Recent dynamics of forest fires in Quercus suber stands in Sardinia, Corsica and Catalonia

In this study, we analyzed the recent dynamics of forest fires in Quercus suber stands in Sardinia (Italy), Corsica (France), and Catalonia (Spain) for the period 2003-2015.

Quercus suber L. forests cover large areas of the Mediterranean landscapes, and represent a key source of income and jobs related to the harvesting and transformation of the cork bark. Furthermore, cork oak forests are associated with high biodiversity and conservation value, and also provide a number of goods and services (e.g.: pastures, leisure activities, beekeeping, mushrooms, shelter for animals). The most relevant disturbance for Quercus suber stands, as well as for Mediterranean forests, is represented by forest fires, although cork oaks are able to survive and resprout (from stem buds or basal buds) after fire. In the Mediterranean basin, fires are typically concentrated in summer, and can be responsible of huge damages and large burned areas, particularly in correspondence of extreme weather conditions (dry fuels, strong winds, low relative humidity). In this study, we analyzed the recent dynamics of forest fires in Quercus suber stands in Sardinia (Italy), Corsica (France), and Catalonia (Spain) for the period 2003-2015. The analysis was carried out by combining forest data and historic fire perimeters, which were harmonized to allow comparisons among the study areas. On the whole, the study areas are characterized by about 260,000 ha of Quercus suber forests, which corresponds to about 18% of the European cork oak area. Approximately 21,000 ha of cork oak stands were affected by fires in the period 2003-2015: Sardinia accounted for about 60% of the Quercus suber stands burned in the study areas. A limited number of large fires was responsible of the most of the area burned in Quercus suber forests. Overall, the study highlighted a number of specific spatial and temporal trends of the fire issue on Quercus suber stands for the fire-prone Mediterranean areas under investigation.