The network will focus its study from the Valparaíso Region to the Biobío region, where the sclerophyll forest grows. The network is directed by Dr. Fabián Guerrero from the Federico Santa María Technical University
Lorenzo Palma, Science in Chile.- Did you know that during the period 2022-2023, the Valparaíso region registered 382 forest fires, while the Biobío region reported 1,875 in the same period? Despite being a country that has faced numerous and devastating forest fires, the experts of this network comment that there is little information available on the flammability of the vegetation in Chile. Dr. Fabián Guerrero, director of the network, affirms that they have been studying this issue since 2018, seeking to understand why the fire spreads so quickly in different incidents related to vegetation.
The project, financed by ANID, has the name of «Ibero-American network to promote research and improve understanding of the flammability of vegetation and its application to fire management in the Mediterranean ecoregion of Chile”. The initiative will allow a multi-scale study, which means that they will be able to analyze from the leaves of the trees, the soil, the branches, trees and even at the landscape scale.
The intrinsic properties of the vegetation cause the fire to accelerate and spread to other species. This is what they are looking for on the web, to know clearly the factors that accelerate ignition and/or propagation and to see how species behave in relation to fire events.
This network, with national and foreign researchers, is made up of a multidisciplinary team, including chemists, biologists, mechanical engineers, foresters and ecologists”.
Dr. Karen Yañez, Ing. Lorena Espinosa, Dr. Mario Toledo and Dr. Lautaro Taborga also participate from UTSM, they highlighted that the Network will allow the development of advanced human capital in flammability issues. In this sense, courses, seminars, international internships will be organized.
It should be noted that, in 2022, the research group of the director of the Network developed the flammability ranking of native and exotic trees in the country, which allows answering the question: Which trees catch fire faster? What they did was study the flammability of tree species and related it to organic chemical compounds (terpenes, aliphatic hydrocarbons, ketones, among others) contained in essential oils called fire promoters.
International Collaboration
From Chile, in addition to the USM, the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso (PUCV) are part of this Ibero-American Network; Southern University of Chile (UACh); the Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity (IEB); the University of Concepción (UdeC); and the Center for Climate Science and Resilience (CR2) of the University of Chile, as national associated institutions.
Meanwhile, as international associated institutions participate the National University of Comahue (CONICET) of Argentina with the Institute for Research in Biodiversity and Environment (INIBIOMA); the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CESIC) of Spain; the National Institute of Agricultural and Food Research and Technology (INIA) with the Institute of Forestry Sciences (ICIFOR) also Spain; and the Environment Agency (AMA), the Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment (CITMA), and the Center for Environmental Research and Services (ECOVIDA) of Cuba.
