Pastoral Burning and Its Contribution to the Fire Regime of Alto Minho, Portugal

Alto Minho (in northwestern Iberia) is one of the European regions most affected by fires. Many these fires originate from rangeland management Atlantic heathlands, and, while being illegal, often are not actively suppressed. In this study, pastoral (autumn-to-spring unrecorded authorities), spring wildfires, and summer wildfires were independently mapped dated remote sensing. burned at a mean annual rate 5.0% territory between 2001 2020. Pastoral burning totalled 40,788 hectares during period, accounting for 20% total burnt area. Rangeland occurs mostly December to April, rainiest months that guarantee conditions pasture renewal fire self-extinction. The return interval slightly higher than (13 years vs. 11 years), except in part inner mountains where it dominates activity. more frequent largely prevail over parishes with livestock quantities. Conversely, largest areas correspond very low nearly non-existing Traditional knowledge should be overlooked management, as contributes sustainable regimes ecosystems.