THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE FACTORS ON THE WILDFIRE OCCURRENCE IN SERBIA

Wildfires are the most extreme form of devastation or complete destruction of forests. In recent decades, Serbia has experienced a dominant trend of rising air temperatures and reduced rainfall. Climate change increases the risk of wildfire occurrence and spread. The available statistical data point to an increasing number of wildfires and burnt areas. A study of specific climate characteristics and fire occurrences in Serbia in the period from 2005 to 2015 shows that there was a total of 2542 fires in this period, 2151 of which were more than 500 ha large. The total fire-burnt area in this period amounted to 22978.7 ha, with the average area of 9 ha. All the burnt areas over 500 ha in size covered a total of 20585.2 ha or 89.6% of the total area. The observed period had water deficits occurring during the summer, from July to September, with the highest potential evapotranspiration in July and August. The summer of 2012 was the hottest on record, with very low rainfall which mostly affected small parts of the territory of Serbia. All these factors were favourable for the fire occurrence, so the largest burnt area in Serbia (11890.83 ha) was recorded in this calendar year. The culmination of the water deficit and potential evapotranspiration coincides with the fire occurrence on the largest surface area. The fire occurrences are closely related to the size of these parameters. The integral approach to forest ecosystem protection and their timely adaptation to climate change is the basis for defining measures that need to be implemented in order to improve the state and sustainability of forest ecosystems in Serbia.