Spatial planning of fire-agency stations as a function of wildfire likelihood in Thasos, Greece.

Even though wildfires constitute a natural phenomenon, they may have severe implications with respect to the socioeconomic structure of the affected population and the ecological wealth of a territory, especially when they burn under high intensities. Timing of the initial attack is thus crucial to fire control in areas that fires are considered to be under high threat of burning. The aim of this paper is to investigate the combined use of simulation modeling and spatial optimization to assess the pre-positioning of fire-management resources on a small Greek island, Thasos, based on the current and desired fire agency capabilities, maximization of environmental protection, and rationalization of financial resources. The estimation of burn probability (BP) depicted specific areas of high fire hazard in the southern, central, and western part of the island, where essential preventive measures should be undertaken. Based on this result, BP was then used as a primary input for the assessment of optimal locations of fire operation agencies in order to achieve the maximal coverage under certain (already available) and minimum number of fire-fighting vehicles in different time windows. The results generated three differentiated optimal location schemes [8 available vehicles within either 10 (immediate response time) or 31 min (average response time) with the current fire resources; 19 and 2 required vehicles within 10 and 31 min, respectively, based on a minimum number of fire resources]. This type of information enables us to propose a relocation of the current fire agency in a southern town of the island. The flexibility and interaction of the models provide a framework for appropriate decision making under a set of political and financial constraints.

Mammals and habitat disturbance: the case of brown hare and wildfire.

Ecosystem disturbances, such as wildfires, are driving forces that determine ecology and conservation measures. Species respond differentially to wildfires, having diverse post-fire population evolution. This study reports, for first time, the responses of brown hare (Lepus europaeus Pallas, 1778) to wildfires. Hare relative abundance, age ratio, diet quality, body condition, and diseases were studied. Fire influence on vegetation was calculated at a micro-scale level. Hare abundance was lower the first year after wildfires in burned relative to unburned areas. The reverse was found in the second year when hare abundance was higher in burned areas. Hare abundance in burned areas was also higher in the third and fourth years. In the fifth and sixth years after wildfire no significant difference was found in abundance. At a micro-scale level, higher numbers of hare feces were counted in places with greater wildfire influence on vegetation. Age ratio analysis revealed more juveniles in burned areas, but the same number of neonates in burned and unburned areas, indicating lower mortality of juveniles in burned areas. Reduced predation in burned areas provides the most plausible explanation for our findings.

Assessment of genetic structure of Greek brown hare (Lepus europaeus) populations based on variation in random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD).

The RAPD method was used to assess the genetic differentiation of brown hare (Lepus europaeus) populations from Central Greece. Greek wild populations were compared with samples from Austria, Poland, Germany, France, and Bulgaria, as well as with reared/released hares to investigate the impact of the releases on the native populations' genetic structure. The absence of diagnostic bands distinguishing between L. europaeus populations confirmed the high level of gene flow between brown hare populations over long geographic distances reported by other authors. Phylogenetic trees, derived from genetic distances estimated by RAPD band frequencies, suggested one major partitioning event of nuclear DNA lineages found in the samples. The reared individuals clustered with the Austrian, Polish, German, and French populations, whereas the Greek populations clustered apart with the Bulgarian population. Within Greece the distribution of the six wild populations did not follow any geographical trend, since their genetic divergence did not seem to correlate to geographic distances. However, RAPD profiles of some reared and wild specimens were different from the common RAPD pattern observed in the vast majority of sampled hares, probably reflecting an admixture of genetically differentiated individuals. The RAPD analysis indicates that releases might have begun to affect Greek population structure and reinforces the view that appropriate management is needed, adjusted to the local populations' biology and ecology.