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Wildfire-induced reduction in the carbon storage of Mediterranean ecosystems: An application to brush and forest fires impacts assessment

Abstract:

Wildfire is one of the most dangerous and harmful phenomena in the world. Hence, fire impacts assessment could become very important in forest areas according to its environmental and landscape values. This paper suggests an approach to identify fire effects on biomass, in consonance with the potential carbon storage of each area used, and its biomass consumption based on fire behavior. Dense mature forests were the most vulnerable landscapes based on its aboveground biomass, mainly tree stem biomass. A significant correlation was found between fire intensity and biomass consumption. Biomass consumption ranged from 16.59% to 98.75% from the two studied wildfires. It is necessary to provide a scenario analysis according to the uncertain CO 2 market. As an example, carbon storage impacts in one fire were between 100,340.66 € (using the minimum price of CO 2 ) and 741,057.44 € (using the maximum price of CO 2 ). Differences between scenarios ranged from 35.30% to 46.51% of the total carbon storage impacts. This approach might be a solution to identify and prioritize areas for restoration activities and optimize the allocation of the resources.