Recurrent Fires at the Lalinac Salt Marsh: Integrating a Decade of Local Knowledge with Long-Term Satellite Records and Conservation Mapping

Recurrent landscape fires may threaten biodiversity in small protected areas embedded within human-dominated landscapes. We assessed fire occurrence and its spatial coincidence with species of conservation concern in protected natural area “Lalinačka Slatina”, by integrating stakeholder surveys, NASA FIRMS active-fire records, hydrometeorological data, and field-based mapping of selected plant and bird features. Stakeholders identified 48 fire-associated locations in the past decade, over 93% of which were linked to agricultural land or waste-disposal sites. The FIRMS dataset contained 1,073 active-fire detections, while 80% of MODIS detections recorded during 2001–2025 occurred between July and October. Maximum monthly temperature was positively associated with fire activity (IRR = 1.071, p = 0.0015), whereas precipitation had a negative effect (IRR = 0.957, p < 0.001). Direct correspondence between stakeholder-derived polygons and FIRMS detections was limited, indicating that the two sources captured complementary aspects of local fire occurrence. Fire exposure of selected species was spatially heterogeneous, reaching 98.8% in one mapped bird area and 100%, 96.5%, and 66.6% in several plant subpopulations. These results identify specific conservation-important areas where recurrent fire exposure is concentrated and provide a basis for targeted prevention, surveillance, and future ecological monitoring.