Megafire: An ambiguous and emotive term best avoided by science

Stoof, Cathelijne R.; de Vries, Jasper R.; Castellnou Ribau, Marc; F. Fernández, Mariña; Flores, David; Galarza Villamar, Julissa; Kettridge, Nicholas; Lartey, Desmond; Moore, Peter F.; Newman Thacker, Fiona; Prichard, Susan J.; Tersmette, Pepijn; Tuijtel, Sam; Verhaar, Ivo; Fernandes, Paulo M.

doi:10.1111/geb.13791

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…We expect that capacity-building activities in these countries will be diverse, require customisation and not all will be suitable for a specific strategy. The framing of transport issues is crucial in this regard, as how a problem is framed significantly influences policy formulation and implementation [111]. Those involved in capacity building must recognize their strengths and weaknesses, as well as those of the target, for better and more sustainable results.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards a Sustainable Transport System: Exploring Capacity Building for Active Travel in Africa

Lartey,

Glaser

2024

Sustainability

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The promotion of active travel is deemed a crucial component of the transition to sustainable urban mobility. Several barriers hinder its policy implementation and uptake. Some evidence suggests that capacity building could be a useful tool for deepening sustainability efforts. This concept involves the development and deployment of skills and resources. However, a clear framework for understanding the dimensions of capacity building for active travel is lacking. Furthermore, most research and findings use cases within a Global North context, constricting implications and transferability to the Global South, especially to African cities. This study responds to the dearth of scholarly work exploring Global South cases and fills a knowledge gap regarding capacity building in the case of active travel. Through a literature review, we examined the dimensions of capacity building that are necessary to improve active travel in selected African countries. We focus on multilevel transportation governance with highlights from five African cities. Our findings suggest that the literature and policies on transport in Africa have key dimensions for capacity building for active travel but lack the introduction of key instruments and strategic pathways to meet these requirements for improved sustainable mobility. We propose a thematic guiding framework that delineates the strategic application of capacity building at three levels of governance. This framework helps integrate capacity building for active travel policies and implementation at the institutional, individual, and environmental levels.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards a Sustainable Transport System: Exploring Capacity Building for Active Travel in Africa

Lartey,

Glaser

2024

Sustainability

Self Cite

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Megafire: An ambiguous and emotive term best avoided by science

Stoof,

de Vries,

Castellnou Ribau

et al. 2023

Global Ecol Biogeogr

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BackgroundAs fire regimes are changing and wildfire disasters are becoming more frequent, the term megafire is increasingly used to describe impactful wildfires, under multiple meanings, both in academia and popular media. This has resulted in a highly ambiguous concept.ApproachWe analysed the use of the term ‘megafire’ in popular media to determine its origin, its developments over time, and its meaning in the public sphere. We subsequently discuss how relative the term ‘mega’ is, and put this in the context of an analysis of Portuguese and global data on fire size distribution.ResultsWe found that ‘megafire’ originated in the popular news media over 20 years before it appeared in science. Megafire is used in a diversity of languages, considers landscape fires as well as urban fires, and has a variety of meanings in addition to size. What constitutes ‘mega’ is relative and highly context‐dependent in space and time, given variation in landscape, climate, and anthropogenic controls, and as revealed in examples from the Netherlands, Portugal and the Global Fire Atlas. Moreover, fire size does not equate to fire impact.ConclusionGiven the diverse meanings of megafire in the popular media, we argue that redefining megafire in science potentially leads to greater disparity between science and practice. Megafire is widely used as an emotive term that is best left for popular media. For those wanting to use it in science, what constitutes a megafire should be defined by the context in which it is used, not by a metric of one‐size‐fits‐all.

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Post-Fire Vegetation (Non-)Recovery across the Edges of a Wildfire: An Unexplored Theme

Rossetti,

Calderisi,

Cogoni

et al. 2024

Fire

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Wildfires have a significant influence on ecosystems globally, shaping vegetation, biodiversity, landscapes, soil properties, and other ecosystem processes. Despite extensive research on different aspects of wildfires, the edges of burned areas remain understudied, even though they involve complex dynamics. In this study, we analyzed the post-fire vegetation recovery across the edges of a large wildfire in a Mediterranean area. The investigations were focused on patches of woodlands that, in a previous study, showed a normalized burn ratio (NBR) decline one year after the fire. Field vegetation surveys were carried out in areas characterized by different NBR recovery rates and in areas outside the burned area as controls. Five hypotheses were tested, identifying delayed tree mortality as a key factor linked to NBR decline, particularly in low-severity fire zones in proximity to the fire edges. Delayed mortality, observed predominantly near the edges, may also affect unburned or less severely burned patches within the main fire perimeter, highlighting the need for ongoing monitoring. As these areas play a crucial role in the post-fire succession and vegetation dynamics, understanding the second-order effects of a fire is imperative for effective ecosystem management. This study underscores the importance of the long-term assessment of fire impacts, emphasizing the necessity of field surveys alongside remote sensing. Continued observation is essential to elucidate the enduring impacts of wildfires and to facilitate informed restoration strategies.

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Megafire: An ambiguous and emotive term best avoided by science

Cited by 3 publications

References 50 publications

Towards a Sustainable Transport System: Exploring Capacity Building for Active Travel in Africa

Towards a Sustainable Transport System: Exploring Capacity Building for Active Travel in Africa

Megafire: An ambiguous and emotive term best avoided by science

Post-Fire Vegetation (Non-)Recovery across the Edges of a Wildfire: An Unexplored Theme

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