Fire regimes and forest dynamics: a study of spatio-temporal ecosystem processes in the Valais (Switzerland) using historical ecology and modeling
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Photo: M. Conedera (WSL)
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In many eco-regions of the world, fires are a major driver of
vegetation development. Global warming is likely to change fire
frequency and intensity at the regional scale, thus causing vegetation
shifts. In regions where forest fires so far have played only a minor
role, they may become a key element determining vegetation composition,
landscape dynamics and ecosystem functions. However, fire regimes,
i.e., the spatial extent, intensity, and frequency of fires, are
determined by many factors in addition to climate.
Human activities,
vegetation composition and structure, fuel load, and landscape patterns
also have to be taken into consideration to determine fire risk.
Understanding and disentangling the various factors that are crucial
for shaping the current fire regime and for predicting the likely
future fire regime thus requires a multi-faceted approach.
In the proposed project, we intend to analyze the past, present, and
future fire regimes of a region that is likely to become more
fire-prone in the future, i.e., the Canton of Valais (Switzerland), a
dry, interior valley of the European Alps. Specifically, we will assess
the relative impacts of climate, vegetation properties and human
activities on the fire regime.
Project aims
- To elucidate the historical (100 to 180
years) patterns of the fire regime in the Valais (Switzerland).
- To
perform an in-depth analysis of the changes of the historical fire
regime in space and time.
- To compare these results with the
findings on the fire regime of a neighboring region, the Ticino
(Switzerland).
Whereas one thesis focuses on the historical aspects, an
other thesis, located at the ETH aims at using these data to test and
improve the LANDCLIM model with respect to (a) its accuracy for
historical and current climate and land-use conditions of the Valais
and (b) its ability to project future changes in the fire regime in the
Valais and the European Alps in general.
Results
The following publications summarize the results of the research related to this project:
Zumbrunnen, T.; Bürgi, M.; Bugmann, H., 2010:
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Le régime des incendies de forêt en Valais: influences climatiques et anthropiques.
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Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Forstwese. 161: 442-449
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Zumbrunnen, T.; Pezzatti, G.B.; Menéndez, P.; Bugmann, H.; Bürgi, M.; Conedera, M., 2011:
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Weather and human control on forest fires: comparing 100 years of fire history in two climatic regions of Switzerland.
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Forest Ecology and Management. 261: 2188-2199
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Zumbrunnen, T.; Menéndez, P.; Bugmann, H.; Conedera, M.; Gimmi, U.; Bürgi, M.,
2012:
Human impacts on fire occurrence: a case study of hundred years of forest fires in a dry alpine valley in Switzerland.
Reg. Environ. Change.
12:
935-949.
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Participants
- Thomas Zumbrunnen (Ph.D. student)
- Matthias Bürgi
- Marco Condedera
- Harald Bugmann (ETH Zürich)
Link
Kontakt
| Keywords: |
Historical Ecology, History of forest fires |