Many satellite-based methods for fire detection and monitoring have been developed to exploit data acquired by sensors. Their relatively low temporal resolution (hours) is, however, decidedly not adequate for detecting short-living events or fires characterised by a marked diurnal cycle and rapid evolution times.
Category: Science
Aliens are coming! Threatening invasion or new opportunities from introduced tree species in Europe?
Austrian “Apfel strudel” and the Italian “Castagnaccio” are only two of the many culinary recipes that are traditional in Europe. But did you know that their main ingredients are the product of trees – Malus domestica and Castanea sativa – that are actually non-native to Europe? Many trees and crops have been introduced to Europe over the last centuries but when does a species become “invasive”? Could newly introduced tree species be an opportunity in this uncertain era of climatic changes? Scientists are trying toContinue reading
Narco-deforestation : what is it and why forests are unseen victim of drugs?
One of the unseen victims of cocaine and marihuana uses are forests. There is even a term created to name the impact of drugs on forests and it is called “narco-deforestation”. It happens not only in developing countries, but developed as well. In this post, I will present you two cases, where narco-deforestation takes place. Definitely, you will be suprised!
The future of Silver fir under climate change and browsing
We are back on the million dollar question: how will our forests develop in this uncertain era of climate change? Yes, many study showed that changing climate might have strong impacts on the dynamics of temperate forests, but let’s not forget that management and other factors played (and will play) an important role for European forests. Among the different forest ecosystems in Europe, the mixed silver fir-beech Dinaric forests are one of the most fascinating to me. If you do not know much about them,Continue reading
Monitoring wildfires with spatial technology has limitations
The shortcomings of wildfire spread modeling systems and the widespread use of their outcomes in fire management decisions render the evaluation of fire simulation results crucial for model calibration and improvement. This study proposes an exploratory evaluation framework of fire growth simulations using satellite active fire data.
The response of the forest to drought: the role of stand density and species diversity
Trees are beautiful complex adaptive organisms. As we see them standing immobile, deeply rooted to the ground and unable to move, we may think that they are defenceless to any change happening to their surrounding environment. In the case of drought, trees have evolved to use different strategies for facing water stress. However, intense and repeated droughts can induce changes in carbon allocation, regeneration rates and mortality. As the frequency and intensity of droughts are expected to increase in many regions due to climate change,Continue reading
Modeling fire size of wildfires
The extent of fires, their periodicity and their impact on terrestrial communities is always a concern. Wildfires play an important role in shaping landscapes and as a source of CO2 and particulate matter. Modeling the spatial variability of wildfire extent is an important subject in order to understand and to predict future trends on their effect in landscape changes.
Spraying forests does not get anything
Insect pests are a major threat to many forests worldwide, from boreal to tropical forest ecosystems. Some pests exhibit periodical outbreaks, after which their populations often crash as a result of natural biological control. In this study, authors assessed the performance of aerial spraying of insecticides on pine woodland stands to control pine processionary moth Thaumetopoea pityocampa (PPM) outbreaks in southern Spain.
Are forest disturbances amplifying or canceling out climate change-induced productivity changes in European forests?
Title of this post comes directly from recently published research paper. The international team of specialists has recently provided an overview of forest productivity changes in different forest regions in Europe under climate change, and tried to divide these changes into effects induced by climate change alone, and by climate change and forest disturbances. Read more what they have found!
Forest attrition distance reveals: deforestation was considerably higher in the western U.S.
The U.S. forests have been affected by dramatic land cover change over the past few centuries. In a paper published in PLoS One one month ago, Dr. Mountrakis and Sheng Yang, a graduate student, tried slicing deforestation a different way. Read more about a new way to measure deforestation, i.e. forest attrition distance, and and where in the U.S. it was higher!