**Meet the editor**

Janusz Szmyt is an adjunct at the Silviculture Department Faculty of Forestry at the Poznan University of Life Sciences, Poland. He earned his MSc and PhD degrees in silviculture at Poznan University of Life Sciences. His scientific interest focuses on different aspects of forestry and forest ecology, e.g. forest dynamics and the influence of natural processes on forest dynamics, regenera-

tion and tending operations in immature forest stands of different origin, the influence of initial density of regeneration on forest stand growth and development, different methods of stand regeneration, forest plantations, afforestation of agricultural lands after their agriculture use, forest conservation, forest management and forest succession after the natural disturbances. In his scientific project, he is interested especially in the application of spatial statistics in forestry. His current research project is focused on the influence of different management systems on structural diversity of Scots pine stands.

Contents

**Preface VII**

**Section 1 Forest Fires - Social Conflicts and Causes 1**

Vidal Hernández-García

**Bayesian Networks 25**

**Section 2 Forest Fire Monitoring and Modelling 51**

Andoni Tibau

Chapter 3 **Forest Fire Monitoring 53** Ahmad AA Alkhatib

Chapter 4 **Forest Fire Model 73** Saiful Bukhori

**Australia 95**

Tomkins and Warwick Hehir

Chapter 1 **Ruling Frameworks and Fire Use‐Conflicts in Tropical Forests of**

Francisco Guevara-Hernández, Luis Alfredo Rodríguez-Larramendi, Fredy Delgado-Ruiz, Julio Díaz-José, René Pinto-Ruiz, Leopoldo Medina-Sanson, Alejandro Ley-de Coss, Rady Alejandra Campos-Saldaña, Luis Reyes-Muro, Miguel Angel Salas-Marina, José

Apolonio Venegas-Venegas, Martín de Jesús Ocaña-Grajales, Carlos Ernesto Aguilar-Jiménez, Jesús Ovando-Cruz, Deb Raj Aryal and

Rosario Delgado, José-Luis González, Andrés Sotoca and Xavier-

Shahriar Rahman, Hsing-Chung Chang, Christina Magill, Kerrie

**Chiapas, Mexico: A Discourse Analysis 3**

Chapter 2 **Archetypes of Wildfire Arsonists: An Approach by Using**

Chapter 5 **Forest Fire Occurrence and Modeling in Southeastern**

## Contents

#### **Preface XI**

#### **Section 1 Forest Fires - Social Conflicts and Causes 1**


Preface

New Zealand. This number applies only to 2016.

challenge related to the forest protection against fires.

ly reduce their adverse effects.

and easy.

Thank you all.

In the changing world, among other environmental conditions, it seems necessary to get knowledge about the impact of climate change related to global warming on forest ecosys‐ tems. One of the factors exerting a clear influence on forest cover in the world is forest fires. On each continent, an increase in the number of fires is observed as well. The reason for the increase of forest fire hazard in the world is, among others, the climate change.The United States, Russia, Canada, European countries as well as South America are nowadays especial‐ ly vulnerable to the occurrence of large-scale forest fires. To imagine the scale of the prob‐ lem, we can quote a number corresponding to the loss in the forest area equal to the area of

Forest fires, in addition to causing losses in the natural environment and natural resources, also generate higher social costs related to prevention, rescue actions, compensation pay‐ ments as well as costs of activities resulting in changes in the use of natural resources. Worldwide, forest fires are caused both by man and by forces of nature themselves (e.g. lightning). Therefore, it is likely that in the near future, forests and societies will face a great

In this book, the reader will find information on various factors related to forest fires. In one of the chapters, the reader will be able to find out how the profile of a potential arsonist can be made; in the next one, he will learn about potential social conflicts resulting from the cur‐ rent use of natural resources and related forest fires by the local communities and how to resolve these conflicts. The reader will also learn about techniques of forest fire detection using new technologies; he will learn how to use forest fire modelling techniques to proper‐

Many people deserve hearty thanks for bringing this book to reality. In particular, I would like to thank all the authors who contributed to this book. Special thanks go to Marina Du‐ sevic from InTech, who patiently guided me through the project and reminded of crucial dates related to preparation of this book. It is clear to me that without her help, this project would not have come to the end. Finally, I thank my colleagues for their inspiration and support. At last, but of course not least, I would thank Karolina, who makes my work nice

**Janusz Szmyt**

Faculty of Forestry

Poznań, Poland

Department of Silviculture

Poznań University of Life Sciences

Chapter 7 **Wood of Coniferous Trees: Reaction to Fire 131** Linda Makovicka Osvaldova
