Modelling Mediterranean Landscape Succession-Disturbance Dynamics: A Landscape Fire-Succession Model
March 9, 2009 - James Millington; John Wainwright; George L. W. Perry; Raul Romero-Calcerrada; Bruce D. Malamud
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EmailJournal or Book Title: Environmental Modelling & Software
Keywords: Landscape fire-succession model; Wildfire regime; Succession-disturbance dynamics; Mediterranean landscape; Pattern-oriented modelling
Volume/Issue: 24
Page Number(s): 1196-1208
Year Published: 2009
We present a spatially explicit Landscape Fire-Succession Model (LFSM) developed to represent Mediterranean Basin landscapes and capable of integrating modules and functions that explicitly represent
human activity. Plant-functional types are used to represent spatial and temporal competition for
resources (water and light) in a rule-based modelling framework. Vegetation dynamics are represented
using a rule-based community-level modelling approach that considers multiple succession pathways
and vegetation climax states. Wildfire behaviour is represented using a cellular-automata model of fire
spread that accounts for land-cover flammability, slope, wind and vegetation moisture. Results show that
wildfire spread parameters have the greatest influence on two aspects of the model: land-cover change
and the wildfire regime. This sensitivity highlights the importance of accurately parameterising this type
of grid-based model for representing landscape-level processes. We use a pattern-oriented modelling
approach in conjunction with wildfire power-law frequency-area scaling exponent b to calibrate the
model. Parameters describing the role of soil moisture on vegetation dynamics are also found to
significantly influence land-cover change. Recent improvements in understanding the role of soil
moisture and wildfire fuel loads at the landscape-level will drive advances in Mediterranean LFSMs.
DOI: 10.1016/j.envsoft.2009.03.013
Type of Publication: Journal Article