Spatial distribution of wildfire risk in the Monte biome (Patagonia, Argentina)

HARDTKE, L.A; DEL VALLE, H.F; SIONE, W. F

JOURNAL OF MAPS

JOURNAL MAPS

Año: 2011 vol. 2011 p. 588 - 599

1744-5647

In many rangeland ecosystems, the role of wildfires has been object of detailed studies. However, in Argentina and especially in the Monte biome this knowledge is limited. This region is prone to wildfires during late spring and summer, when high winds and temperatures are coupled with low relative humidity. In addition, this region also presents cases of extreme wildfire behaviour. The aim of this study was to develop a probability-based model for estimating wildfire risk at regional scale based on the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Hot Spot data. The map presented here covers an area of approximately 246,000 km² on a 1:100,000 scale. It is the result of fitting the 2001-2010 hot spot time series with logistic regression model to 15 potentially explanatory environmental and anthropogenic variables. At a regional scale, mean net primary production, spring temperature, spring and summer precipitation, elevation, slope, distance to nearest road are the most important factors explaining wildfire risk.