Ghermandi Luciana, Beletzky Natacha A, de Torres Curth Mónica I, Oddi Facundo J
Laboratorio Ecotono, INIBIOMA (CONICET-UNComa), Pasaje Gutiérrez 1125, 8400 Bariloche, Prov. de Río Negro, Argentina.
Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche, Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Quintral 1250, 8400 Bariloche, Prov. de Río Negro, Argentina.
J Environ Manage. 2016 Dec 1;183(Pt 3):925-937. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2016.09.051. Epub 2016 Sep 24.
The overlapping zone between urbanization and wildland vegetation, known as the wildland urban interface (WUI), is often at high risk of wildfire. Human activities increase the likelihood of wildfires, which can have disastrous consequences for property and land use, and can pose a serious threat to lives. Fire hazard assessments depend strongly on the spatial scale of analysis. We assessed the fire hazard in a WUI area of a Patagonian city by working at three scales: landscape, community and species. Fire is a complex phenomenon, so we used a large number of variables that correlate a priori with the fire hazard. Consequently, we analyzed environmental variables together with fuel load and leaf flammability variables and integrated all the information in a fire hazard map with four fire hazard categories. The Nothofagus dombeyi forest had the highest fire hazard while grasslands had the lowest. Our work highlights the vulnerability of the wildland-urban interface to fire in this region and our suggested methodology could be applied in other wildland-urban interface areas. Particularly in high hazard areas, our work could help in spatial delimitation policies, urban planning and development of plans for the protection of human lives and assets.
城市化与荒地植被的重叠区域，即所谓的城市与野地交界处（WUI），往往面临着很高的野火风险。人类活动增加了野火发生的可能性，野火可能对财产和土地利用造成灾难性后果，并对生命构成严重威胁。火灾风险评估在很大程度上取决于分析的空间尺度。我们通过在景观、社区和物种三个尺度上开展工作，评估了巴塔哥尼亚一个城市的城市与野地交界处区域的火灾风险。火灾是一种复杂的现象，因此我们使用了大量与火灾风险先验相关的变量。因此，我们分析了环境变量以及燃料负荷和叶片易燃性变量，并将所有信息整合到一张具有四个火灾风险类别的火灾风险地图中。假山毛榉森林的火灾风险最高，而草原的火灾风险最低。我们的工作突出了该地区城市与野地交界处易受火灾影响的脆弱性，我们建议的方法可应用于其他城市与野地交界处区域。特别是在高风险地区，我们的工作有助于制定空间划界政策、城市规划以及制定保护人类生命和资产的计划。
