This study analyses spatio-temporal patterns of wildfires in Greece using a multidimensional statistical framework based on non-parametric correlations, principal component analysis, clustering and stepwise discriminant analysis. Specifically, we assess the frequency, seasonal profile, severity and land-use type of 135 178 wildfires which occurred between 2000-2012 in Greece, one of the countries most affected by fire in Europe. Our results show that both the number of fires and the average size of the area covered by fire show a specific seasonal pattern with a marked increase during the dry season. Principal component analysis identifies three dimensions linked with the main type of land-use affected by the fires: (i) medium and large fires primarily affected landscapes composed of forests, mixed woodlands/shrublands and croplands; (ii) small fires mainly affected fragmented landscapes, i.e. those with mosaics of different crops, market gardens and non-vegetated, abandoned or marginal areas; (iii) fires affecting wetlands and pastures occurred particularly in late summer and showing medium-low severity. Hierarchical clustering highlights similarities in spatio-temporal patterns between fire indicators (ignition date, burnt land cover classes, fire size, fire density). K-means clustering allows us to distinguish between low-severity fires occurring in the wet season from intense and frequent fires occurring in the dry season but with distinct land-use selectivity. The research reported here contributes insight into the complexity of wild fires in the Mediterranean region and supports the design of more effective fire prevention measures including sustainable forest management practices and careful regional planning to minimise risk factors.

Key message: Traditional coppice conversion to high forest through periodic thinning requires a long period to attain the regeneration stage. We showed that anticipating seed cutting can accelerate the progression of the stands towards more adult stand conditions, compared with traditional management. The application of different active management options in the same landscape can contribute to increase landscape diversity. Context: In southern European beech forests, coppice is a widespread management system, especially due to the past uses. The existence of large areas either abandoned or under protracted transitory stage raises questions concerning environmental and economic revenues related to the different management options. Aims: We evaluated the effectiveness of anticipating seed cutting in beech coppices to accelerate the coppice transition to high forest, compared with traditional management (periodic thinning) and natural evolution pattern (unthinned control). Methods: We used an exploratory analysis of ecological variables related to structure, dynamics, and productivity of the stands (growth efficiency, leaf area index, litter production, transmittance, and canopy heterogeneity), which were monitored during 10 years in beech coppices in Central Italy. Results: Anticipating seed cutting produced stronger modification in canopy structure, improving growth efficiency as a result of higher resource availability, supporting higher seed production which accelerated the progression of the stand towards more adult stand conditions, compared with traditional management and unthinned control. Conclusion: The application of different active management options can increase landscape heterogeneity under the conditions in which increasing landscape diversity represents a priority management issue, while simultaneously allowing environmental and economic revenues. © 2015, INRA and Springer-Verlag France.