Cost-Effectiveness of Fuel Removals in Mediterranean Wildland-Urban Interfaces Threatened by Wildfires
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Landscape
2.2. Wind Scenarios and Fuel Removals
2.3. Urban Density Estimation
2.4. Cost-Effectiveness Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Fire Behavior Simulations
3.2. WUIs Affected
3.3. Estimating the Cost-Effectiveness Analysis
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Acknowledgments
Author Contributions
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Forest Fuel Characteristic | Fuel Model | ||
---|---|---|---|
Conifer | Mixed-Forest | Maquis | |
Dead fuel load (Mg/ha) | 15.81 | 13.70 | 7.57 |
1 h | 13.73 ± 0.69 | 12.11 ± 1.36 | 6.82 ± 0.90 |
10 h | 1.51 ± 0.19 | 1.57 ± 0.39 | 0.51 ± 0.27 |
100 h | 0.56 ± 0.16 | 0.00 | 0.23 ± 0.16 |
Live fuel load (Mg/ha) | 3.02 | 17.19 | 8.17 |
Herbaceous | 0.00 | 1.93 ± 0.99 | 4.62 ± 0.99 |
Woody | 3.02 ± 0.71 | 15.26 ± 3.82 | 3.54 ± 0.87 |
Fuel model type | static | static | static |
Dead 1 h-SA/V (cm−1) | 46.01 ± 3.87 | 49.7 ± 5.52 | 25.01 ± 1.49 |
Fuel bed depth (cm) | 38.97 ± 3.78 | 75.79 ± 4.74 | 51.72 ± 4.11 |
Moisture of extinction (%) | 40 | 25 | 40 |
Dead heat content (kJ/kg) | 19,590 | 19,590 | 19,590 |
Live heat content (kJ/kg) | 13,967 | 13,967 | 13,967 |
Fuel Model | 1hFL (ton/ha) | Study Area Covered (ha) | Amount of 1hFL (tons) |
---|---|---|---|
Conifer | 13.73 | 1604 | 22,023 |
Mixed-forests | 12.11 | 38 | 460 |
Maquis | 6.82 | 641 | 4371 |
Tot | 2283 | 26,854 |
Fuel Removal Scenarios | Wind Direction Scenarios | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
W1 (180°) | W2 (135°) | W3 (315°) | ||||
FLI (kW/m) | WUIs Affected (ha) | FLI (kW/m) | WUIs Affected (ha) | FLI (kW/m) | WUIs Affected (ha) | |
NoTreat | 1813.44 (±1606) | 214 | 1924.52 (±2212) | 230 | 876.31 (±903) | 120 |
FR1 (10%) | 1191.14 (±1547) | 186 | 1199.28 (±1549) | 203 | 719.75 (±723) | 103 |
FR2 (20%) | 1077.50 (±1485) | 167 | 1017.62 (±1366) | 198 | 617.62 (±616) | 94 |
FR3 (30%) | 865.44 (±1105) | 160 | 825.61 (±1101) | 192 | 538.18 (±546) | 94 |
FR4 (40%) | 613.66 (±650) | 146 | 564.25 (±585) | 181 | 461.09 (±478) | 81 |
FR5 (50%) | 392.97 (±374) | 138 | 334.55 (±232) | 169 | 384.65 (±411) | 81 |
FR6 (60%) | 306.97 (±316) | 108 | 250.07 (±164) | 159 | 308.67 (±345) | 70 |
FR7 (70%) | 196.78 (±181) | 87 | 173.11 (±106) | 138 | 211.03 (±201) | 55 |
FR8 (80%) | 107.66 (±78) | 65 | 100.35 (±71) | 117 | 103.33 (±79) | 47 |
Wind Scenarios | FLI Decreasing (%) | Fuel Load Removed (%) | Amount of 1hFL Removed | Cost of Fuel Removal | Unaffected Urban Area (ha) | CE Ratio (€/ha) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total (ton) | Mean (ton/ha) | (€/ha) | (€) | |||||
W 1 | 46 | 32 | 8592 | 3.7 | 790 | 1,804,320 | 98.44 | 18,329.13 |
W 2 | 36 | 60 | 16,111 | 7.05 | 1482 | 3,383,485 | 82.96 | 40,784.53 |
W 3 | 56 | 43 | 11,545 | 5.05 | 1060 | 2,421,121 | 67.68 | 35,773.06 |
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Elia, M.; Lovreglio, R.; Ranieri, N.A.; Sanesi, G.; Lafortezza, R. Cost-Effectiveness of Fuel Removals in Mediterranean Wildland-Urban Interfaces Threatened by Wildfires. Forests 2016, 7, 149. https://doi.org/10.3390/f7070149
Elia M, Lovreglio R, Ranieri NA, Sanesi G, Lafortezza R. Cost-Effectiveness of Fuel Removals in Mediterranean Wildland-Urban Interfaces Threatened by Wildfires. Forests. 2016; 7(7):149. https://doi.org/10.3390/f7070149
Chicago/Turabian StyleElia, Mario, Raffaella Lovreglio, Nicola A. Ranieri, Giovanni Sanesi, and Raffaele Lafortezza. 2016. "Cost-Effectiveness of Fuel Removals in Mediterranean Wildland-Urban Interfaces Threatened by Wildfires" Forests 7, no. 7: 149. https://doi.org/10.3390/f7070149