Positive feedbacks in the fire dynamic of closed canopy tropical forests

Science

Volumn 284, Issue 5421, 1999, Pages 1832-1835

  Cochrane, Mark A ^a,b,c   Alencar, Ane ^c   Schulze, Mark D ^b,d   Souza Jr , Carlos M ^b   Nepstad, Daniel C ^a,c   Lefebvre, Paul ^a   Davidson, Eric A ^a  

^a WOODS HOLE RESEARCH CENTER   (United States)

^b Inst do Homem Meio Ambiente da A   (Brazil)

^c INSTITUTO DE PESQUISA AMBIENTAL DA AMAZÔNIA   (Brazil)

^d PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ARTICLE; BIOMASS; ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT; ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION; FIRE PROTECTION; FOREST; GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION; LAND USE; PRIORITY JOURNAL; SOUTH AMERICA;

EID: 0033546060     PISSN: 00368075     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1126/science.284.5421.1832     Document Type: Article

References (34)

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13. Fuel load quantities, divided into standard time-lag size classes (1 hour, 10 hour, 100 hour, and 1000 hour; corresponding to 0 to 0.6, >0,6 to 2.5, >2.5 to 7.6, and >7.6 cm in diameter), fuel height, and leaf litter depth were measured along randomly directed 10-m transects at three points within each plot (125, 250, and 375 m). Additional fuel load measurements were made in the vicinity of all observed fires.
14. At each observation site (n = 44), roughly 10 m of fireline was observed every 30 s for several minutes (average observation time, 7.4 min), and the average minimum and maximum of each flame characteristic were recorded. Flareups of short duration or small area were noted separately.
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18. Leaf fall from damaged trees begins within 2 days of a burn. We have observed contiguous layers of leaf litter in recently burned forests in close proximity to smoldering logs. Frequent observations by local residents that forest stands often burn more than once in a season may be explained by smoldering logs reigniting Fires once litter depths become sufficient to carry fire through the stand.
19. The mortality of trees (>10 cm dbh) in previously unburned forests that burned in 1995 was 38% 1 year after the fire and 68% at the end of the second year. Annual mortality in unburned forest during this time period was <1%.
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21. In forest subjected to fire, vines frequently form a dense mat at 30 to 200 cm above the ground, and grasses can form up to 70% of the ground cover.
22. Field studies of forests in 1996 revealed a representative plot with only 18 live trees per hectare (with 302 trees standing dead per hectare). The fires of 1997 had left only three live trees in this plot, which was threatened by an oncoming fire, when recensused.
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33. In Paragominas, burns detected in the imagery were compared with data from landowner questionnaires (n = 75) that described fire history from 1982 to 1995. Questionnaire data included 51.4% of the study region and showed 100% detection of reported fires that occurred within 1 year of the image date. Comparisons between the area reported burned by landowners with data from the imagery classifications showed that the area burned was systematically underreported (P<0.001; sign test) by an average of 43%. Only small fires (<50 ha) were overestimated by landowners.
34. We thank C. Uhl, A. Taylor, C. P. Patil, F. Williams, and four anonymous reviewers for comments on earlier versions of the manuscript. This research was funded by a grant from the PPG7 "Programa de Pesquisa Dirigida" (MMA/MCT/FINEP), Additional financial support was provided by NSF, NASA, and the U.S. Agency for International Development.