168257 20260130124311.0 doi 10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.128285 sideral 147751 ART-2026-147751 eng Cardil, A. Protected areas influence fire regimes globally 2026 Protected areas (PAs) aim to support global conservation efforts including the maintenance of fire regimes and mitigation of negative fire impacts. Analyzing data from over 20 million fires worldwide, we found that PAs, along with the various protection levels defined by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), significantly influenced burned area (BA) and fire regime attributes across continents and biomes in distinct ways, with varying impacts on fire size, spread, intensity, and duration. In most biomes, the proportion of BA within PAs was smaller than the proportion of PA itself, indicating that PAs were generally less impacted by wildfires. However, in tropical grasslands, tropical dry broadleaf forests and temperate conifer forests, the BA fraction inside PAs was larger. The strictest IUCN protection categories (Ia and Ib) were associated with the lowest BA, compared to National Parks (IUCN II) and other less restrictive protection categories. However, this pattern varied by biome, with mediterranean forests, temperate broadleaf and mixed forests, temperate grasslands and tropical coniferous forests showing increased fire proneness in the strictest IUCN categories and more intense fires. Insights from this research can guide targeted environmental policies to strengthen PA networks to maintain fire regimes. Access copy available to the general public Unrestricted info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/101037419/EU/Innovative technologies and socio-ecological-economic solutions for fire resilient territories in Europe./FIRE-RES This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No H2020 101037419-FIRE-RES info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/860787/EU/PyroLife - training the next generation of integrated fire management experts/PyroLife This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No H2020 860787-PyroLife info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess by-nc https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/deed.es info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Rodrigues, M. Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0002-0477-0796 Ascoli, D. Ortega, M. Quiñones, T. Erdozain, M. Oliveras Menor, I. Spadoni, G.L. Ramírez, J. Molina, J.R. Mouillot, F. Silva, C.A. Mohan, M. Martínez-Bentué, C. de-Miguel, S. 3006 010 Universidad de Zaragoza Dpto. Geograf. Ordenac.Territ. Área Análisis Geográfico Regi. 398 (2026), 128285 [12 pp.] J. environ. manag. Journal of environmental management 0301-4797 7159026 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/168257/files/texto_completo.pdf Versión publicada 2393113 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/168257/files/texto_completo.jpg?subformat=icon icon Versión publicada oai:zaguan.unizar.es:168257 articulos driver 2026-01-30-12:20:54 ARTICLE