Processes such as littoralization, socio-economic restructuring and agricultural abandonment facilitate land cover changes in the Mediterranean, which then lead to an increased fire risk in the region. These processes are in part driven by people’s values, beliefs and traditional knowledge, lending itself to both qualitative and quantitative research approaches. However, despite the importance of human factors in wildfire occurrence and the complexity of humanenvironmental relations, such studies so far have been almost exclusively quantitative. This research aims at analysing the drivers of wildfire occurrence in the Mediterranean region of Dalmatia, Croatia through mixed-method approach. Croatia has gone through rapid social and economic changes in the past 30 years which have affected livelihood strategies and landscape configuration. The study includes spatial and statistical analysis of a set of variables during two fire seasons (2011 and 2013), but in-depth interviews with fire-fighters and farmers in the region as well. The results show that grassland and shrubland (maquis) are one of the most important drivers of wildfire occurrence in the region, and that they can be seen as indicators of the process of agricultural abandonment. The research demonstrated differing opinions on the use of agricultural burning in preventing wildfires between farmers and fire-fighters, but a common view of wildfires posing a risk only to human life and material property, disregarding potential risk to ecosystem services.

中文翻译：

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通过混合方法分析野火的发生：克罗地亚地中海的案例研究

沿海化、社会经济重组和农业废弃等过程促进了地中海土地覆盖的变化，从而导致该地区火灾风险增加。这些过程部分由人们的价值观、信仰和传统知识驱动，适用于定性和定量研究方法。然而，尽管人为因素在野火发生中的重要性以及人类环境关系的复杂性，但迄今为止此类研究几乎完全是定量的。本研究旨在通过混合方法分析克罗地亚达尔马提亚地中海地区野火发生的驱动因素。克罗地亚在过去 30 年中经历了迅速的社会和经济变化，这些变化影响了生计战略和景观配置。该研究包括对两个火灾季节（2011 年和 2013 年）中一组变量的空间和统计分析，但也对该地区的消防员和农民进行了深入采访。结果表明，草地和灌木丛（maquis）是该地区野火发生的最重要驱动因素之一，它们可以被视为农业废弃过程的指标。该研究表明，农民和消防员对使用农业燃烧预防野火存在不同意见，但普遍认为野火仅对人类生命和物质财产构成风险，而忽略了对生态系统服务的潜在风险。但也深入采访了该地区的消防员和农民。结果表明，草地和灌木丛（maquis）是该地区野火发生的最重要驱动因素之一，它们可以被视为农业废弃过程的指标。该研究表明，农民和消防员对使用农业燃烧预防野火存在不同意见，但普遍认为野火仅对人类生命和物质财产构成风险，而忽略了对生态系统服务的潜在风险。但也深入采访了该地区的消防员和农民。结果表明，草地和灌木丛（maquis）是该地区野火发生的最重要驱动因素之一，它们可以被视为农业废弃过程的指标。该研究表明，农民和消防员对使用农业燃烧预防野火存在不同意见，但普遍认为野火仅对人类生命和物质财产构成风险，而忽略了对生态系统服务的潜在风险。