Integrated Vulnerability of Forest Systems to Wildfire: Implications on Forest Management Tools. VIS4FIRE Project

Dear Colleagues,

Wildfires are major threats in many forested areas with important socioeconomic and environmental implications. Climatic change predictions, forest management and land use changes (global change) will exacerbate the problem, generating additional threats and challenges in civil protection protocols and forest management.

The VIS4FIRE project is based on the concept of vulnerability of forest systems to fire and its implications for management strategies oriented to integrate wildfire management practices. Therefore, the main aim of VIS4FIRE is the characterization and analysis of the main components of vulnerability of forest systems to wildfire as the basis of an efficient normalized system. The evaluation of integral vulnerability to wildfires in order to carry out a more efficient integrated forest management protection of forests and landscapes is in the frame of sustainable forest management and adaptive silviculture. Consequently, to achieve this goal, we will develop methodologies, tools and technologies, applicable before, during and after the fire, through the following main topics:

• Prediction of forest fuel characteristics as a key vulnerability factor to wildfire;
• Determining the effects of fuel treatments (including prescribed fires) on vulnerability components;
• Assessing the influence of fire severity and fire recurrence on forest systems’ resilience and vulnerability;
• Improving wildfire behaviour predictions to reduce vulnerability in forest stands;
• Econometric analysis of vulnerability: production and suppression capacity, decision support under uncertain environments and fire management;
• Evaluation of post-fire restoration treatments’ efficacy and their influence on burned area vulnerability;
• Approach to integral vulnerability analysis of forest areas including the development of new indices and tools based on modelling, remote sensing and computation of large and big data.

We invite additional authors to contribute with scientific and technological knowledge related to these topics

Dr. Javier Madrigal
Dr. Juan Ramón Molina Martínez
Dr. Eva Marino
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Fire is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.