Fire Ecology of Tropical Ecosystems gives an extensive explanation of historic and current fire situations in the tropics, describing the fire ecology of tropical ecosystems from around the globe. Eighteen groups of leading researchers explain the many different aspects and roles of fire in tropical ecosystems. Regional chapters address a set of common subjects including the causes of fire, typical fire behavior, and elements of the fire regime. In addition, they study the impacts of human land use, landscape fragmentation and climate change on the fire environment and the challenges of fire management in these ecosystems. The common set of topics provides consistency among the chapters and facilitates comprehensive understanding of fire’s place in tropical ecology. This cohesive book covers unique aspects of fire in each ecosystem and includes a discussion of common elements to enable comparisons and syntheses of fire effects in disparate tropical ecosystems. Current scientific literature is too fragmented: it hampers the understanding of tropical fire ecology and degrades all global studies of land cover change and global carbon emissions. Fire Ecology of Tropical Ecosystems fills a large void in our current understanding of how fire affects terrestrial biota. The book opens with a general explanation of fire in the tropics, giving the examples of Oazaca, Mexico in 1998 and Roraima, Brazil in 1997-1998. It follows with the concepts and principles of wildland fire, including heat transfer, fire behavior, fuels, weather and climate. Chapters 3-19 cover the implications of fire in Asia, Africa, Australia, Central and South America, Pacifica and Pantropical, addressing the causes, fire behavior, severity, fire and land use, fire and landscapes (fragmentation and connectivity), fire, climate and climate change, fire regimes (why frequency matters), issues for fire management and regional issues of specific importance or interest. An overview at the end of the book considers the global fire regime conditions, threats, and opportunities for fire management in the tropics.
Author(s): Mark Cochrane
Edition: 1
Year: 2009
Language: English
Pages: 696
3540773800......Page 1
Tropical Fire Ecology......Page 3
Copyright Page
......Page 4
Table of Contents
......Page 5
Preface
......Page 17
Figures
......Page 20
Tables
......Page 25
Abbreviations and acronyms
......Page 27
Contributors
......Page 31
1.1 INTRODUCTION
......Page 37
1.2.1 Overview
......Page 38
1.2.2 Economic impacts
......Page 40
1.2.3 Health issues
......Page 41
1.2.4 Environmental impacts
......Page 43
1.3.1 Mexico
......Page 46
1.3.2 Brazil
......Page 50
1.4 IMPLICATIONS
......Page 53
1.6 REFERENCES
......Page 54
2.1 FIRE AND COMBUSTION
......Page 60
2.2.1 Conduction
......Page 63
2.2.3 Radiation
......Page 64
2.3.2 Fuel loading and arrangement
......Page 66
2.3.5 Live fuels
......Page 68
2.3.7 Moisture exchange
......Page 72
2.3.8 Fuel continuity
......Page 73
2.5 WILDLAND FIRE
......Page 74
2.5.1.1 Surface fires
......Page 75
2.5.2.1 Flame height
......Page 76
2.5.2.2 Flame length and fireline intensity
......Page 77
2.5.2.4 Height of crown scorch
......Page 78
25.2.7 Residence time
......Page 81
2.6.1 Fire regimes
......Page 84
2.6.2.2 Fire seasonality
......Page 85
2.6.3 Fire regime classification
......Page 86
2.6.4 The action of fire in ecosystems
......Page 88
2.8 REFERENCES
......Page 90
Part I
Global overview of fire in the tropics......Page 98
3.1 ABSTRACT
......Page 99
3.2 INTRODUCTION
......Page 100
3.3 ASSESSING THE WORLD'S FIRE REGIMES
......Page 101
3.4 FIRE REGIME TYPES
......Page 102
3.5 THE STATE OF THE WORLD'S TROPICAL FIRE REGIMES
......Page 103
3.6.1 Climate change
......Page 106
3.6.2 Agriculture and livestock ranching
......Page 107
3.6.5 Fire exclusion and suppression
......Page 109
3.6.8 Arson
......Page 110
3.9 INTEGRATED FIRE MANAGEMENT
......Page 111
3.10 CONCLUSIONS
......Page 113
3.11 REFERENCES
......Page 114
Part II
Fire in the Australian tropics......Page 118
4.1 ABSRACT
......Page 119
4.2 INTRODUCTION
......Page 120
4.3.2 Ecological Drift model
......Page 121
4.3.3 Evidence and alternative perspectives
......Page 125
4.4.1 Methods of quantifying fire frequency
......Page 126
4.4.2 Fire frequency in Victorian montane forests
......Page 127
4.4.4 Landscape effects on fire frequency
......Page 128
4.5.1 Aboriginal fire regimes - evidence from northern Australia savannas
......Page 130
4.5.3 Edaphic "inertia" of monsoon rainforest-savanna boundaries
......Page 131
4.5.4 Monsoon ranforest boundary dynamics
......Page 133
4.6 ACACIA ANEURA SHRUBLANDS IN A TRIODIA GRASSLAND MOSAIC IN CENTRAL AUSTRALIA
......Page 134
4.7 ECOLOGYCAL FRIFT, CHANGING FIRE REGIMES, AND FIRE FEEDBACKS
......Page 135
4.8 CONCLUSION
......Page 136
4.9 REFERENCES
......Page 138
5.2 INTRODUCTION
......Page 144
5.2.1 The region
......Page 145
5.2.2 Fires in the region
......Page 148
5.3 FIRE BEHAVIOR, FIRE WEATHER
......Page 149
5.4 FIRE REGIMES
......Page 151
5.5 RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN FIRE, WOODY PLANTS, AND GRASSES
......Page 153
5.6.1 Predicted changes in climate
......Page 155
5.6.2 Management of emissions
......Page 156
5.7.1 Biodiversity, fire, and grazing regimes
......Page 157
5.7.2 Biodiversity consservation in reserves
......Page 160
5.8 PROTECTION OF HUMAN LIFE AND PROPERTY
......Page 162
5.9 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
......Page 163
5.11 REFERENCES
......Page 164
6.2 INTRODUCTION
......Page 173
6.3 STEREOTYPES OF SEASONALITY AND SPATIALITY
......Page 177
6.4.1 Fire for hunting
......Page 178
6.4.1.2 Green pick: promoting regrowth of grasses
......Page 179
6.4.2 Domiculture: management of plant resources
......Page 181
6.4.4 A landscape management system
......Page 183
6.5.1 Ecological impact of wildfire regimes
......Page 184
6.5.2.1 Central Arheem Land: a case study of Aboriiginal fire management and ecological integrity
......Page 186
6.5.2.3 Aboriginal fire management and the emerging carbon economy
......Page 188
6.5.2.3.2 West Arhem Land Fire Abatement project
......Page 189
6.5.2.4 Indigenous knowledge conservation
......Page 190
6.7 REFERENCES
......Page 191
Part III
Fire in the African tropics......Page 198
7.1 ABSTRACT
......Page 199
7.2 INTRODUCTION
......Page 200
7.3.1 Mali and West Africa
......Page 202
7.3.2 Madagascar
......Page 204
7.4.1 Generalities on prehistoric African fire and issues of vegetation "origin"
......Page 205
7.4.2 West African anthropogenic fire history
......Page 208
7.4.3 Madagascar
......Page 209
7.5.1 Mali
......Page 210
7.5.2 Madagascar
......Page 213
7.6.1.1 Fire is used to hunt
......Page 215
7.6.1.6 Fire can facilitate gathering
......Page 216
7.6.2 Seasonal mosaic burning in Mali
......Page 217
7.6.2.2 Linkages to soil/vegetation patterns
......Page 218
7.6.2.3 Reasons for the pattern
......Page 219
7.6.2.4 Ecological and biogeographical implications
......Page 222
7.6.3 The culture of fire use in Madagascar
......Page 224
7.7 ESTIMATING FIRE IMPACTS
......Page 229
7.7.1 Climate and hydrology
......Page 230
7.7.2 Land cover conversion and vegetation change
......Page 231
7.7.3 Fragmentation and connectivity
......Page 232
7.7.4 Atmospheric and health effects of emissions
......Page 233
7.8.1 Early fire policies
......Page 234
7.8.3 Post-colonial approaches: strong words, weak enforcement
......Page 236
7.8.4 From drought to revenue: fire in 1980s' Mali
......Page 237
7.8.5 Biodiversity hotspot: fire in 1980s'-1990s' Madagascar
......Page 239
7.8.7 Today
......Page 240
7.8.8 Lessons
......Page 241
7.9 CONCLUSION
......Page 242
7.10 REFERENCES
......Page 243
8.1 ABSTRACT
......Page 255
8.2 INTRODUCTION
......Page 256
8.3 CLIMATE, FIRE, AND LIVELIHOOD LINKAGES
......Page 257
8.4 CLIMATE CONDITIONS: PRESENT AND FUTURE PROJECTIONS
......Page 258
8.4.1 Current climatic conditions
......Page 259
8.4.2 Future climate change projections
......Page 261
8.5 CURRENT FIRE REGIMES IN MOZAMBIQUE TODAY
......Page 262
8.5.1 Fire distribution and frequency
......Page 263
8.6 UNDERLYING CAUSES OF WILDLAND FIRE
......Page 264
8.6.1 Ecological impacts of fire
......Page 265
8.6.2 Miombo woodland species
......Page 266
8.6.3 Ecological consequences of fire in the miombo woodland
......Page 270
8.7 ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF FIRE
......Page 272
8.8 EMISSIONS FROM BIOMASS BURNING
......Page 274
8.8.2 Emissions from land use change and forestry
......Page 275
8.9.1 Historical policy and institutional framework
......Page 276
8.9.2 Current policy and institutional framework
......Page 277
8.10 CONCLUSIONS
......Page 279
8.11 ACKNOWLEDGMENT
......Page 282
8.12 REFERENCES
......Page 283
Part IV
Fire in the Asian tropics......Page 288
9.1 ABSTRACT
......Page 289
9.2 INTRODUCTION
......Page 290
9.3 THE TROPICAL PEATLANDS OF SOUTHEAST ASIA
......Page 291
9.4 FIRE HISTORY AND THE CAUSES OF FIRE
......Page 292
9.5 LAND USE CHANGE AS THE DRIVER OF CONTEMPORARY PEATLAND FIRES
......Page 295
9.6 CAUSES OF FIRE; THE BLAME GAME
......Page 296
9.6.1 Role of fire in recent deforestation of tropical peatlands in Borneo
......Page 298
9.7.1 From fire to flood
......Page 302
9.7.2 Carbon emissions and fire behavior
......Page 305
9.7.3 Tropical peatlands under a changing climate
......Page 307
9.8 FUTURE PROSPECTS
......Page 308
9.9 REFERENCES
......Page 309
10.2 INTRODUCTION
......Page 314
10.3 STUDY AREA
......Page 317
10.4 FIRE IN SEASONAL EVERGREEN FOREST
......Page 319
10.5 WHY DO SEASONAL EVERGREEN FORESTS BURN?
......Page 323
10.6 EFFECT OF FIRE ON SEASONAL EVERGREEN FOREST
......Page 326
10.7 SUMMARY AND IMPLICATIONS
......Page 330
10.8 REFERENCES
......Page 331
11.1 ABSTRACT
......Page 336
11.2 INTRODUCTION
......Page 337
11.3.1 Climate
......Page 339
11.3.2 Fuels
......Page 340
11.4 FIRE BEHAVIOR
......Page 341
11.5.1 Fire effects on individual trees
......Page 345
11.5.2 Fire effects at the stand scale
......Page 347
11.5.3 Fire and tree species abundance
......Page 348
11.6 FIRE REGIMES
......Page 351
11.7 FIRE, LANDSCAPE, AND LAND USE
......Page 353
11.8 FIRE AND CLIMATE
......Page 354
11.9 ISSUES FOR FIRE MANAGEMENT
......Page 355
11.10 REFERENCES
......Page 356
12.1 ABSTRACT
......Page 360
12.3 HUMANS AND FIRE IN THE WESTERN GHATS
......Page 361
12.4 LINK BETWEEN FIRE REGIMES AND FIELD STUDIES
......Page 362
12.5.1 Spatial parameters of fire regimes
......Page 363
12.5.2.2 Tropical dry thorn forest
......Page 364
12.6.2 Delineating forest fires in the Nilgiri landscape
......Page 365
12.6.3.4 Species composition
......Page 366
12.7.1 Spatial and temporal characteristics of fires in the Nilgiri landscape
......Page 367
12.7.2.1 Tropical dry deciduous forests
......Page 368
12.7.2.2 Tropical dry thorn forests
......Page 371
12.7.2.3 Tropical moist deciduous forests
......Page 373
12.8 DISCUSSION
......Page 374
12.8.2 Forest fires and conservation
......Page 375
12.11 REFERENCES
......Page 376
13.1 ABSTRACT
......Page 380
13.2 INTRODUCTION
......Page 381
13.3.1 Land cover classification
......Page 383
13.3.5 Fire patterns
......Page 384
13.3.7 Woody species diversity and composition
......Page 385
13.4 FIRE HISTORY
......Page 386
13.5 LAND USE HISTORY
......Page 388
13.6 DRIVING FORCES BEHIND THE FIRES
......Page 390
13.7.1 Landscape level
......Page 392
13.7.2 Woody species diversity and composition at the patch level
......Page 393
13.7.3 Vegetation structure at the patch level
......Page 399
13.7.4 Further fire susceptibility and regeneration potential
......Page 400
13.8 DISCUSSION
......Page 402
13.8.1.3 Are there any effective incentive mechanisms to prevent burning or to limit fire spread?
......Page 404
13.8.1.4 Can alternative livelihppds that are not dependent on fire be provided ?
......Page 405
13.9 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
......Page 406
13.10 REFERENCES
......Page 407
Part V
Fire in the South American tropics......Page 411
14.1 ABSTRACT
......Page 412
14.2 INTRODUCTION
......Page 413
14.3 FIRE AS A TOOL
......Page 414
14.4.2 Cattle ranching
......Page 415
14.4.4 Logging
......Page 416
14.4.5 Fire and landscapes
......Page 418
14.5 FIRE BEHAVIOR
......Page 421
14.6 FIRE SEVERITY
......Page 423
14.7 ECOSYSTEM EFFECTS
......Page 425
14.8.1 Climate, weather anomalies, and climate change effects
......Page 429
14.8.3 Fire and climate
......Page 431
14.9.1 Fire susceptibility
......Page 432
14.9.2 Mechanistic model of fire susceptibility
......Page 433
14.9.2.2 The DC pump
......Page 434
14.9.3 Fuels
......Page 436
14.10 CONCLUSIONS
......Page 438
14.10.1 Rehabilitating fire-impacted forests
......Page 440
14.12 REFERENCES
......Page 441
15.2 INTRODUCTION
......Page 450
15.3 FIRE HISTORY AND FIRE FREQUENCY
......Page 451
15.4 CERRADO FIRES
......Page 453
15.5 HERBACEOUS-LAYER VEGETATION
......Page 456
15.6 WOODT-LAYER VEGETATION
......Page 460
15.7 WATER USE AND CARBON FLUX
......Page 465
15.8 FINAL CONSIDERATIONS
......Page 466
15.9 REFERENCES
......Page 467
16.1 ABSTRACT
......Page 474
16.2 INTRODUCTION
......Page 475
16.3 CAUSES AND USE OF FIRE
......Page 476
16.4 STUDY SITE
......Page 477
16.5 EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
......Page 481
16.6 FIRE BEHAVIOR
......Page 483
16.7 EFFECT OF FIRE ON SAVANNA PLANT COVER AND SPECIES COMPOSITION
......Page 488
16.7.1 Plan species composition and abundance
......Page 489
16.7.2 Effect of fire on plant species composition and abundance
......Page 492
16.8 EFFECT OF FIRE ON SAVANNA BIOMASS
......Page 493
16.8.1 Biomass dynamics in unburned savanna plots
......Page 494
16.8.2 Biomass recovery of burned savanna plots
......Page 495
16.9 CONCLUSIONS: OPTIONS FOR FIRE MANAGEMENT IN CANAIMA NATIONAL PARK
......Page 496
16.10 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
......Page 498
16.11 REFERENCES
......Page 499
17.1 ABSTRACT
......Page 504
17.2 INTRODUCTION
......Page 505
17.3 METHODS: INCREASING FIRE FREQUENCY AT A FOREST PASTURE EDGE
......Page 506
17.4 RESULTS: FIRE PROMOTES GRASS INVASION
......Page 507
17.5.1 Competition-based mechanisms
......Page 510
17.5.1.1 Immediate nutrient pulse, but eventual nutrient deficiency
......Page 511
17.5.1.2 Increased drought-like conditions favor grasses
......Page 513
17.5.2.1 Mortality
......Page 514
17.5.2.2 Propagule sources
......Page 515
17.5.2.3 Herbivory and predation
......Page 516
17.5.3 Grass-fire cycle
......Page 517
17.6 CONCLUSIONS
......Page 518
17.7 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
......Page 519
17.8 REFERENCES
......Page 520
Part VI
Fire in the Central American tropics......Page 526
18.1 ABSTRACT
......Page 527
18.3 THE PÁRAMOS OF CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA
......Page 528
18.4 CAUSES OF PÁRAMO FIRES
......Page 532
18.5 THE "NATURALNESS", FIRE DEPENDENCY, AND CONSERVATION VALUE OF NEOTROPICAL PÁRAMOS
......Page 534
18.6 FIRE BEHAVIOR
......Page 537
18.7 FIRE SEVERITY AND POST-FIRE VEGETATION DEVELOPMENT
......Page 538
18.8 FIRE FREQUENCY
......Page 542
18.9.1 Records from Costa Rica
......Page 544
18.9.2 Records from Ecuador and northern Peru
......Page 546
18.10 ISSUES FOR FIRE MANAGEMENT
......Page 549
18.12 REFERENCES
......Page 553
Part VII
Pan-tropical fire......Page 562
19.2 INTRODUCTION
......Page 563
19.3 FAUNAL MORTALITY AND TEMPORAL RESPONSES TO FIRE
......Page 564
19.5 FIRE SEVERITY AND RECURRENT FIRES
......Page 566
19.6 SPATIAL SCALE OF EFFECTS
......Page 567
19.8 SYNERGISTIC EFFECTS OF FIRE
......Page 568
19.9 GEOGRAPHICAL VIRIANCE IN FAUNAL RESPONSES TO FIRE
......Page 569
19.10 FIRE AND THE ARTHROPOD LITTER FAUNA
......Page 570
19.11 CONCLUSION AND RESEARCH PRIORITIES
......Page 571
19.12 REFERENCES
......Page 573
20.1 ABSTRACT
......Page 577
20.2 INTRODUCITON
......Page 578
20.3 FIRE AND LIFE HISTORY CHARACTERISTICS AND ADAPTATIONS OF TROPICAL PINES
......Page 581
20.4 ECOSYSTEM CHARACTERISTICS
......Page 589
20.5 FIRE REGIMES
......Page 590
20.6 PINE STAND STRUCTURE AND STAND DYNAMICS
......Page 594
20.7 ECOSYSTEM DYNAMICS
......Page 599
20.8 CAUSES OF FIRE
......Page 602
20.9 FIRE BEHAVIOR AND SEVERITY
......Page 605
20.10 FIRE, LAND USE, AND LANDSCAPES
......Page 607
20.11 FIRE, PINES, AND CLIMATE CHANGE
......Page 609
20.12 ISSUES FOR FIRE MANAGEMENT
......Page 611
20.13.1 Background
......Page 612
20.13.3 Fire behavior and severity
......Page 613
20.13.4 Understory species response to fire
......Page 615
20.13.6 Soils, hydrology, and air quality
......Page 616
20.13.9 Integrated fire management
......Page 617
20.14 CONCLUSION
......Page 618
20.15 REFERENCES
......Page 619
21.2 INTRODUCTION
......Page 626
21.3 MCFs: CHARACTERISTICS, DISTRIBUTION, AND DISTURBANCE DYNAMICS
......Page 628
21.4 PALEOECOLOGICAL EVIDENCE FOR HISTORICAL FIRE REGIMES IN MCFs
......Page 629
21.5 MODERN EVIDENCE FOR CHANGING FIRE REGIMES IN MCFs
......Page 633
21.6 CASE STUDY: MODERN PATTERNS OF FIRE ACTIVITY IN MCFs OF SOUTHEASTERN MEXICO
......Page 636
21.7 CONCLUSIONS
......Page 640
21.9 REFERENCES
......Page 641
Index
......Page 646
