MODELLING TERRESTRIAL TORTOISES RESPONSE TO FIRE EVENTS

• Type: Article in International Conference Proceedings Book
• Date: 2020

Authors

Lia Duarte (Author) FCUP; Santos, X (Author) Other; Ana Teodoro (Author) FCUP; sillero, n (Author) FCUP

Conference proceedings International

Title: IGARSS 2020 - 2020 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium

Pages: 4255-4258

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Other information

Authenticus ID: P-00T-MHH

DOI: 10.1109/igarss39084.2020.9324524

Abstract (EN): The landscape structure and composition of fauna and flora in the Mediterranean basin is shaped by fire. Thus, many plants and animals are resilient to fire. This is the case of most Mediterranean reptiles, which are adapted to open and heterogeneously complex landscapes as those derived from wildfires. However, socioeconomic and climate-change factors are modifying the Mediterranean fire regime, increasing the vulnerability of specific reptiles to intense and frequent fires. The Mediterranean terrestrial tortoises of the genus Testudo show high individual mortality by flames, and population declining in burnt landscapes. We predict an increasing negative impact of fire on the remaining tortoise populations across the Mediterranean Basin. In this work, the fire hazard map in the Mediterranean Basin was created based on remote sensing data and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and it was overlapped to the location of the remaining tortoise wild populations. Our results showed that tortoise populations were mostly identified in medium fire hazard. Given the negative response of terrestrial tortoises to fire, we predict a high extinction risk of Testudo species derived from fire activity in synergy to other environmental stressors.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 4