IESc Seminar Series: “Wildfires and Climate Change” By Prof. Çağatay Tavşanoğlu

Institute of Environmental Sciences Seminar Series

“Wildfires and Climate Change”

By Prof. Çağatay Tavşanoğlu

Hacettepe University

We cordially invite you to our seminar “Wildfires and climate change”, to be held by Prof. Çağatay Tavşanoğlu, Hacettepe University, Department of Biology.

When: 16 May 2025, Friday, 13:00-14:00

Where: Institute of Environmental Sciences Seminar Room (Hisar Campus E-Block)

Contact: pinar.ertor@bogazici.edu.tr for any questions.

Abstract:

Wildfire regimes are intensifying worldwide as anthropogenic warming and land‑use change interact. Analyses of satellite detections and meteorological re‑analysis reveal steep recent increases in burned area and event severity, with extreme outbreaks from Australia and the Amazon to Siberia, California, and the Mediterranean Basin. Mediterranean megafires—including the 2021 events in Türkiye—arise when record drought coincides with high fuel continuity produced by rural depopulation, afforestation, and natural succession, together with expanding human ignitions along wildland–urban interfaces. Climate‑driven fuel aridity is necessary but not sufficient; socio‑ecological feedbacks further intensify fire spread and severity. Regional projections under RCP 4.5–8.5 scenarios indicate a potential doubling of “very high” to “extreme” fire‑danger days in the Mediterranean by mid‑century, threatening post‑fire regeneration processes and carbon stocks. Integrating theory and case studies, key management options such as strategic fuel mosaics, restoration of fire‑adapted ecosystems, and incorporation of traditional burning practices, can foster forests resilient to the combined pressures of climate change and escalating wildfire activity.

Short bio:

Çağatay Tavşanoğlu graduated from the Department of Biology at Hacettepe University in 1998. He completed his PhD in fire ecology in 2008 in the same department’s Division of Ecology. Afterward, he carried out research in Spain on post-fire plant regeneration mechanisms and developed a plant‐trait database for the Mediterranean Basin, which he made available to ecologists. He is currently a faculty member in the Division of Ecology, Department of Biology, at Hacettepe University. With his team, he conducts research on forest-fire ecology, functional ecology, and the ecological impacts of climate change, and he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in these fields.