinii ranges within the permafrost zone. We used satellite-derived and field data, dendrochronology, and climate variables analysis. We found that warming led to an increase in fire frequency and intensity, mean, and extreme (>10,000 ha) burned areas. The burned area is increasing in the northward direction, while fire frequency is decreasing. The fire rate exponentially increases with decreasing soil moisture and increasing air temperature and air drought. We found a contrasting effect of wildfire on regeneration within continuous permafrost and within the southern lowland boundary of the larch range. In the first case, burnt areas regenerated via abounded larch seedlings (up to 500,000+ per ha), whereas the south burns regenerated mostly via broadleaf species or turned into grass communities. After the fire, vegetation GPP was restored to pre-fire levels within 3–15 years, which may indicate that larch forests continue to serve as carbon stock. At the southern edge of the larch range, an amplified fire rate led to the transformation of larch forests into grass and shrub communities. We suggested that the thawing of continuous permafrost would lead to shrinking larch-dominance in the south. Data obtained indicated that recurrent fires are a prerequisite for larch forests’ successful regeneration and resilience within continuous permafrost. It is therefore not necessary to suppress all fires within the zone of larch dominance. Instead, we must focus fire suppression on areas of high natural, social, and economic importance, permitting fires to burn in vast, larch-dominant permafrost landscapes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nature-Based Solutions to Extreme Wildfires)

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14 pages, 8882 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Dijkstra-Based Approach to Fuelbreak Planning

by Assaf Shmuel and Eyal Heifetz

Fire 2023, 6(8), 295; https://doi.org/10.3390/fire6080295 - 31 Jul 2023

Viewed by 1309

Abstract

One of the most effective methods of preventing large-scale wildfires is creating fuelbreaks, buffer zones whose purpose is to stop or delay the spread of the fire, providing firefighters an opportunity to control the fire. Fuelbreaks are already applied in several countries and have proven their effectiveness. However, creating fuelbreaks involves deforestation, so the length of the fuelbreaks should be minimized as much as possible. In this paper, we propose the implementation of a greedy Dijkstra-based fuelbreak planning algorithm which identifies locations in which fuelbreaks could significantly reduce the risk of large wildfires, at a relatively low deforestation cost. We demonstrate the stages and output of the algorithm both on artificial forests and on actual forests in Israel. We discuss the factors which determine the cost effectiveness of fuelbreaks from a tree-economy perspective and demonstrate how fuelbreaks’ effectiveness increases as large wildfires become more frequent. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nature-Based Solutions to Extreme Wildfires)

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