FOREST FIRE RISK ZONING FOR THE VILA VELHA STATE PARK AND ITS SURROUNDINGS (PONTA GROSSA, PARANÁ)

Alexandre França Tetto,Bruna Kovalsyki,Marta Regina Barrotto Do Carmo,Ronaldo Viana Soares,Antonio Carlos Batista,Nilton José Sousa

doi:10.5380/rf.v50i4.65974

Alexandre França Tetto, Bruna Kovalsyki + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.5380/rf.v50i4.65974

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Abstract

Forest fire hazard and risk mapping is an essential tool for planning and decision making regarding the prevention and suppression of forest fires,as well as fire management in general, as it allows the spatial visualization of areas with higher and lower ignition probability. This study aimed to develop a forest fire risk zoning map for the Vila Velha State Park and its surroundings (Ponta Grossa, Paraná State, Brazil), for the period of higher incidence of forest fires (from April to September) and for the period of lower incidence (from October to March). The following risk and hazard variables were identified: human presence, usage zones, topographical features, soil coverage and land use and meteorological conditions. Coefficients (0 to 5) reflecting the fire risk or hazard degree were allocated to each variable in order to construct the maps. The integration of these maps, through a weighting model, resulted in the final risk mapping. The very high and extreme risk classes represented about 38% of the area for both periods. The forest fire risk mapping spatially represented the levels of fire risk in the area, allowing the managers to identify the priority sectors for preventive actions in both fire seasons.

Highlights

The occurrence of fire influences the patterns and processes of the global ecosystem, including the distribution and vegetation structure, carbon cycle and microclimate (BOWMAN et al, 2011)
The term forest fire is generally used to refer to fire that spreads freely and consumes different types of vegetation, including scrub, fields and grasslands (SOARES et al, 2017)
The validation of forest fire risk zoning was based on burn scars, as 81.8% of these had an area of less than 100 ha, this fact that made it impossible to use hotspots for validation, considering that Pereira et al (2012) found a failure to detect 81% for areas burned up to 100 ha

Summary

Introduction

The occurrence of fire influences the patterns and processes of the global ecosystem, including the distribution and vegetation structure, carbon cycle and microclimate (BOWMAN et al, 2011). According to Soares et al (2017), every ecosystem has potentially a fire regime, defined as a set of recurring conditions of the fire that characterizes it These regimes are changed (SOARES NETO et al, 2016) due to the influence anthropic through modifications in the structure, continuity, type and quantity of the combustible material, as well as as in the frequency of fires in different seasons, under different weather conditions (BOWMAN et al, 2011), resulting in negative effects (SOARES NETO et al, 2016). Bovio et al (2017) pointed out that forest fire management does not end with prevention and extinction, but it concerns the prediction of danger before the fire and post-fire reconstitution

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