Fire-Related Traits in Mediterranean Woody Plants: From Functional Ecology to UAV-Based Monitoring of Crown Traits and Fire Behaviour Simulation

This PhD project investigates fire-related traits in Mediterranean woody plants by integrating functional ecology, remote sensing, and fire behaviour modelling. The research is structured around three complementary components: the first examines functional trait coordination and plant responses to different fire regimes in Mediterranean resprouter species, to stress the concept of fire as an eco-evolutionary driver shaping intra- and interspecific variability of fire-related functional traits. The second evaluates the potential of combining UAV LiDAR and multispectral imagery to estimate individual-level fire-related canopy traits, including crown-structural and leaf-related metrics, and to assess how these traits vary along wildfire gradient. The third applies LiDAR-derived fuel characterization to a real Mediterranean wildfire case study, providing inputs for crown fire behaviour simulation through spatially explicit fuel metrics and fuel-type classification. Overall, the thesis develops a multiscale framework linking field measurements, remote sensing observations, and fire modelling to improve our understanding of the relationships between plant functional strategies, post-fire vegetation dynamics, and fire behaviour in Mediterranean ecosystems.