An international group of experts led by the University of Granada (UGR) plans reforestation efforts worldwide with a dual focus: planting trees and selecting species that actively help slow fire spread when fires occur.
The study, led by Alexandro B. Leverkus from the UGR Department of Ecology, appeared in the journal Science last week, as confirmed by a UGR press release cited by Europa Press.
Across many regions there is a surge of afforestation backed by social movements, government programs, and private initiatives. A central aim is to reduce climate impacts by capturing carbon through plant growth.
Yet reforestation carries potential downsides for the carbon cycle if it leads to increased fuel loads or altered landscape sustainability, which can influence fire dynamics.
A United Nations Environment Programme report warns that climate change and human modifications to vegetation have raised the risk of severe, widespread fires in many areas. The expansion of dense coniferous and eucalyptus forests is highlighted as a contributing factor.
“If reforestation raises the chance of fire spread, it may negate carbon gains by releasing stored carbon back into the atmosphere, increasing the likelihood of fires crossing into new areas. Reforestation programs should therefore incorporate fire-risk reduction”, explained the UGR researcher.
On one hand, vegetation-management actions like reforestation must consider how new landscape composition and patterns affect fire behavior.
In favor of ‘mosaic forests’
“Small patches of different vegetation types or land uses and mosaic landscapes should be preferred, while large, continuous, uniform stands should be avoided. In a forest, keeping breaks between shrubbery and treetops can hinder flames climbing into tree crowns.”
“Low-density planting with a variety of low-flammability species can also slow fire spread”, Leverkus noted. He stressed that reforestation should improve the capacity of vegetation to recover after a fire, as some species can regrow after their foliage and branches are consumed.
This rapid regrowth helps stabilize ecosystems after a fire and reduces erosion. UGR notes that using native species capable of resprouting in reforestation can enhance environmental quality, biodiversity, and long-term carbon sequestration while considering increasing fire risk.
The expected benefits of reforestation have spurred ambitious political goals to plant hundreds of thousands, millions, or even trillions of trees. The concern is that planting far more trees than the local ecosystem can support might disrupt native, diverse vegetation and harm existing habitats.
The authors cautioned that overly dense wood masses with quick-installation species can pose high fire spread risks and hinder post-fire regeneration, limiting long-term fire mitigation and ecological recovery.
They urged a shift away from counting trees toward assessing how reforestation fits with surrounding vegetation and carbon capture sustained over time, even under future fire scenarios. Otherwise, new fire types and greater carbon emissions could threaten vegetation and ecosystem stability.
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