The aim of this study was to analyze the germination of Pinus brutia Ten. seeds, in the field, in relation to factors such as period of sowing, light environment, and watering, in sites of different productivity in the middle elevations in central Cyprus. Two sowing experiments were conducted in three sites of different productivity. In the first experiment P. brutia seed sowing took place in February 2009 in two sowing environments which were gap and under canopy environments. The shade conditions in those environments were determined using hemispherical photographs. Also, the influence of watering on the seed germination was checked. In the second experiment, which was established in the same areas as in the first experiment, the seed sowing took place in December 2009. However, in this case, no watering was applied during the germination period. Moreover, the survival of the seedlings from both sowing periods were monitored up to the end of 2010. During the period of monitoring, the influence of watering was checked. The germination rates of seeds from the February sowing were very low. On the contrary, from the December sowing, the germination rates of seeds were very high in both sowing environments in all studied sites. In the case of seedling survival from the February and December sowing, mortality rates were relatively high in all sites except from the under-canopy sowing environment where watering was applied in the medium productivity site. From the December sowing, from a practical point of view, the number of survived seedlings, in all the plots of the three sites can be considered adequate for the successful regeneration of P. brutia.

Global environmental and social change are pushing wildfire activity and impact beyond known trajectories. Here, we conducted a targeted review to distill five wildfire challenges that we argue form opportunities for their governance (research aim 1). We exemplified our arguments by drawing from the case of Cyprus (research aim 2), a small island country in the south-east European Mediterranean Basin at risk of extreme wildfire impact. Findings indicate that burning for social and ecological resource benefits, innovative management paradigms and anticipatory governance systems offer actionable solutions to the wildfire paradox and the limits of suppression. Local adaptive institutions and a reconceptualisation of wildfire as a risk and process beyond technocratic interpretations are necessary to account for broader social conditions shaping wildfire regimes and community impact. Governance systems that accommodate collective action have proven suitable to address multiple wildfire complexities linked with different socio-economic systems and values. A systematic literature review, policy review, and qualitative data collection on wildfire management in Cyprus track back to the initial framing. Our case study offers insights for tackling wildfires with actionable steps through overarching governance systems, and illustrates the potential for change in thinking of and acting on wildfire in flammable landscapes globally.

The objective of this research was to analyze the P. brutia natural regeneration and the environments where it was established in the absence of a wildfire in the open formations of the species in the middle elevations of the central part of Cyprus. Forty-eight rectangular plots of 0.1 ha were established in three site productivity types. Individuals of the species with a height from 0.1 m to 1.5 m were considered regeneration plants. Within each plot, various measurements and estimations were made. Moreover, 480 hemispherical photographs were taken. Additionally, hemispherical photographs were taken above each of the recorded naturally regenerated P. brutia plants. In all the site productivity types, the most regeneration plants were established and grew under the process of facilitation. In each of the site productivity types, there were no differences in the light condition diversity between the environments where the regeneration plants grew and the existing light conditions. Regeneration exhibited a small number of plants and constituted only a very small proportion of all trees in the three site productivity types. To achieve sustainability in P. brutia forests, forest practices must develop strategies for the enhancement of P. brutia regeneration in the studied area and in analogous environments.