Wildfire risk associated with different vegetation types within and outside wildland-urban interfaces

The differences found between LULCs in fire risk, both in WUI and non-WUI areas, have interesting implications for fire management. Promotion of land covers with low fire risk should be considered as a low cost alternative to the usual fire prevention measures based on fuel load reduction, which require the continuous clearing of vegetation. In this regard, the low fire risk in native forests should be taken into account. Native forests naturally colonize many areas in the study region and require low or no management, in contrast with agricultural areas, also with low fire risk but requiring continuous management in order to avoid colonization by natural vegetation.