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Fire
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Vegetation Fires, Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Climate Change
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Vegetation Fires, Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Climate Change

A special issue of Fire (ISSN 2571-6255).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2024) | Viewed by 16077

Special Issue Editors

Dr. João Neves Silva

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Forest Research Centre, School of Agriculture, University of Lisbon, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017 Lisboa, Portugal
Interests: vegetation fires; greenhouse gas emissions from biomass burning; land use/cover mapping; remote sensing; field spectroradiometry
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Duarte Oom

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Disaster Risk Management Unit (E1), Joint Research Centre, European Commission, I-21027 Ispra, Italy
Interests: vegetation fires; wilfire risk assessment; remote sensing; burned area algorithm develoment; fire regime
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Vegetation fires have a large impact on the global carbon cycle and climate, releasing a variety of trace gases, such as CO, CO2, and CH4, into the Earth’s atmosphere. Fire emissions are associated with different anthropogenic and natural processes, from fires in the humid tropics, largely associated with deforestation activities, to wildfires in the temperate and boreal forests. Fire is also used as a tool, in agricultural lands or in slash and burn activities, where it may escape to surrounding forests in drought periods. In most regions of the world, climate change will increase the extent and severity of wildfires.

Understanding the role of climatic factors (e.g., long-term droughts) and anthropogenic factors (e.g., use of fire in grasslands or tropical woodlands) is very important to define fire management policies, which should keep in consideration future complex interactions among climate, land use/land cover, and socioeconomic changes. Satellite remote sensing provides the of extracting long-term trends of these the relationships among vegetation dynamics, fire incidence, and environmental factors.

The aim of this Special Issue is to present current research on fire management practices that lead to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, taking into consideration the determinants and effects of fire in each region, and the projected impacts of climate change. In some ecosystems, such as the tropical savannas, reducing gas emissions can be obtained by carrying out controlled burning in the early part of the dry season to prevent more frequent and intense fires later in the dry season. In other ecosystems, such as the temperate forests, prescribed fires are a tool for the long-term reduction of large wildfires and greenhouse gas emissions.

The submission of articles regarding the following topics will be most appreciated: applications of remotely sensed data for fire and vegetation monitoring; estimation of greenhouse gas emissions from vegetation fires; fire dynamics and carbon cycle; spatiotemporal trend analysis of fire incidence at regional and global scales; prescribed fires; land use/land cover–fire relationships; impacts of climate change on fire regimes; drivers of land cover/land use change; fire management practices.

You may choose our Joint Special Issue in Remote Sensing.

Dr. João Neves Silva
Dr. Duarte Oom
Guest Editors

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

  • Vegetation fires
  • GHG emissions
  • Fire regimes
  • Land use/land cover
  • Fire management
  • Climate change
  • Remote sensing

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 9624 KiB  
Article
Multiparameter Detection of Summer Open Fire Emissions: The Case Study of GAW Regional Observatory of Lamezia Terme (Southern Italy)
by Luana Malacaria, Domenico Parise, Teresa Lo Feudo, Elenio Avolio, Ivano Ammoscato, Daniel Gullì, Salvatore Sinopoli, Paolo Cristofanelli, Mariafrancesca De Pino, Francesco D’Amico and Claudia Roberta Calidonna
Fire 2024, 7(6), 198; https://doi.org/10.3390/fire7060198 - 14 Jun 2024
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1183
Abstract
In Southern Mediterranean regions, the issue of summer fires related to agriculture practices is a periodic recurrence. It implies a significant increase in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and other combustion-related gaseous and particles compounds emitted into the atmosphere with potential impacts [...] Read more.
In Southern Mediterranean regions, the issue of summer fires related to agriculture practices is a periodic recurrence. It implies a significant increase in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and other combustion-related gaseous and particles compounds emitted into the atmosphere with potential impacts on air quality and global climate. In this work, we performed an analysis of summer fire events that occurred on August 2021. Measurements were carried out at the permanent World Meteorological Organization (WMO)/Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) station of Lamezia Terme (Code: LMT) in Calabria, Southern Italy. The observatory is equipped with greenhouse gases and black carbon analyzers, an atmospheric particulate impactor system, and a meteo-station for atmospheric parameters to characterize atmospheric mechanisms and transport for land and sea breezes occurrences. High mole fractions of carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2) coming from quadrants of inland areas were correlated with fire counts detected via the MODIS satellite (GFED-Global Fire Emissions Database) at 1 km of spatial resolution. In comparison with the typical summer values, higher CO and CO2 were observed in August 2021. Furthermore, the growth in CO concentration values in the tropospheric column was also highlighted by the analyses of the L2 products of the Copernicus SP5 satellite. Wind fields were reconstructed via a Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) output, the latter suggesting a possible contribution from open fire events observed at the inland region near the observatory. So far, there have been no documented estimates of the effect of prescribed burning on carbon emissions in this region. This study suggested that data collected at the LMT station can be useful in recognizing and consequently quantifying emission sources related to open fires. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Vegetation Fires, Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Climate Change)
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26 pages, 5018 KiB  
Article
The Dynamics of Fire Activity in the Brazilian Pantanal: A Log-Gaussian Cox Process-Based Structural Decomposition
by Fernanda Valente and Márcio Laurini
Fire 2024, 7(5), 170; https://doi.org/10.3390/fire7050170 - 19 May 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 995
Abstract
We present a novel statistical methodology for analyzing shifts in spatio-temporal fire occurrence patterns within the Brazilian Pantanal, utilizing remote sensing data. Our approach employs a Log-Gaussian Cox Process to model the spatiotemporal dynamics of fire occurrence, deconstructing the intensity function into components [...] Read more.
We present a novel statistical methodology for analyzing shifts in spatio-temporal fire occurrence patterns within the Brazilian Pantanal, utilizing remote sensing data. Our approach employs a Log-Gaussian Cox Process to model the spatiotemporal dynamics of fire occurrence, deconstructing the intensity function into components of trend, seasonality, cycle, covariates, and time-varying spatial effects components. The results indicate a negative correlation between rainfall and fire intensity, with lower precipitation associated with heightened fire intensity. Forest formations exhibit a positive effect on fire intensity, whereas agricultural land use shows no significant impact. Savannas and grasslands, typical fire-dependent ecosystems, demonstrate a positive relationship with fire intensity. Human-induced fires, often used for agricultural purposes, contribute to an increase in both fire frequency and intensity, particularly in grassland areas. Trend analysis reveals fluctuating fire activity over time, with notable peaks in 2018–2021. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Vegetation Fires, Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Climate Change)
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16 pages, 2821 KiB  
Article
Assessing Carbon Emissions from Biomass Burning in Croplands in Burkina Faso, West Africa
by Pawend-taoré Christian Bougma, Loyapin Bondé, Valaire Séraphin Ouehoudja Yaro, Amanuel Woldeselassie Gebremichael and Oumarou Ouédraogo
Fire 2023, 6(10), 402; https://doi.org/10.3390/fire6100402 - 18 Oct 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2118
Abstract
Agricultural biomass burning plays a critical role in carbon emissions, with implications for climate change. This study aims to assess carbon (C) emissions and establish C, CO, CO2 and CH4 emission factors (EFs) by simultaneously testing the effects of climatic conditions [...] Read more.
Agricultural biomass burning plays a critical role in carbon emissions, with implications for climate change. This study aims to assess carbon (C) emissions and establish C, CO, CO2 and CH4 emission factors (EFs) by simultaneously testing the effects of climatic conditions and cropland category on gas emissions. In Burkina Faso, 96 experimental fires were conducted in accordance with farmers’ operations during the land-clearing season in two climatic zones (Sudanian and Sudano-Sahelian) and across two cropland categories (Cropland Remaining Cropland (CC) and Land Converted to Cropland (LC)). The carbon mass balance technique was applied to estimate emissions. Climate zone and cropland category significantly influenced carbon emissions and emission factors (p < 0.05). The Sudanian zone recorded the highest carbon emissions (0.24 ± 0.01 t C ha−1). For cropland category, LC recorded the highest carbon emissions with an average value of 0.27 ± 0.01 t C ha−1. CO2 EFs ranged from 1661.44 ± 3.63 g kg−1 in the Sudanian zone to 1716.51 ± 3.24 g kg−1 in the Sudano-Sahelian zone. EFs showed a dependence on the cropland category, with the highest EFs in CC. Smart agricultural practices limiting cropland expansion and biomass burning need to be promoted. This study provides vital information useful for supporting decision making as part of Nationally Determined Contributions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Vegetation Fires, Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Climate Change)
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13 pages, 1955 KiB  
Article
Assessing Impact of Multiple Fires on a Tropical Peat Swamp Forest Using High and Very High-Resolution Satellite Images
by Mui-How Phua and Satoshi Tsuyuki
Fire 2021, 4(4), 89; https://doi.org/10.3390/fire4040089 - 25 Nov 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3572
Abstract
Tropical peat swamp forests, found mainly in Southeast Asia, have been threatened by recurring El Niño fires. Repeated burnings form a complex and heterogeneous landscape comprising a mosaic of burned patches of different fire frequencies, requiring fine-scale assessment to understand their impact. We [...] Read more.
Tropical peat swamp forests, found mainly in Southeast Asia, have been threatened by recurring El Niño fires. Repeated burnings form a complex and heterogeneous landscape comprising a mosaic of burned patches of different fire frequencies, requiring fine-scale assessment to understand their impact. We examined the impact of the El Niño fires of 1998 and 2003 on a tropical peat swamp forest in northern Borneo, with the combined use of high and very high-resolution satellite images. Object-based and pixel-based classifications were compared to classify a QuickBird image. Burned patches of different fire frequencies were derived based on unsupervised classification of the principal components of multitemporal Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) data. The results show that the object-based classification was more accurate than the pixel-based classification for generating a detailed land cover map. Fire frequency had a severe impact on the number of burned patches and the residual forest cover. Larger patch area retained more residual forest cover for the burned patches. Forest structure of burned-twice patches was more severely altered compared to burned-once patches. Two burned-once patches had a relatively promising recovery potential by natural regeneration due to higher residual forest cover, a vast number of large trees, and aboveground biomass. Except for the largest patch, rehabilitation seemed inevitable for burned-twice patches. This approach can be applied to assess the impact of multiple fires on other forest types for better post-fire forest management. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Vegetation Fires, Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Climate Change)
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21 pages, 3285 KiB  
Article
Prescribed Burning Reduces Large, High-Intensity Wildfires and Emissions in the Brazilian Savanna
by Filippe L.M. Santos, Joana Nogueira, Rodrigo A. F. de Souza, Rodrigo M. Falleiro, Isabel B. Schmidt and Renata Libonati
Fire 2021, 4(3), 56; https://doi.org/10.3390/fire4030056 - 2 Sep 2021
Cited by 24 | Viewed by 6496
Abstract
Brazil has recently (2014) changed from a zero-fire policy to an Integrated Fire Management (IFM) program with the active use of prescribed burning (PB) in federal Protected Areas (PA) and Indigenous Territories (IT) of the Brazilian savanna (Cerrado). PB is commonly applied in [...] Read more.
Brazil has recently (2014) changed from a zero-fire policy to an Integrated Fire Management (IFM) program with the active use of prescribed burning (PB) in federal Protected Areas (PA) and Indigenous Territories (IT) of the Brazilian savanna (Cerrado). PB is commonly applied in the management of fire-prone ecosystems to mitigate large, high-intensity wildfires, the associated emissions, and high fire suppression costs. However, the effectiveness of such fire management in reducing large wildfires and emissions over Brazil remains mostly unevaluated. Here, we aim to fill the gap in the scientific evidence of the PB benefits by relying on the most up-to-date, satellite-derived fire datasets of burned area (BA), fire size, duration, emissions, and intensity from 2003 to 2018. We focused on two Cerrado ITs with different sizes and hydrological regimes, Xerente and Araguaia, where IFM has been in place since 2015. To understand fire regime dynamics, we divided the study period into three phases according to the prevalent fire policy and the individual fire scars into four size classes. We considered two fire seasons: management fire season (MFS, which goes from rainy to mid-dry season, when PBs are undertaken) and wildfires season (WFS, when PBs are not performed and fires tend to grow out of control). Our results show that the implementation of the IFM program was responsible for a decrease of the areas affected by high fire recurrence in Xerente and Araguaia, when compared with the Zero Fire Phase (2008–2013). In both regions, PB effectively reduced the large wildfires occurrence, the number of medium and large scars, fire intensity, and emissions, changing the prevalent fire season from the WFS to the MFS. Such reductions are significant since WFS causes higher negative impacts on biodiversity conservation and higher greenhouse gas emissions. We conclude that the effect on wildfires can still be reduced if effective fire management policies, including PB, continue to be implemented during the coming decades. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Vegetation Fires, Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Climate Change)
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