Driving factors of fire density can spatially vary at the local scale in south-eastern France.
Les drivers de la densité de feux peuvent varier spatialement à l'échelle locale dans le sud-est de la France
Résumé
Southeastern France is the most wildfire prone region of the country. To identify the main driving factors of fire density (defined as the number of fires per hectare) at the local scale (cluster of communities which are homogeneous in terms of land cover, climate and WUI) and to assess their spatial variation at this scale, the fire density was investigated in the département Bouches du Rhône using georeferenced fire ignitions. To assess relationships between fire density and explanatory factors, statistical analyses and spatial evaluation were performed on each clusters taking into account climate conditions, topography, land cover, Wildland-Urban Interface (defined as a buffer of 100 m around housing located at less than 200 m from natural vegetation), minor road and population densities as well as fire density as dependent variable. High fire density was mainly related to high proportion of WUI in the study area. The proportion of natural vegetation and steep slope were also among the most important drivers of fire density. Depending on the cluster, some biophysical factors can in turn enhance or mitigate fire density but coolest and wettest climate conditions related to highest elevations as well as low housing density always mitigated fire density. This work showed that, at the local scale, the identification of fire density driving factors could improve fire prevention as they can better be targeted.
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