Download or read book Assessing Past Fire Regimes and Their Effects on Modern Vegetation in Amazonian Forests written by Britte M. Heijink and published by . This book was released on 2024 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Amazonian rainforests are incredibly biodiverse and provide global ecosystem services, but are threatened by fires, which completely alter ecosystem function and structure. Fires, especially in western Amazonia, almost always have an anthropogenic origin. However, much is unknown about the long-term recovery and multi-generational successional processes following fire events. Due to the long lifespan of tropical trees, past fires may have left ecological legacies in modern forest composition in Amazonia. The goal of this thesis is to investigate how past fire events impact successional trajectories of past vegetation change and whether these fire events and related human impacts have left ecological legacies in modern Amazonian forests. I specifically focus on western Amazon and changes in palm abundances and composition through time, as palms were an economically important plant family to past peoples. I compared lake charcoal records across the Amazon Basin and found fire was least prevalent in western Amazonia. On a local scale, very limited evidence of past disturbances was present in forest plots in northwestern Amazonia. Palm abundances have been increasing since the mid-Holocene, but this increase is not related to past fire events. Past fire likely have left low to none ecological legacies in these forest plots. Modern trait composition across western Amazonia is associated with past fire events, but more research is necessary to disentangle relationships between past fire, soils, and modern vegetation. Overall, western Amazonia likely contains the least intense ecological legacies in comparison with the rest of Amazonia."--

Download or read book Fire and Climatic Change in Temperate Ecosystems of the Western Americas written by Thomas T. Veblen and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2006-05-10 with total page 456 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Both fire and climatic variability have monumental impacts on the dynamics of temperate ecosystems. These impacts can sometimes be extreme or devastating as seen in recent El Nino/La Nina cycles and in uncontrolled fire occurrences. This volume brings together research conducted in western North and South America, areas of a great deal of collaborative work on the influence of people and climate change on fire regimes. In order to give perspective to patterns of change over time, it emphasizes the integration of paleoecological studies with studies of modern ecosystems. Data from a range of spatial scales, from individual plants to communities and ecosystems to landscape and regional levels, are included. Contributions come from fire ecology, paleoecology, biogeography, paleoclimatology, landscape and ecosystem ecology, ecological modeling, forest management, plant community ecology and plant morphology. The book gives a synthetic overview of methods, data and simulation models for evaluating fire regime processes in forests, shrublands and woodlands and assembles case studies of fire, climate and land use histories. The unique approach of this book gives researchers the benefits of a north-south comparison as well as the integration of paleoecological histories, current ecosystem dynamics and modeling of future changes.

Download or read book Assessing the Effects of Fire Disturbance on Ecosystems written by Daniel Lee Schmoldt and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 1999 with total page 112 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A team of fire scientists & resource managers convened to assess the effects of fire disturbance on ecosystems. Objectives of this workshop were to develop scientific recommendations for future fire research & management activities. These included a series of numerically ranked scientific & managerial questions & responses focusing on (1) links among fire effects, fuels, & climate; (2) fire as a large-scale disturbance; (3) fire-effects modeling structures; & (4) managerial concerns, applications, & decision support. The priority issues & approaches described here provide a template for fire science & fire management programs in the next decade & beyond.

Download or read book Assessing the Effects of Fire Disturbance on Ecosystems written by and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 112 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Historic Fire Regimes on Eastern Great Basin USA Mountains Reconstructed from Tree Rings written by Stanley G. Kitchen and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Management of natural landscapes requires knowledge of key disturbance processes and their effects. Fire and forest histories provide valuable insight into how fire and vegetation varied and interacted in the past. I constructed multi-century fire chronologies for 10 sites on six mountain ranges representative of the eastern Great Basin (USA), a region in which historic fire information was lacking. I also constructed tree recruitment chronologies for two sites. I use these chronologies to address three research foci. First, using fire-scar data from four heterogeneous sites, I assert that mean fire interval (MFI) values calculated from composite chronologies provide suitable estimates of point MFI (PMFI) when sample area size is =1/2 ha. I also suggest that MFI values for single trees can be used to estimate PMFI after applying a correction factor. Next, I infer climate effects on regional fire patterns using 10 site chronologies and tree-ring-based indices of drought and of El Niǫ Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and Pacific Decadal Oscillation ([PDO), Pacific Ocean surface temperature variability known to affect North American climate. Regional fire years (> or =33% of recording sites) were synchronized by wet-dry cycles where the probability of occurrence was highest in the first year of drought following a wet phase and lowest when climate conditions transitioned from dry to wet. Regional fire probability was highest when ENSO and PDO were negative (Southwest pattern). Local fire years occurred under a broad range of conditions. Fire seasonality was bimodal with early and late-season fires dominant. I imply that Native American burning practices were responsible for differences in historic and modern fire seasonality. Lastly, I assess fire regime and tree recruitment variability within two fire-sheds. PMFI varied more than 10-fold within each site. A mixed-severity regime was dominant. A majority (>60%) of fires were small (

Download or read book Fire History of Boreal Forests written by Jason Anthony Lynch and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 350 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Disturbances are mechanisms that mediate ecosystem changes in response to climate-driven vegetation changes. While many studies have looked at the effect of fire on ecosystem components, few have considered the response of fire to climate and vegetation change. The effects that past climate and vegetation shifts have on fire regimes and the potential consequences to ecosystem change are examined here. Charcoal and pollen analyses were used to determine geographic and temporal patterns of past fire regimes in the North American western boreal forest. Seventeen high-resolution records from north-central Canada (NWT and Manitoba), interior Alaska, and northwestern Ontario were analyzed for large charcoal particles in continuously sampled sediment cores to calculate fire return intervals during the Holocene. Fire, vegetation, and climate data were used to interpret regional and temporal differences in fire importance. In addition, sediment charcoal accumulation was compared to modern experimental fires to interpret fire events from sediment records. Particle-size distributions were equal among all lakes, and deposition occurred directly from fires, not from secondary deposition following fires. Based on the similar patterns of charcoal accumulation from the modern burn and particle-size distributions, the largest 10% of charcoal accumulation rates represent individual fire events. The Holocene records show variations among the regions in timing of the maximum fire period (highest charcoal accumulation rates and shortest fire return intervals). The maximum fire period occurred prior to 5,000 yr BP (calendar years before 1950) for North-central Canada in response to a dry climate regime. In interior Alaska, fire was unimportant until the establishment of Picea mariana at 5,500 yr BP. In northwestern Ontario, the maximum fire period occurred between 2,200 yr BP and present in response to climate-induced forest structure shifts. Despite the different timings, the mean fire return intervals of 70 - 100 years are characteristic of each maximum fire period. Modern fire regimes for these regions developed at approximately 2000 yr BP with fire-return intervals ranging from 70 years in the mixed boreal forest to 600 years in the northern lichened boreal woodlands. Twentieth century charcoal accumulation increases suggest that modern fire regimes may have been influenced by recent climate changes"--Leaves iv-v.

Download or read book Fire Regimes and Their Ecological Effects in Seasonally Dry Tropical Ecosystems in the Western Ghats India written by Narendran Kodandapani and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Wildland Fire in Ecosystems written by Joint Fire Sciences Program and published by . This book was released on 2017-12-30 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This state-of-knowledge review about the effects of fire on flora and fuels can assist land managers with ecosystem and fire management planning and in their efforts to inform others about the ecological role of fire. Chapter topics include fire regime classification, autecological effects of fire, fire regime characteristics and postfire plant community developments in ecosystems throughout the United States and Canada, global climate change, ecological principles of fire regimes, and practical considerations for managing fire in an ecosystem context. Keywords: ecosystem, fire effects, fire management, fire regime, fire severity, fuels, habitat, plant response, plants, succession, vegetation In 1978, a national workshop on fire effects in Denver, Colorado, provided the impetus for the "Effects of Wildland Fire on Ecosystems" series. Recognizing that knowledge of fire was needed for land management planning, state-of-the-knowledge reviews were produced that became known as the "Rainbow Series." The series consisted of six publications, each with a different colored cover, describing the effects of fire on soil, water, air, flora, fauna, and fuels. The Rainbow Series proved popular in providing fire effects information for professionals, students, and others. Printed supplies eventually ran out, but knowledge of fire effects continued to grow. To meet the continuing demand for summaries of fire effects knowledge, the interagency National Wildfire Coordinating Group asked Forest Service research leaders to update and revise the series. To fulfill this request, a meeting for organizing the revision was held January 4-6, 1993, in Scottsdale, Arizona. The series name was then changed to "The Rainbow Series." The five-volume series covers air, soil and water, fauna, flora and fuels, and cultural resources. The Rainbow Series emphasizes principles and processes rather than serving as a summary of all that is known. The five volumes, taken together, provide a wealth of information and examples to advance understanding of basic concepts regarding fire effects in the United States and Canada. As conceptual background, they provide technical support to fire and resource managers for carrying out interdisciplinary planning, which is essential to managing wildlands in an ecosystem context. Planners and managers will find the series helpful in many aspects of ecosystem-based management, but they will also need to seek out and synthesize more detailed information to resolve specific management questions. Chapter 1 - Introduction and Fire Regimes * Chapter 2 - Fire Autecology * Chapter 3 - Fire in Northern Ecosystems * Chapter 4 - Fire in Eastern Ecosystems * Chapter 5 - Fire in Western Forest Ecosystems * Chapter 6 - Fire in Western Shrubland, Woodland, and Grassland Ecosystems * Chapter 7 - Fire in Tropical and Subtropical Ecosystems * Chapter 8 - Global Change and Wildland Fire * Chapter 9 - Ecological Principles, Shifting Fire Regimes and Management Considerations

Download or read book Ecological Effects of Prescribed Fire Season written by Eric Knapp and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2010-10 with total page 85 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Historical and prescribed fire regimes for different regions in the continental U.S. were compared and literature on season of prescribed burning synthesized. In regions and vegetation types where considerable differences in fuel consumption exist among burning seasons, the effects of prescribed fire season appears to be driven more by fire-intensity differences among seasons than by phenology or growth stage of organisms at the time of fire. Where fuel consumption differs little among burning seasons, the effect of phenology or growth stage of organisms is often more apparent, because it is not overwhelmed by fire-intensity differences. Species in ecosystems that evolved with fire appear to be resilient to one or few out-of-season prescribed burns. Illus.

Download or read book Fire in the Environment written by P. J. Crutzen and published by . This book was released on 1993-07-15 with total page 424 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fire in the environment: scientific rationale and summary of results of the Dahlen workhop., Emissions from the combustion process in vegetation. Dynamics and modeling of vegetation fires: observations . Emissions measurements from vegetation fires: a comparative evaluation of methodes and results. Satellite remote sensig of fires: potential and limitation. Modeling the influence of fires on atmospheric chemistry. Effect of on global radiation budget through aerosol. Effect of fires on global radiation budget though aerosol and cloud properties. Climate change-fire interactions at the global scale: prediction and limitations of methods. Case study of atmospheric measurements in Brasil: aerosol emissions from Amazon basin fire. Biomass burning in Africa: an overview of its impact on atmospheric chemistry. Paleoecology of fire. Nutrient and organic matter dynamics in tropical ecosystems. Fire regimes and ecosystem dinamics. Keeper of the flame: a survey of anthropogenic fire. Historical biogeography of fire: circumpolar taiga. Historical biogeography of fire in tempetate and mediterranean ecosystems. Historical biogeography of fire: tropical and subtropical. Fire management: principles and option in the forested and Savanna regions of the world. Group report: quantification of fire characteristics from local to global scales. Group report: what is the impact of fires on atmosperic chemistry, climate, and biogeochemical cycles?. Group report: impacts of fires on ecosystems. Group report: the role of humans in shaping fire regimes and ecosystem properties.

Download or read book Effects of Fire on Madrean Province Ecosystems written by and published by . This book was released on 1996 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Effects of Fire on Madrean Province Ecosystems written by and published by . This book was released on 1996 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Palynology and Vegetation History written by Valentí Rull and published by Frontiers Media SA. This book was released on 2019-01-11 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This Research Topic commemorates the centenary of the first quantitative pollen diagram by Lennart von Post, the founder of paleoecological palynology. The main aim is to provide a thorough view of the use of palynology in aspects such as the reconstruction of Quaternary vegetation and environmental changes, the role of natural and anthropogenic drivers in the development of the Quaternary vegetation, the shaping of present-day ecological and biogeographical patterns, the potential application of this knowledge in biodiversity conservation and landscape restoration and the development of new methods of pollen analysis and data management. The Research Topic is subdivided into four main conceptual parts, namely (1) modern analog studies; (2) land cover estimates from pollen data; (3) vegetation dynamics reconstructions from Europe, North and South America, Africa and Oceania; and (4) large-scale reviews and meta-analyses. Hopefully, this Research Topic will serve to appraise the state of the art of modern palynology and highlight the usefulness of this discipline in long-term ecological research.

Download or read book Assessment of the Risk of Amazon Dieback written by Walter Vergara and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2010-11-11 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Amazon basin is a key component of the global carbon cycle. Not only is the old-growth rainforests in the basin huge carbon storage with about 120 billion metric tons of carbon in their biomass, but they also process annually twice the rate of global anthropogenic fossil fuel emissions through respiration and photosynthesis. In addition, the basin is the largest global repository of biodiversity and produces about 20 percent of the world s flow of fresh water into the oceans. Despite the large CO2 efflux from recent deforestation, the Amazon rainforest is still considered to be a net carbon sink or reservoir because vegetation growth on average exceeds mortality. However, current climate trends and human-induced deforestation may be transforming forest structure and behavior. Amazon forest dieback would be a massive event, affecting all life-forms that rely on this diverse ecosystem, including humans, and producing ramifications for the entire planet. Clearly, with changes at a global scale at stake, there is a need to better understand the risk, and dynamics of Amazon dieback. Therefore, the purpose of the book is to assist in understanding the risk, process and dynamics of potential Amazon dieback and its implications.

Download or read book Lessons from Amazonia written by Richard O. Bierregaard and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2001-12-11 with total page 510 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Deforestation is occurring at an alarming rate in many parts of the world, causing destruction of natural habitat and fragmentation of what remains. Nowhere is this problem more pressing than in the Amazon rainforest, which is rapidly vanishing in the face of enormous pressure from humans to exploit it. This book presents the results of the longest-running and most comprehensive study of forest fragmentation ever undertaken, the Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project (BDFFP) in central Amazonia, the only experimental study of tropical forest fragmentation in which baseline data are available before isolation from continuous forest took place.A joint project of Brazil’s National Institute for Research in Amazonia and the U.S. Smithsonian Institution, the BDFFP has investigated the many effects that habitat fragmentation has on plants, invertebrates, and vertebrates. The book provides an overview of the BDFFP, reports on its case studies, looks at forest ecology and tree genetics, and considers what issues are involved in establishing conservation and management guidelines.

Download or read book Spreading Like Wildfire written by Mark A. Cochrane and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 110 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This document provides an overview of the forest fire situation in Latin America and the Caribbean and the impact that they have had on the region and its population over the past few years. It examines the causes, effects and implications of fires and links them to fire management tools available to policy makers.

Download or read book Flames in Our Forest written by Stephen F. Arno and published by Island Press. This book was released on 2002-04-01 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Shaped by fire for thousands of years, the forests of the western United States are as adapted to periodic fires as they are to the region's soils and climate. Our widespread practice of ignoring the vital role of fire is costly in both ecological and economic terms, with consequences including the decline of important fire-dependent tree and undergrowth species, increasing density and stagnation of forests, epidemics of insects and diseases, and the high potential for severe wildfires. Flames in Our Forest explains those problems and presents viable solutions to them. It explores the underlying historical and ecological reasons for the problems associated with our attempts to exclude fire and examines how some of the benefits of natural fire can be restored Chapters consider: the history of American perceptions and uses of fire in the forest how forest fires burn effects of fire on the soil, water, and air methods for uncovering the history and effects of past fires prescribed fire and fuel treatments for different zones in the landscape Flames in Our Forest presents a new picture of the role of fire in maintaining forests, describes the options available for restoring the historical effects of fires, and considers the implications of not doing so. It will help readers appreciate the importance of fire in forests and gives a nontechnical overview of the scientific knowledge and tools available for sustaining western forests by mimicking and restoring the effects of natural fire regimes.