Arian Kaz Phoenix 2008dk

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Lessons learned from large fires in Greece

Margarita Arianoutsou and Dimitris Kazanis

Department of Ecology and Systematics,

Faculty of Biology, University of Athens, Greece

http://uaeco.biol.uoa.gr Lisbon, July 200

Wildfires in Southern Europe

more than 60,000 fires burn throughout theMediterranean Basin every year, consuming an annualaverage of more than 600,000 hectares (JRC, EC, 2005)


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(JRC, 2007JRC, 2007)

EuropeanMediterraneancountries

Greece was the country most severelyaffected by fires in 2007

Total burned area: 269,114 ha


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European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), 2007 reportEuropean Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), 2007 report

270,000 ha burned

450000 olive trees (in groves)3000 animals (domestic herds)

1500 bee hives

and . 76 people

270,000 ha burned

2100 buildings completely destroyed1800 partially damagedonly in Peloponnese fires


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MediterraneanMediterranean

vs.vs.

nonnon--MediterraneanMediterranean

Mt Parnitha

National Park9221,1 ha

(GR3000001)

Mt Pilion15,000 ha

(GR1430001)

Peloponnese

180,000 ha(GR2320001GR2320002GR2320003

GR2320005GR2320007GR2330005GR2520006GR2550006

.)

Regions experienced fires&

area burned


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NATURA sites burned by 2007 fires in Greece

Southern Greece


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Mediterranean Ecosystems

Issues for consideration:Issues for consideration:

Public pressure for immediate actionsPublic pressure for immediate actions

Management of domestic grazingManagement of domestic grazing

Risk for landRisk for land--use changesuse changes Restoration schemesRestoration schemes

nonnon--Mediterranean EcosystemsMediterranean Ecosystems

(wet Mediterranean?)(wet Mediterranean?)

Issues for consideration:Issues for consideration:

Low resilience?Low resilience? Biodiversity loss?Biodiversity loss?

Restoration schemesRestoration schemes

!! Knowledge Gap !!!! Knowledge Gap !!


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Mt. Mainalon

MtMt MainalonMainalon ((GRGR25200012520001))

Diverse relief with a highest peak of 1980 m.a.s.l.

One of the most extended and developed forests of the endemicAbies cephalonica

Numerous endemic plant species


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MtMt MainalonMainalon ((GRGR25200012520001))

A large fire occurred during summer of 2000, the first contemporary case of mega-

fire affecting wet mediterranean forests in Greece.Parts of the burned area were planted with Pinus nigra.

In spring 2007 no tree regeneration has been encountered but for near unburnedpatches

2007: part of the 2000 burnedarea was re-burned

Mt. Taygetos


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MtMt TaygetosTaygetos ((GRGR25200012520001))

Great landscape and habitat diversity (0 2407 m.a.s.l.)

High local endemism, one of the Mediterranean Basin Biodiversity HotspotsVariety of wet Mediterranean forests:Abies cephalonica, Pinus nigra, Quercus spp.


A fire event burned patches ofA. cephalonica and P. nigra forests in the summer1998


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Taygetos Mt, Peloponnese

Lack of forest management / dead biomass standing / fuel increase

Pinus nigra forests is apriority habitat type includedin the Habitats Directive92/43 of EU

Pinus nigra does notform serotinous cones;early release of seedsat the beginning ofspring; seedgermination isnegatively affected byhigh temperatures(>1000C) and exposuretime


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Patches of the 1998 burned area were planted

2007: most of the 1998 burnedarea was re-burned

Deciduous forestsconsisted of Quercusspp. seem to be moreresistant to fire.

Oaks have variousregeneration modesexcept seed germination


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Kaiafas Area

KaiafasKaiafas Area (Area (GRGR22330005)330005)

Sand dune ecosystems with P. halepensis and P. pinea forests

Wetland with important avifauna


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Density of Pinus pineaseedlings: 0.61/m2

Establishment ofplots formonitoringnaturalregeneration

Short distanceseed dispersal

Although natural regeneration is occurring, reforestation isplanned

Many umbrella pine trees were not killed by fire, as it is proved bythe development of new green needles, yet illegal cutting of treeshas been observed and legal cutting of standing trees is currentlytaking place


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Mt. Parnitha

Mt Parnitha (Mt Parnitha (GRGR25200012520001))

National Park since 1961

The closestAbies cephalonica forest to Athens metropolitan area

~ 1100 plant taxa, 92 endemics


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Mt Parnitha National Park wasburned in June 2007 for 5consecutive days.

National Park

of the areaburned

2049 ha ofAbiescephalonica

forests areburned

(69.5% ofthe total)

Mt Parnitha area burned: ~ 6000 ha


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Abies cephalonica does not posses serotinous cones.

Its regeneration is foreseen to be dependent on seed

dispersal and colonization from unburned patches

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0-1

6-7

12-13

18-19

24-25

30-31

36-37

42-43

48-49

54-55

60-61

66-67

72-73

78-79

84-85

90-91

96-97

distance from unburned, m

s

eednumberperm

2

Abies cephalonica seed dispersal in the burned stands; the role of unburned patches


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Parnitha National Park after the large fire of June 2007

The issue ofThe issue of megafiresmegafires

Parnitha National Park after cutting down almost all standing treesfor log dam construction

Placement of log damseven on flat stonyareas

Effectiveness oflog dams


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Animal tracks over theburned soil in the PNP

The role of theintroduced deer and theenvironmentalawareness

Parnitha National Park

Reforestation withAbies cephalonica

(saplings of different geographical origin)


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Parnitha National Park - Reforestation withAbies cephalonica

Placement of the 2-yr saplings in clothed sacs with a piece ofcellulose at the bottom

Impacts of post-fire management practices in local, regional and largelandscape units level are unknownare unknown/ monitoring schemes requiredmonitoring schemes required

Design of specific restoration schemes for vulnerable species (rare,threatened, endemic e.g.Abiesspecies) and habitats (e.g. Pinus nigraEuropean priority habitat type)

Elaborate indices that will help the organization of post-fire restoration ofburned areas based on ecological criteria and on socio-economic factors

Improve the means of knowledge transfer to managers and policy makers


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Thank you

Documents

Arian Kaz Phoenix 2008dk