Search

Recent advances in fire management led landscape managers to adopt an integrated fire fighting strategy in which fire suppression is supported by prevention actions and by knowledge of local fire history and ecology. In this framework, an accurate evaluation of fire ignition risk and its environmental drivers constitutes a basic step toward the optimization of fire management measures. In this paper, we propose a multivariate method for identifying and spatially portraying fire ignition risk across a complex and heterogeneous landscape such as the National Park of Cilento, Vallo di Diano, and Alburni (southern Italy). The proposed approach consists first in calculating the fire selectivity of several landscape features that are usually related to fire ignition, such as land cover or topography. Next, the fire selectivity values of single landscape features are combined with multivariate segmentation tools. The resulting fire risk map may constitute a valuable tool for optimizing fire prevention strategies and for efficiently allocating fire fighting resources.

Breeding success determines the fate of bird populations and, therefore, understanding its determinants is an important issue for the application of conservation measures for endangered species. Breeding success depends on diverse, not mutually exclusive, effects such as the life strategies developed by species, environmental, ecological and anthropogenic factors. The influence of nest and nest tree characteristics, landscape composition and human disturbance on the breeding success of the vulnerable Cinereous Vulture Aegypius monachus in breeding colony in central Spain was analysed. A number of variables characterising the vegetation around the nest-tree, the nest-tree, and the nest itself were selected and analysed. We found that bigger and less deteriorated nests, taller nesting trees and a higher shrub coverage in a radius of 100 m around the nest resulted in an increased breeding success. Although nesting sites characteristics and nest quality can be related to birds' age and breeding experience, our findings show that geographical orientation of the slope where the nest is located as well as nest accessibility and habitat selection have an influence on Cinereous Vulture breeding success. We recommend that mature forests, steeper slopes should be carefully conserved and protected from anthropogenic disturbances in order to strengthen the conservation of breeding areas of this forest-dwelling endangered raptor species., This work was carried out within the framework of the LIFE project 03/NAT/E/0050, by CBD Habitat Foundation with the collaboration of Castilla-La Mancha, Extremadura and Madrid regional governments, and the Spanish Ministry of Environment. It was co-funded by the European Commission. A.M. was supported by a “Ramón y Cajal” research contract from the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (RYC-2012-11867).

International audience; While many scientific studies show the influence of agricultural landscape patterns on water cycle and water quality, only a few of these have proposed scientifically based and operational methods to improve water management. Territ'eau is a framework developed to adapt agricultural landscapes to water quality protection, using components such as farmers' fields, seminatural areas, and human infrastructures, which can act as sources, sinks, or buffers on water quality. This framework allows us to delimit active areas contributing to water quality, defined by the following three characteristics: (i) the dominant hydrological processes and their flow pathways, (ii) the characteristics of each considered pollutant, and (iii) the main landscape features. These areas are delineated by analyzing the flow connectivity from the stream to the croplands, by assessing the buffer functions of seminatural areas according to their flow pathways. Hence, this framework allows us to identify functional seminatural areas in terms of water quality and assess their limits and functions; it helps in proposing different approaches for changing agricultural landscape, acting on agricultural practices or systems, and/or conserving or rebuilding seminatural areas in controversial landscapes. Finally, it allows us to objectivize the functions of the landscape components, for adapting these components to new environmental constraints.