Socio-Ecological Perceptions of Wildfire Management and Effects in Greece

Palaiologou, Palaiologos; Kalabokidis, Kostas; Troumbis, Andreas Y.; Day, Michelle A.; Ager, Alan A.

doi:10.3390/fire4020018

Cited by 26 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…However, future linkages with healthcare utilisation data may confirm the longer-term cardiovascular effects in this community. This is an important topic, not just because the incidence of coal mine fires is increasing across the globe 46 but also because mega wildfires such as those in South-eastern Australia, 10 , 47 the west coast of the US 11 and Greece 48 have exposed large communities to smoke for weeks and months. Our research should assist governments and policy makers to make an appropriate public health response to similar events in the future.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vascular Responses Among Adults Four Years Post Exposure to 6 Weeks of Smoke from the Hazelwood Coal Mine Fire

Mundisugih¹,

Cao²,

Ikin³

et al. 2022

VHRM

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Background and Aims Mega-wild fires are exposing large communities to weeks or months of high concentration smoke-related fine particulate air pollution (PM). However, little research has examined the long-term vascular responses from exposure to PM of this concentration and duration. We investigated whether level of exposure to 6 weeks of PM from the 2014 Hazelwood coal mine fire was associated with abnormal vascular responses approximately four years later. Methods A cross-sectional analysis was undertaken of 387 participants (225 exposed, 162 unexposed) aged 55–89 years, 3.5–4 years after the mine fire. The primary outcome was flow-mediated dilatation (FMD), with time to reach peak diameter as the secondary outcome. Other secondary markers included high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and ischaemic Electrocardiogram (ECG) changes. Results There was no evidence of a difference in FMD between participants with high, medium, low or no mine-fire related PM 2.5 exposure (4.09% vs 4.06% vs 4.02% vs 3.98%, respectively, p =0.99). Likewise, there was no difference in hsCRP or ischaemic ECG changes. In contrast, there was evidence of a difference in time to peak diameter ( p =0.002) with more unexposed participants reaching peak diameter within 30 seconds (36%) compared to those who had high, medium, or low exposure (23%, 22%, 13%, respectively). Multivariate ordinal logistic regression analysis suggested that township, Morwell (exposed) vs Sale (unexposed), but not level of PM 2.5 exposure, was associated with delayed time to peak diameter (OR 2.71; 95% CI 1.56, 4.69). Smokers also had delayed time to peak diameter. Conclusion There was no association between level of exposure to PM 2.5 from the 6-week Hazelwood coal mine fire smoke event and reduced FMD, elevated hsCRP or ischaemic ECG four years later. Evidence of delayed time to peak diameter observed in adults from the exposed town, compared to an unexposed town, requires further investigation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vascular Responses Among Adults Four Years Post Exposure to 6 Weeks of Smoke from the Hazelwood Coal Mine Fire

Mundisugih¹,

Cao²,

Ikin³

et al. 2022

VHRM

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“…Significant administrative and application constraints need to be addressed in order to implement the simulated scenarios and increase the chances for reducing fire behavior. In our previous research [38,60], we highlighted that prescribed burning is illegal in Greece and that a policy reform is required to allow for its application. As a result, the investment cost to achieve the expected outcomes is significantly higher compared to a similar application in other countries with a well-established fire use culture.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial Optimization and Tradeoffs of Alternative Forest Management Scenarios in Macedonia, Greece

Palaiologou

Kalabokidis

Ager

et al. 2021

Forests

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Managing forests has been demonstrated to be an efficient strategy for fragmenting fuels and for reducing fire spread rates and severity. However, large-scale analyses to examine operational aspects of implementing different forest management scenarios to meet fire governance objectives are nonexistent for many Mediterranean countries. In this study we described an optimization framework to build forest management scenarios that leverages fire simulation, forest management, and tradeoff analyses for forest areas in Macedonia, Greece. We demonstrated the framework to evaluate five forest management priorities aimed at (1) protection of developed areas, (2) optimized commercial timber harvests, (3) protection of ecosystem services, (4) fire resilience, and (5) reducing suppression difficulty. Results revealed that by managing approximately 33,000 ha across all lands in different allocations of 100 projects, the area that accounted for 16% of the wildfire exposure to developed areas was treated while harvesting 2.5% of total wood volume. The treatments also reduced fuels on the area that are responsible for 3% of the potential fire impacts to sites with important ecosystem services, while suppression difficulty and wildfire transmission to protected areas attainment was 4.5% and 16%, respectively. We also tested the performance of multiple forest district management priorities when applying a proposed four-year fuel treatment plan that targeted achieving high levels of attainment by treating less area but strategically selected lands. Sharp management tradeoffs were observed among all management priorities, especially for harvest production compared with suppression difficulty, the protection of developed areas, and wildfire exposure to protected areas.

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“…Especially in the western U.S., there are abundant low-density rural areas, small communities, rapidly growing suburban developments, and expanding metropolitan areas that are adjacent to forests that have historically burned, and where fuels and climate conditions have combined to increase future fire risk [28,271,291]. These wildland-urban interface areas are an excellent example of locations where an unacceptable fire might be defined by any occurrence of fire at all [292][293][294]. Taking decisive action to prevent or reduce the likelihood that inevitable future fires will negatively impact human communities is inherent in socio-ecological adaptation to climate and fire futures [20,166,167].…”

Section: Strategy 10: Promote Fire-adapted Human Communitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adaptation Strategies and Approaches for Managing Fire in a Changing Climate

Sample

Thode

Peterson

et al. 2022

Climate

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As the effects of climate change accumulate and intensify, resource managers juggle existing goals and new mandates to operationalize adaptation. Fire managers contend with the direct effects of climate change on resources in addition to climate-induced disruptions to fire regimes and subsequent ecosystem effects. In systems stressed by warming and drying, increased fire activity amplifies the pace of change and scale of severe disturbance events, heightening the urgency for management action. Fire managers are asked to integrate information on climate impacts with their professional expertise to determine how to achieve management objectives in a changing climate with altered fire regimes. This is a difficult task, and managers need support as they incorporate climate adaptation into planning and operations. We present a list of adaptation strategies and approaches specific to fire and climate based on co-produced knowledge from a science–management partnership and pilot-tested in a two-day workshop with natural resource managers and regional stakeholders. This “menu” is a flexible and useful tool for fire managers who need to connect the dots between fire ecology, climate science, adaptation intent, and management implementation. It was created and tested as part of an adaptation framework used widely across the United States and should be applicable and useful in many fire-prone forest ecosystems.

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Socio-Ecological Perceptions of Wildfire Management and Effects in Greece

Cited by 26 publications

References 43 publications

Vascular Responses Among Adults Four Years Post Exposure to 6 Weeks of Smoke from the Hazelwood Coal Mine Fire

Vascular Responses Among Adults Four Years Post Exposure to 6 Weeks of Smoke from the Hazelwood Coal Mine Fire

Spatial Optimization and Tradeoffs of Alternative Forest Management Scenarios in Macedonia, Greece

Adaptation Strategies and Approaches for Managing Fire in a Changing Climate

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