Large forest fires in Portugal. From recent history to the present

Abstract

The fire has helped shape the landscape of the southern countries of Europe, influencing the development or regression of forest ecosystems (Alves et al., 2006).
The socio-economics changes underway in the countries of southern Europe in the second half of the twentieth century led to the increase of large areas of abandoned farmland, many of whom contributed to the creation of landscapes likely to the appearance of high intensity fires due to high levels of biomass accumulated over the years, ready to feed catastrophic fires during the summer. With the increase of the frequency and extent of large fires, which sometimes take on catastrophic dimensions, the fire has lost its important role in the renewal of ecosystems.