Óscar Cruz: «The problem of forest fires is that they are not valued until they occur»

Between 1983 and 2016, more than 100,000 fires originated in Galicia. A figure, no doubt, whose dimension is difficult to conceive, but whose consequences are simple to intuit. There were 1.8 million hectares burned, 60% of the country's total area, with all that this entails: loss of biodiversity, soil degradation, contamination of aquifers, proliferation of invasive species...

In light of this discouraging data, there is an urgent need to tackle this problem at its source, focusing on prevention and on the importance of acting from an efficient structural management, applying multidisciplinary strategies that involve all social agents before, during and after the spread of fire.

A perspective that defines the work philosophy of our interviewee today, Óscar Cruz de la Fuente, PhD in Renewable Energies and Energy Sustainability from USC and professor and postdoctoral researcher in the Ecology Area of Campus Terra. 

His prolific research career focused on the study of the effects of fire and the monitoring of plant communities, among other things, has been characterized during all these years by a genuine passion for field work, something that he also extrapolates to his work as a teacher.

Today, we talk with Óscar Cruz about the keys to the fight against forest fires, the consequences that invasive alien species can trigger in our territory and his time as a member of the scientific committee of the I Congreso Ibérico da Mocidade Investigadora del Campus Terra. 

-Your research work revolves, among other things, around the post-fire recovery of Iberian Atlantic ecosystems. What strategies are being followed to mitigate the effects of fire? How important are land management and rural governance in this aspect?

-One of the main lines should be sustainable forest management, promoting the value of the forest ecosystems present and the adequate use of the resources they provide. We should also support the maintenance of traditional agriculture, extensive livestock farming and forestry.

This action should be important to generate territories with natural, social and economic value, less vulnerable to forest fires and to collaborate in reducing the depopulation of rural and mountain areas. Finally, good environmental education from schools should value the importance of the relationship between forest fires and the sensitization of society.

Good land management can ensure that the forest fires occurring due to the climatic conditions we have been experiencing in recent years do not reach the number of hectares burned each year.

But, for this, not only the rural governance has to fulfill this function, but also the highest levels, since the problem of forest fires is not valued until they occur, and then, we only get to talk about natural disasters during small periods after that. More environmental awareness is needed at all levels of society.

-In this regard, what role can figures such as the communal forests play?

-Knowing that a quarter of the Galician territory, more than 700,000 hectares, corresponds to common forests, they play a very important role. It is necessary to recognize the work done by the local forests in generating wealth and creating jobs. 

It is necessary to have a common front of the local forests when it comes to maintaining the forests and their growth and to be able to manage them jointly so that there is heterogeneity in the forests and not homogeneity of plantations as it happens in many places in Galicia, making forest fires impossible to stop in many regions, both here and in Spain.

-You became a Doctor in Renewable Energies and Energy Sustainability at USC thanks to your doctoral thesis, in which you explored the relationship between forest fires and the spread of certain invasive species in our environment. What could be the consequences of neglecting these dynamics? What tools do we have to combat this scourge?

-Invasive alien species are the second leading cause of biodiversity loss in the world. Globalization has had its positive side in bringing us closer to the whole world, but it has also had its negative side in bringing us closer to plant species that can be harmful to the environment. 

The dynamics of invasive species are not properly addressed because it is mainly very economically costly to eliminate them from the environment. To take a big action in a territory once does not eliminate this species from that place. It is often difficult to eliminate invasive species with a single action due to the root system they present, requiring months or years to eliminate them.

In addition, thanks to the germination behavior of invasive alien species, if they are found in areas of forest fires, they can be stimulated by heat and cause an explosion of their germination due to the seed banks they can generate. We need to study the different invasive species from early ages to adult stages and invest resources.

There are chemical, physical and biological methods to act against certain species, but one of the ways we have to study may be the natural competition of native species against invasive species, through competition for light. From our group, we try to study these methods to discover possible native species that can compete naturally with these species and be able to reduce them from the natural environment.

-One of the strong points of your profile is your fieldwork, in which you carry out tasks such as monitoring plant communities. What does Phytosociology consist of? What data can be extracted from the monitoring of plant communities?

From our point of view, Phytosociology consists of studying plant communities from their species composition, where a good estimate of them is made through species cover, dominance of main species or cover by vertical strata of the communities studied.

When sampling methods of forest communities where forest fires have occurred, we want to study how a forest fire behaves in an area and compare it with areas that have not been burned and are close to the burned sites. Ideally, we would like to study the same communities before and after the fire.

We can obtain data from monitoring plant communities such as diversity of main families, diversity of functional groups, species composition, dominant species, cover of woody and herbaceous species, etc. In the end, the resulting data can be used in the best way to explain the situations we find in these ecosystems.

-And as a teacher, what role do field trips and experimentation play in the education of your students? What vision do the new generations have of this type of work?

-Since I was a student in León, I have always believed that a field trip is better than 5 hours of classroom teaching. When you go out and experiment in the field, you have more concerns and more questions. You see things that books don't teach you because they bring you closer to real situations.

In the end, being able to see, hear, smell, or hold with your hands the things we are taught in the classroom and be able to apply in the field, I think, is a better way to learn. That is why it is so important to have sufficient resources to be able to do more field practices.

The new generations are eager to learn. Lectures can help you to know about what you are going to learn, but when you go to the field, you can see how they have concerns, and you get to know the students in a more direct way, being able to explain situations or questions that they do not ask in class.

-And to finish. A few days ago, you participated in the I Iberian Early-Career Researchers’ Congress of the Campus Terra as moderator of one of the thematic blocks on climate change, biodiversity and green infrastructures. What can you tell us about this experience? How would you evaluate the development of the Congress?

-Participating in the I Iberian Early-Career Researchers’ Congress of the Campus Terra was to be in a Congress from the other side, where you try to do your best to develop it in the best possible way. I have always participated by making posters or presenting oral communications, but not as a scientific committee member.

With this action, Campus Terra has made a lot known about what is being done on this campus. Getting to know people from different areas of this campus and from other universities, exchanging ideas, and promoting connections with other researchers have been very good ideas.

Many times, starting a research career with more knowledge of what is going to happen is a factor of uncertainty for many people, which can lead them to decide whether to continue in research or not. Having organized this Congress has helped many people to take this step, and we have also been able to hold a different congress where, apart from learning, we have been able to enjoy ourselves.

Being part of the creation of this Congress has been rewarding and has given me an understanding of the amount of work behind the organization of an event like this. I hope it will be repeated in the coming years and can become a reference for young researchers in Spain and other countries.