Abstract

The Valdivian temperate rainforest (VTR) is one of the world’s 36 biodiversity hotspots. These are defined as having at least 1500 endemic plant species and having lost 70% or more of their original habitat extent (Mittermeier et al 2013). This ecosystem is a temperate biome, located in Chile and western Argentina between 33 S and 48S, which includes different types of forests, shrublands, wetlands, rivers, and lakes. Its general biogeographical features are its location on the South American continent, its Neotropic affinities, and the legacy of the Gondwana supercontinent. Its isolation from other forest biomes has given it its strong endemism (Tecklin 2011 et al.) Strong human induced transformations, including climate change and landscape alterations, especially towards forest plantations of introduced species have increased the occurrence of wildfires which were especially destructive in the dry southern summer January 2022 – March 2023 (Peña-Fernández, E., & Valenzuela-Palma, L. 2008; Sánchez et al. 2023). Most affected areas were plantations areas of Eucalyptus y Pino Oregon in the Coastal Mountain range. In this recent wildfire season 310.000 ha have been burnt which is seven times more than during an average wildfire season in Chile (Conaf 2023; Coper 2023) (Figure 1). In this study we want to show the correlation between landcover and wildfire events in the southern summer months of 2023. In order to quantify land use on large areas data of PROBA-V satellite mission was used (Buchhorn 2020 et al.). To differentiate between primary forest and managed forests the global planted tree extends of 2015 was applied (Lesiv 2022). We derived wildfire data from FIRMS 2023 database (Fire Information for Resource Management System) using a timescale of 15 January till 15 March 2023. We used this period because in this span the catastrophic wildfires in Chile were at their greatest. We delimited the analysis from the Maule region in the north to the northern part of the Los Lagos region. The map shows that wildfires occur mainly in low-mountain areas in the Coastal Mountain range and that managed forest ecosystems are the most affected. We calculated from the FIRMS database an area of nearly 900,000 ha affected areas which is significant overestimation of the burned area. However, for overview analysis this data is still useful. Crossing data with previous land uses with the polygons of the wildfire fire events of 2023 shows that especially managed forest with nearly 77 % of the affected land use must draw special attention. Primary forest with only 4,8 % of affected area were far less affected by the 2023 Chilean wildfires (Table 1). Special attention must be drawn to managed forest areas (plantations) nearby population centres in future fire prevention plans. These interface areas represent zones where more lives and properties are exposed to wildfires; accordingly, this is where the biggest lost in life and infrastructure occur. For instance, the “Santa Ana” fire (2023), that affected the municipalities of Nacimiento, Santa Juana, Coronel and San Pedro de la Paz, resulted in 85,801 ha burned, 904 houses destroyed, 4,773 people displaced and 19 fatalities.