Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Investigation of the relationship between burned areas and climate factors in large forest fires in the Çanakkale region

  • Published:
Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Fires pose a serious threat to the forests that lay on the western and southern coastline of Turkey that start with North Aegean coasts and end with the provincial boundaries of Hatay. Çanakkale, a western province of Turkey, is located in the North Aegean boundary and its topography (Dardanelles Strait), climate, and vegetation cover combine to form an inviting recipe to forest fires. Although the province is located in a transitional zone in terms of climate and vegetation, each year it witnesses highly dry and hot fire seasons. Thus, large forest fires occur periodically. In this research, the relationship between the large periodic fires (larger than 100 ha) and the climate data was investigated, with a particular focus on the most severe 8 fire seasons from 1969 to 2007. We established that there is a relationship between 1977, 1985, and 1986 fire seasons and the climate data for the corresponding periods. The remaining 5 seasons in which conflagrations occurred were also found to coincide with the days with high daily severity indices (DSR). These are 1969, 1977, 1985, 1987, and 2008. Additionally, 2008 was determined as the year with the highest fire risk, followed by year 1969.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

All data is available upon request from authors.

References

  • Akman, Y. (1999). Climate and bioclimate. Palme Publishing, Ankara, Turkey, 1999.

  • Atalay, I. (2011). Geography and geopolitics of Turkey (8th ed.p. 488).

    Google Scholar 

  • Atalay, I., & Mortan, K. (1997). Regional geography of Turkey. Milet Publishing Limited, 1997.

  • Bilgili, E., & Kucuk, O. (2008). Estimating above-ground fuel biomass in young calabrian pine (Pinus brutia Ten.). Energy & Fuels, 23(4), 1797–1800.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bozdogan Sert, E., Turkmen, M., & Cetin, M. (2019). Heavy metal accumulation in rosemary leaves and stems exposed to traffic-related pollution near Adana-İskenderun Highway (Hatay, Turkey). Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 191, 553. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-019-7714-7.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Coşkuner K.A., Bilgili E., Küçük Ö., Meydan C., Göltaş M., Sağlam B. (2014) Measuring fuel moisture content in Calabrian pine (Pinus brutia ten) stands using four methods. VII International Conference on Forest Fire Research, Coimbra, 2014

  • Cetin M. (2019). The effect of urban planning on urban formations determining bioclimatic comfort area's effect using satellitia imagines on air quality: a case study of Bursa city. Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health (Air Qual Atmos Health) 12(10):1237-1249. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11869-019-00742-4

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cetin, M., Adiguzel, F., Gungor, S., Kaya, E., & Sancar, M. C. (2019). Evaluation of thermal climatic region areas in terms of building density in urban management and planning for Burdur, Turkey. Air Quality Atmosphere & Health (Air Qual Atmos Health), 12(9), 1103–1112. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11869-019-00727-3.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Duffy, P. A., Walsh, J. E., Graham, J. M., Mann, D. H., & Rupp, T. S. (2005). Impacts of large-scale atmospheric–ocean variability on Alaskan fire season severity. Ecological Applications, 15(4), 1317–1330.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ertuğrul, M., & Varol, T. (2016). Evaluation of fire activity in some regions of Aegean Coasts of Turkey via Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index System (CFFWIS). Applied Ecology and Environmental Research, 14(2), 93–105.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flannigan, M. D., & Wotton, B. M. (2001). Climate, weather, and area burned. In Forest fires, 351–373.

  • Flannigan, M., Cantin, A. S., De Groot, W. J., Wotton, M., Newbery, A., & Gowman, L. M. (2013). Global wildland fire season severity in the 21st century. Forest Ecology and Management, 294(54-61), 2013.

    Google Scholar 

  • Flannigan, M. D., Logan, K. A., Amiro, B. D., Skinner, W. R., & Stocks, B. J. (2005). Future area burned in Canada. Climatic change, 72(1-2), 1–16.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Flannigan, M. D., Stocks, B., Turetsky, M., & Wotton, M. (2009). Impacts of climate change on fire activity and fire management in the circumboreal forest. Global Change Biology, 15(3), 549–560.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flannigan, M. D., Amiro, B. D., Logan, K. A., Stocks, B. J., & Wotton, B. M. (2006). Forest fires and climate change in the 21st century. Mitigation and adaptation strategies for global change, 11(4), 847–859.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flannigan, M. D., Stocks, B. J., & Wotton, B. M. (2000). Climate change and forest fires. Science of the Total Environment, 262(3), 221–229.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Flannigan, M., & Van Wagner, C. E. (1991). Climate change and wildfire in Canada. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 21(1), 66–72. https://doi.org/10.1139/x91-010.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harvey, D. A., Alexander, M. E., & Janz, B. (1986). A comparison of fire-weather severity in northern Alberta during the 1980 and 1981 fire seasons. The Forestry Chronicle, 62(6), 507–513.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • IPCC. (2007). Climate change: synthesis report contribution of working groups I, II and III to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Core Writing Team. In R. K. Pachauri & A. Reisinger (Eds.), (p. 104). Geneva: IPCC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kayhan, M. (2007). Global climate change and Turkey. Ist Climate change congress of Turkey. TİKDEK, 11–13.

  • Kaya, L. G. (2009). Assessing forests and lands with carbon storage and sequestration amount by trees in the State of Delaware. USA. - Scientific Research and Essays, 4(10), 1100–1108.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaya, L. G., Yücedağ, C., Aşıkkutlu, H. S., & Çokyiğit, H. (2018a). Spatial design approaches to prevent damages from earthquake inside the buildings. Mehmet Akif Ersoy University, Journal of Applied Science Institute, 9(1), 55–62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaya, L. G., Yücedağ, C., Aşıkkutlu, H. S., & Sağır, E. (2018b). Sustaining urban forestry activities: the case study of Çivril District, Denizli-Turkey. Mehmet Akif Ersoy University, Journal of Applied Science Institute, 9(Supplementary Issue 1), 216–223.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaya, E., Agca, M., Adiguzel, F., & Cetin, M. (2019). Spatial data analysis with R programming for environment. Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: An International Journal, 25(6), 1521–1530. https://doi.org/10.1080/10807039.2018.1470896.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Koçman A. (1993) Climate of Turkey. Ege University Publishing, Izmir, 1993.

  • Kucuk, O., Bilgili, E., Bulut, S., & Fernandes, P. M. (2012). Rates of surface fire spread in a young calabrian pine (Pinus brutia ten.) plantation. Environmental Engineering & Management Journal, 11(8).

  • Kucuk, O., & Bilgili, E. (2008). Crown fuel characteristics and fuel load estimates in young Calabrian pine (Pinus brutia Ten.) stands in northwestern Turkey. Fresenius Environmental Bulletin, 17(12b), 2226–2231.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kucuk, O., & Bilgili, E. (2007). Crown fuel load for young Calabrian pine (Pinus brutia Ten.) trees. Kastamonu University Journal of Forestry Faculty, 7(2), 180–189.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu, Y., Stanturf, J., & Goodrick, S. (2010). Trends in global wildfire potential in a changing climate. Forest ecology and management, 259(4), 685–697.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Naveh, Z. (1975). The evolutionary significance of fire in the Mediterranean region. Vegetatio, 29(3), 199–208.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neyişçi, T. (1987). Fire protection and struggle in the red pine forest. Forestry Research Institute Publications. Miscellaneous Publications Series, 52, 1987.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ozturk, M., Gucel, S., Kucuk, M., & Sakcali, S. (2010). Forest diversity, climate change and forest fires in the Mediterranean region of Turkey. Journal of Environmental Biology, 31(1), 1.

    Google Scholar 

  • Öztürk, K. (2002). The climate change and possible effects to Turkey. University of Gazi University The Journal of Educational Faculty., 22(1), 2002.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salis, M., Laconi, M., Ager, A. A., Alcasena, F. J., Arca, B., Lozano, O., de Oliveira, A. F., & Spano, D. (2016). Evaluating alternative fuel treatment strategies to reduce wildfire losses in a Mediterranean area. Forest Ecology and Management, 368, 207–221.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saribaşak H., Başaran M.A., Şirin G. (2010) Forest fires and fire fighting in the Western Mediterranean region, Western Mediterranean Forestry Research Directorate 50th Anniversary Activities (Publications) Ministry of Environment and Forestry Publication No: 394, Directorate of Publication No: 47, Page: 251-262. Antalya, 2010

  • Sensoy, S., Demircan, M., Ulupinar, Y., & Balta, I. (2011). Climate of Turkey. Turkish State Meteorological Service, 2011.

  • Şensoy S., Demircan M., Ulupinar U., Balta I. (2008) Climate of Turkey. Turkish State Meteorological Service (DMİ), Ankara, 2008.

  • Şen, Ö. L. (2013). The Holistic situation of climate change in Türkiye. IIIrd Climate change congress of Turkey TİKDEK, 3-5, 2013.

    Google Scholar 

  • Şen, Ö.L., Bozkurt, D., Göktürk, O.M., Dündar, B., Altürk, B. (2013) The climate change and possible effects to Turkey

  • Skinner, W. R., Shabbar, A., Flannigan, M. D., & Logan, K. (2006). Large forest fires in Canada and the relationship to global sea surface temperatures. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 111(D:14).

  • Stocks, B. J., Fosberg, M. A., Lynham, T. J., Mearns, L., Wotton, B. M., Yang, Q., Jin, J. Z., Lawrence, K., Hartley, G. R., Mason, J. A., & Mckenney, D. W. (1998). Climate change and forest fire potential in Russian and Canadian boreal forests. Climatic Change, 38(1), 1–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tatli, H., Akbulak, C., Aygün, G., Çekmek, M., Sağlam, B. (2017) Determining risk of the forest fires in Çanakkale via geographic information systems and analytic hierarchy process. 8th Atmospheric Sciences Symposium - 01-04 November 2017at: Istanbul, Turkey, 2017

  • Tavşanoğlu, Ç. (2010). Fires and biodiversity: can forest fires be necessary for the continuation of biodiversity? NTV Science, 18, 42–44.

    Google Scholar 

  • Türkeş M., Tatli H., Altan G., Öztürk, M.Z. (2011) The analyses of the forest fires in 2010 in the Çanakkale and Muğla Districts by using Keetchbyram Dorught Index (KBDI). International Conference on Geography, 2011, İstanbul

  • Türkeş, M. (2012). The observation and prediction climate change, drought and desertification. University of Ankara The Journal of environmental sciences, 4(2), 1–32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Türkeş, M., & Altan, G. (2012). The meteorological and hydro meteorological analyses of large forest fires in Canakkale 2008. The journal of geographical sciences, 10(2), 195–218.

    Google Scholar 

  • Türkeş, M., & Deniz, Z. A. (2011). The changes and trends observed in climatology and precipitation and flow sequences of South Marmara Region (North West Anatolia). International Journal of Human Sciences, 8(1), 1579–1600.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Wagner, C.E. (1987) Petawawa Forest. “Development and structure of the Canadian forest fire weather index system.” In Canadian. Forest Services., Forestry Technical Report 1987

  • Van Wagner, C.E. (1970) New developments in forest fire danger rating. Canadian Forest Service. Information Report PS-X-19. 6 p, 1970.

  • Yucedag, C., Ozel, H. B., Cetin, M., & Sevik, H. (2019). Variability in morphological traits of seedlings from five Euonymus japonicus cultivars. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 191(5), 285. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-019-7464-6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yucedag, C., & Kaya, L. G. (2016). Effects of air pollutants on plants. Mehmet Akif Ersoy University Journal of the Institute of Science and Technology, 7(1), 67–74.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yucedag, C., & Kaya, L. G. (2017). Researches on science and art in 21 st century Turkey. Chap. 104. In H. Arapgirlioglu, A. Atik, R. L. Elliott, & E. Turgeon (Eds.), Recreational trend and demands of people in Isparta-Turkey. Ankara: Gece Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Westerling, A. L., Hidalgo, H. G., Cayan, D. R., & Swetnam, T. W. (2006). Warming and earlier spring increase western US forest wildfire activity. Science, 313(5789), 940–943.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Williams, D.E., (1959) Fire season severity rating, Div. Tech. Note 73, Can. Dep. of North. Affairs and Nat. Resour., Ottawa, Onterio, Canada, 1959

  • Wotton, B. M., & Flannigan, M. D. (1993). Length of the fire season in a changing climate. The Forestry Chronicle, 69(2), 187–192.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wotton, B. M. (2009). Interpreting and using outputs from the Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System in research applications. Environmental and Ecological Statistics, 16(2), 107–131.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank Dr. Martin Alexander, Ahmet Köle, and Talha Çan for all advices and supports on this article.

Funding

This research is self-funded.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Forestry, Department of Forest Engineering, Bartin University, Bartin, Turkey

    Mertol Ertugrul, Halil Baris Ozel & Tugrul Varol

  2. Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Department of Landscape Architecture, Kastamonu University, Kastamonu, Turkey

    Mehmet Cetin

  3. Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Department of Environmental Engineering, Kastamonu University, Kastamonu, Turkey

    Hakan Sevik

Authors
  1. Mertol Ertugrul
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Halil Baris Ozel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Tugrul Varol
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Mehmet Cetin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Hakan Sevik
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

Mehmet and Hakan conceived and designed the experiments, and Mertol and Halil performed the experiments. Mertol, Halil, and Tugrul analyzed the data; Mertol, Halil, Tugrul, Mehmet, and Hakan contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools; and Halil, Hakan, and Mehmet wrote the paper.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mehmet Cetin.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ertugrul, M., Ozel, H.B., Varol, T. et al. Investigation of the relationship between burned areas and climate factors in large forest fires in the Çanakkale region . Environ Monit Assess 191, 737 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-019-7946-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-019-7946-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation