In the 90´s, Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta (CGSM) mangroves died due to high levels of salinity in soil. This fact stimulated the reopening of five natural channels to reduce salinity and improve the forests' conditions (PROCIENAGA Project). In order to make a historical evaluation of mangrove rehabilitation trajectories, summarize the lessons learned with the rehabilitation project implemented and to simulate future scenarios; this study used a principal components analysis with hierarchical classification to describe the changes of variables over time, its relationship with the abiotic environment (interstitial salinity and temperature -0.5m, flood level), species composition and structure assembly (age composition, Basal Area-AB and the Importance Value Index-IVI) and ecological functionality (DP-Availability of propagules and Growth Rate-TC) in five stations (Rinconada-RIN, Caño Grande-CGE, Aguas Negras-ANE, Kilómetro 22-KM22 and Luna-LUN). Additionally, to simulate future AB trends, an Individual Based Model (FORMAN) was validated, calibrated and adjusted using monitoring data obtained by INVEMAR. The results suggests a robust analysis methodology; recovery trends of the abiotic conditions in CGE, ANE, KM 22 and LUN and convergence of structural attributes of ANE and KM22, when these where compared to RIN, the reference station. LUN and CGE followed different patterns of structural attributes, this shows that restored stations may take longer to recover desired conditions, and perhaps they may never achieve it. On the other hand, active interventions for restoration are strong enough to switch their path. The DP and CT analysis was restricted due to the high variability in the database, although it showed ecosystem functionality maintenance in all stations. The adjustments in salinity and recruitment rates allow us to calibrate the FORMAN model to CGSM patterns. Under an optimistic scenario, the system will reach stability in a long term (> 100 years) and coexistence of the three mangrove species, with a clear A. germinans dominance. Projecting an increase in interstitial salinity, based on the records of the last three years, the system will collapse in a short term (10 years), showing how vulnerable CGSM is to saline increases and its need for effective management actions implementation. This research opens the door for understanding the patterns and dynamics of restored ecosystem in the long term, and provides inputs and technical basis for planning new restoration strategies, management and modeling in an estuarine complex, which also would be applied to other mangrove ecosystems.

As with other aspects of natural-resource management, the approach to managing wildland fires has evolved over time as scientific understanding has advanced and the broader context surrounding management decisions has changed. Prior to 2000 the primary focus of most fire research was on the physical and ecological aspects of fire; social science research was limited to a small number of studies. However, as more people moved into fire-prone areas interest grew in understanding relevant social dynamics. This growing interest was supported by increased funding for fire research overall with the creation of the Joint Fire Science Program in 1998 and the National Fire Plan in 2000. In subsequent years, a significant body of research has developed on the human dimensions of wildland fire covering diverse topics including: attitudes towards pre-fire mitigation, social acceptability of fire and fuels management, community preparedness, public response during fires, citizen–agency communications and post-fire recovery. This paper reports on two aspects of a Joint Fire Science Program project intended to take stock of the key social science lessons provided to date: a basic review of findings in the non-economic fire social science literature and identification of future research needs.

In recent years, altered forest conditions, climate change, and the increasing numbers of homes built in fire prone areas has meant that wildfires are affecting more people. An important part of minimizing the potential negative impacts of wildfire is engaging homeowners in mitigating the fire hazard on their land. It is therefore important to understand what makes homeowners more or less willing to take action. The research presented here comes from a study that interviewed a total of 198 homeowners in six communities in the western United States about the activities they had undertaken to mitigate their fire risk, the factors that contributed to their decisions, and their future intentions. The current paper reports on findings from the first half of the longitudinal study, after 3 years we will return to interview the current homeowner on the same properties to assess maintenance actions and facilitating and limiting factors. Overall we found a body of individuals who understand the fire risk, are taking numerous mitigation actions, and think that these actions have reduced their risk. These homeowners typically did not expect the government to do it for them: they wanted information about what to do and, in some cases, assistance with the work, but saw taking care of their property primarily as their responsibility. Responses also show that key information sources and motivating factors vary by location and that it is not inherently necessary to have relationships between community members to create defensible space.

Abstract. Recent years have seen growing interest within the United States fire management community in exploring alternatives to the standard approach of evacuating entire populations that are threatened by a wildfire. There has been particular interest in what can be learned from the Australian approach, whereby residents choose whether or not to evacuate under the 'prepare, stay and defend or leave early' approach, also called Stay or Go. Given these developments, it is useful to understand what elements are taken into consideration by those who would be most affected by a new approach when they think through the pros and cons of mass evacuation v. an alternative strategy should a wildfire occur. This paper reports on findings from interviews in four communities in the United States where some alternative to mass evacuation during a wildfire was being considered. In each community, emergency responders and community members were asked for their perspective on the pros and cons of evacuation and the alternative being considered. The results show that opinions were mixed on whether evacuation or an alternative approach was more appropriate. Individuals who were primarily thinking of improving safety and reducing uncertainty for emergency responders tended to think mass evacuation was the best approach, whereas those who were primarily thinking of increasing safety and reducing uncertainty for homeowners were more likely to think that alternative responses were a valid option. These findings demonstrate the complicated nature of developing evacuation strategies that are beneficial to all parties involved.

Over the past decade, a growing body of research has been conducted on the human dimensions of wildland fire. Building on a relatively small number of foundational studies, this research now addresses a wide range of topics including mitigation activities on private lands, fuels reduction treatments on public land, community impacts and resident behaviors during fire, acceptance of approaches to postfire restoration and recovery, and fire management policy and decisionmaking. As this research has matured, there has been a recognition of the need to examine the full body of resulting literature to synthesize disparate findings and identify lessons learned across studies. These lessons can then be applied to fostering fire-adapted communities-those communities that understand their risk and have taken action to mitigate their vulnerability and increase resilience. This compendium of social science research findings related to fire-adapted communities has resulted from a project funded by the Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP). As part of these efforts, the research team reviewed more than 200 publications of research results. Then the team convened a workshop with 16 scientists with extensive experience in the human dimensions of fire management issues. Workshop participants evaluated collective findings and discussed their application to support fire management activities. In addition to this compendium, project outputs were: 1) a synthesis of published literature specific to eight management questions identified by the JFSP, 2) a list of future research needs, 3) a bibliography, including abstracts, with accompanying subject area guide, and 4) a video featuring the experiences of agency personnel and community leaders in successful collaborative fire planning settings. This video is accompanied by a field guide for use by agency managers to more effectively participate in building fire-safe communities. In the sections that follow, we describe our approach to completing this review and present key findings from the literature. Our discussion is organized around five major topical areas: 1) homeowner/community mitigation, 2) public acceptance of fuels treatments on public lands, 3) homeowner actions during a fire, 4) postfire response and recovery, and 5) wildland fire policy and planning. The compendium concludes with a presentation of management implications and a bibliography of all material in this review.