idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Wildfires are one of the most commented and visible disturbances in our forests; wildfire risk management is a hot topic in climate change agendas. While wildfires represent an important ecological process, they also significantly impair the function of forests as a buffer to climate change.
How can we manage wildfires? Why do we fight them so aggressively? Why do our forests burn? All those questions have one common factor: fuel buildup. Fire is a complex system, as complex as all the processes influencing vegetation growth and death. Fuel buildup occurs because of i) socioeconomic and land-use changes; ii) our particular perception of forest management; and iii) our lack of understanding of the role of fire in our ecosystems.
We are now managing wildfire in a similar way to how we used to manage big predators: trying to eradicate them. Current wildfire solutions have created the wildfire paradox – eradication today leads to larger wildfires tomorrow – and as a consequence the new fires are worse, larger and more intense. Far from solving a disturbance that occurred mostly at the stand level, we are now facing a disturbance operating and driving changes at the landscape scale.
Fire ecology and fire landscape architecture are the basic concepts to build a new approach to wildfire. Marc Castellnou´s lecture will use case studies in Catalonia, Ireland and Germany to show his understanding of wildfire management needs. It will specifically focus on how we as a society can approach, agree upon and create consensus around reducing the wildfire risk, and how we can increase certainty about landscape management and learn to live with fire as part of it.
Contact
Anne Dombrowski
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
IRI THESys
Tel.: 030 2093-66334
anne.dombrowski@hu-berlin.de
Information on participating / attending:
This event is part of the Ecology Days Berlin.
Date:
05/15/2014 17:00 - 05/15/2014
Event venue:
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Bild Wissen Gestaltung
Sophienstr. 22a (2nd courtyard, 2nd floor)
10178 Berlin
Berlin
Germany
Target group:
all interested persons
Email address:
Relevance:
regional
Subject areas:
Biology, Environment / ecology, Geosciences, Oceanology / climate, Zoology / agricultural and forest sciences
Types of events:
Presentation / colloquium / lecture
Entry:
05/08/2014
Sender/author:
Susanne Cholodnicki
Department:
Stabsstelle Presse- und Öffentlichkeitsarbeit
Event is free:
yes
Language of the text:
English
URL of this event: http://idw-online.de/en/event47238
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