Tropical Fire Ecology (eBook)

Professor Mark A. Cochrane is eminently qualified to explain in detail the historic and current fire situations in the tropics. He is internationally renowned for the documentation of the characteristics, behavior and ecological effects of fire in tropical forests. His research focuses on understanding spatial patterns, interactions and synergisms between the multiple physical and biological factors that affect ecosystems. His recent published work has emphasized human dimensions of land-cover change and the potential for sustainable development and it has been instrumental in the Brazilian government’s recent (2003) program to increase its national forest system in the Amazon to 50 million hectares. In current research programs, Professor Cochrane investigates the drivers and effects of disturbance regime changes resulting from various forms of forest degradation, including fire, fragmentation and logging. He is the President of the Association for Fire Ecology of the Tropics (AFET) and has written and edited several books and articles in influential scientific publications about fire in tropical forests.

Title Page 
3 
Copyright Page 
4 
Table of Contents 
5 
Preface 
17 
Figures 
20 
Tables 
25 
Abbreviations and acronyms 
27 
Contributors 
31 
1 Fire in the tropics 
37 
1.1 INTRODUCTION 
37 
1.2 TROPICAL WILDFIRES: SITUATION AND IMPACTS 
38 
1.2.1 Overview 
38 
1.2.2 Economic impacts 
40 
1.2.3 Health issues 
41 
1.2.4 Environmental impacts 
43 
1.3 CASE STUDIES OF TROPICAL FIRES: MEXICO AND BRAZIL 
46 
1.3.1 Mexico 
46 
1.3.2 Brazil 
50 
1.4 IMPLICATIONS 
53 
1.5 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 
54 
1.6 REFERENCES 
54 
2 Fire and fire ecology: Concepts and principles 
60 
2.1 FIRE AND COMBUSTION 
60 
2.2 HEAT TRANSFER 
63 
2.2.1 Conduction 
63 
2.2.2 Convection 
64 
2.2.3 Radiation 
64 
2.3 FUELS 
66 
2.3.1 Fuel composition 
66 
2.3.2 Fuel loading and arrangement 
66 
2.3.3 Fuel moisture 
68 
2.3.4 Total fuels 
68 
2.3.5 Live fuels 
68 
2.3.6 Dead fuels 
72 
2.3.7 Moisture exchange 
72 
2.3.8 Fuel continuity 
73 
2.4 OXYGEN 
74 
2.5 WILDLAND FIRE 
74 
2.5.1 Fire types 
75 
2.5.1.1 Surface fires 
75 
2.5.1.2 Ground fires 
76 
2.5.1.3 Crown fires 
76 
2.5.2 Fire characteristics 
76 
2.5.2.1 Flame height 
76 
2.5.2.2 Flame length and fireline intensity 
77 
2.5.2.3 Fireline intensity 
78 
2.5.2.4 Height of crown scorch 
78 
2.5.2.5 Fire spread rate 
81 
2.5.2.6 Flame depth 
81 
25.2.7 Residence time 
81 
2.6 FIRE ECOLOGY 
84 
2.6.1 Fire regimes 
84 
2.6.2 Fire regime characteristics 
85 
2.6.2.1 Fire extent 
85 
2.6.2.2 Fire seasonality 
85 
2.6.2.3 Fire frequency 
86 
2.6.2.4 Fire intensity and fire severity 
86 
2.6.3 Fire regime classification 
86 
2.6.4 The action of fire in ecosystems 
88 
2.6.5 Tropical fire ecology 
90 
2.7 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 
90 
2.8 REFERENCES 
90 
Part I Global overview of fire in the tropics 
98 
3 Overview: Global fire regime conditions, threats, and opportunities for fire management in the tropics 
99 
3.1 ABSTRACT 
99 
3.2 INTRODUCTION 
100 
3.3 ASSESSING THE WORLD'S FIRE REGIMES 
101 
3.4 FIRE REGIME TYPES 
102 
3.5 THE STATE OF THE WORLD'S TROPICAL FIRE REGIMES 
103 
3.6 CAUSES OF CHANGING FIRE REGIMES IN THE TROPICS 
106 
3.6.1 Climate change 
106 
3.6.2 Agriculture and livestock ranching 
107 
3.6.3 Rural and urban development 
109 
3.6.4 Energy production 
109 
3.6.5 Fire exclusion and suppression 
109 
3.6.6 Invasive species 
110 
3.6.7 Plantations 
110 
3.6.8 Arson 
110 
3.7 INTERACTIONS 
111 
3.8 PRESCRIBED BURNING FOR ECOLOGYCAL BENEFIT 
111 
3.9 INTEGRATED FIRE MANAGEMENT 
111 
3.10 CONCLUSIONS 
113 
3.11 REFERENCES 
114 
Part II Fire in the Australian tropics 
118 
4 Fire-driven land cover change in Australia and W. D. Jackson's theory of the fire ecology of southwest Tasmania 
119 
4.1 ABSRACT 
119 
4.2 INTRODUCTION 
120 
4.3 THE ECOLOGY OF SOUTHWEST TASMANIA 
121 
4.3.1 Development of a theory 
121 
4.3.2 Ecological Drift model 
121 
4.3.3 Evidence and alternative perspectives 
125 
4.4 THE ECOLOGICAL DRIFT MODEL AND QUANTIFYING FIRE FREQUENCY 
126 
4.4.1 Methods of quantifying fire frequency 
126 
4.4.2 Fire frequency in Victorian montane forests 
127 
4.4.3 Stand age and fire risk 
128 
4.4.4 Landscape effects on fire frequency 
128 
4.5 FIRE FREQUENCY, EDAPHIC FEEBACKS, AND ABORIGINAL LANDSCAPE BURNING IN AUSTRALIAN TROPICAL SAVANNAS 
130 
4.5.1 Aboriginal fire regimes - evidence from northern Australia savannas 
130 
4.5.2 Cessation of Aboriginal burning and the grass fire cycle 
131 
4.5.3 Edaphic "inertia" of monsoon rainforest - savanna boundaries 
131 
4.5.4 Monsoon ranforest boundary dynamics 
133 
4.5.5 Monsoon rainforests and fire frequency 
134 
4.6 ACACIA ANEURA SHRUBLANDS IN A TRIODIA GRASSLAND MOSAIC IN CENTRAL AUSTRALIA 
134 
4.7 ECOLOGYCAL FRIFT, CHANGING FIRE REGIMES, AND FIRE FEEDBACKS 
135 
4.8 CONCLUSION 
136 
4.9 REFERENCES 
138 
5 Fires in Australia's tropical savannas: Interactions with biodiversity, global warming and exotic biota 
144 
5.1 ABSTRACT 
144 
5.2 INTRODUCTION 
144 
5.2.1 The region 
145 
5.2.2 Fires in the region 
148 
5.3 FIRE BEHAVIOR, FIRE WEATHER 
149 
5.4 FIRE REGIMES 
151 
5.5 RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN FIRE, WOODY PLANTS AND GRASSES 
153 
5.6 FIRE, GLOBAL WARMING, AND GREENHOUSE GASES 
155 
5.6.1 Predicted changes in climate 
155 
5.6.2 Management of emissions 
156 
5.7 BIODIVERSITY AND FIRE REGIMES 
157 
5.7.1 Biodiversity, fire, and grazing regimes 
157 
5.7.2 Biodiversity consservation in reserves 
160 
5.8 PROTECTION OF HUMAN LIFE AND PROPERTY 
162 
5.9 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS 
163 
5.10 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 
164 
5.11 REFERENCES 
164 
6 Aboriginal fire use in Australian tropical savannas: Ecological effects and management lessons 
173 
6.1 ABSTRACT 
173 
6.2 INTRODUCTION 
173 
6.3 STEREOTYPES OF SEASONALITY AND SPATIALITY 
177 
6.4 ABORIGINAL USES FOR FIRE: HUNTING, VEGETATION MANAGEMENT, AND CLEANING COUNTRY 
178 
6.4.1 Fire for hunting 
178 
6.4.1.1 Fire drives 
179 
6.4.1.2 Green pick: promoting regrowth of grasses 
179 
6.4.2 Domiculture: management of plant resources 
181 
6.4.3 Vegetation management: facilitating life in a tall-grass savanna 
183 
6.4.4 A landscape management system 
183 
6.5 EUROPEAN SETTLEMENT AND FIRE REGIMES 
184 
6.5.1 Ecological impact of wildfire regimes 
184 
6.5.2 Contemporary Aboriginal fire management 
186 
6.5.2.1 Central Arheem Land: a case study of Aboriiginal fire management and ecological integrity 
186 
6.5.2.2 Indigenous ranger programs: the emergence of formal indigenous natural resource menagement activities 
188 
6.5.2.3 Aboriginal fire management and the emerging carbon economy 
188 
6.5.2.3.1 Carbon sequenstration and greenhouse gas abatement 
189 
6.5.2.3.2 West Arhem Land Fire Abatement project 
189 
6.5.2.4 Indigenous knowledge conservation 
190 
6.6 CONCLUSION 
191 
6.7 REFERENCES 
191 
Part III Fire in the African tropics 
198 
7 Fire ecology and fire politics in Mali and Madagascar 
199 
7.1 ABSTRACT 
199 
7.2 INTRODUCTION 
200 
7.3 BIOPHYSICAL CONTEXT 
202 
7.3.1 Mali and West Africa 
202 
7.3.2 Madagascar 
204 
7.4 PREHISTORY 
205 
7.4.1 Generalities on prehistoric African fire and issues of vegetation "origin" 
205 
7.4.2 West African anthropogenic fire history 
208 
7.4.3 Madagascar 
209 
7.5 CONTEMPORARY FIRE REGIMES AND IMPACTS 
210 
7.5.1 Mali 
210 
7.5.2 Madagascar 
213 
7.6 HUMANS AND FIRE IN LANDSCAPE MANAGEMENT 
215 
7.6.1 Why do Africans burn the land? 
215 
7.6.1.1 Fire is used to hunt 
215 
7.6.1.2 Fire is used in livestock husbandry 
216 
7.6.1.3 People manage vegetation using fire 
216 
7.6.1.4 Fire can be used to manage useful insects 
216 
7.6.1.5 Fire is used to control pests and other threats 
216 
7.6.1.6 Fire can facilitate gathering 
216 
7.6.1.7 Fireis used for agriculture 
217 
7.6.1.8 Fire is used for risk management 
217 
7.6.2 Seasonal mosaic burning in Mali 
217 
7.6.2.1 The spatio-temporal pattern of fire 
218 
7.6.2.2 Linkages to soil/vegetation patterns 
218 
7.6.2.3 Reasons for the pattern 
219 
7.6.2.4 Ecological and biogeographical implications 
222 
7.6.3 The culture of fire use in Madagascar 
224 
7.7 ESTIMATING FIRE IMPACTS 
229 
7.7.1 Climate and hydrology 
230 
7.7.2 Land cover conversion and vegetation change 
231 
7.7.3 Fragmentation and connectivity 
232 
7.7.4 Atmospheric and health effects of emissions 
233 
7.8 FIRE POLITICS 
234 
7.8.1 Early fire policies 
234 
7.8.2 Fire as a necessary evil: a late colonial softening 
236 
7.8.3 Post-colonial approaches: strong words, weak enforcement 
236 
7.8.4 From drought to revenue: fire in 1980s' Mali 
237 
7.8.5 Biodiversity hotspot: fire in 1980s'-1990s' Madagascar 
239 
7.8.6 The 1990s' community devolution movement 
240 
7.8.7 Today 
240 
7.8.8 Lessons 
241 
7.9 CONCLUSION 
242 
7.10 REFERENCES 
243 
8 Climate change and wildland fires in Mozambique 
255 
8.1 ABSTRACT 
255 
8.2 INTRODUCTION 
256 
8.3 CLIMATE, FIRE, AND LIVELIHOOD LINKAGES 
257 
8.4 CLIMATE CONDITIONS: PRESENT AND FUTURE PROJECTIONS 
258 
8.4.1 Current climatic conditions 
259 
8.4.2 Future climate change projections 
261 
8.5 CURRENT FIRE REGIMES IN MOZAMBIQUE TODAY 
262 
8.5.1 Fire distribution and frequency 
263 
8.5.2 Fire seasonality 
264 
8.6 UNDERLYING CAUSES OF WILDLAND FIRE 
264 
8.6.1 Ecological impacts of fire 
265 
8.6.2 Miombo woodland species 
266 
8.6.3 Ecological consequences of fire in the miombo woodland 
270 
8.7 ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF FIRE 
272 
8.8 EMISSIONS FROM BIOMASS BURNING 
274 
8.8.1 Emissions released directly from fires 
275 
8.8.2 Emissions from land use change and forestry 
275 
8.9 POLICY FRAMEWORK AND INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS 
276 
8.9.1 Historical policy and institutional framework 
276 
8.9.2 Current policy and institutional framework 
277 
8.10 CONCLUSIONS 
279 
8.11 ACKNOWLEDGMENT 
282 
8.12 REFERENCES 
283 
Part IV Fire in the Asian tropics 
288 
9 Tropical peatland fires in Southeast Asia 
289 
9.1 ABSTRACT 
289 
9.2 INTRODUCTION 
290 
9.3 THE TROPICAL PEATLANDS OF SOUTHEAST ASIA 
291 
9.4 FIRE HISTORY AND THE CAUSES OF FIRE 
292 
9.5 LAND USE CHANGE AS THE DRIVER OF CONTEMPORARY PEATLAND FIRES 
295 
9.6 CAUSES OF FIRE THE BLAME GAME
296 
9.6.1 Role of fire in recent deforestation of tropical peatlands in Borneo 
298 
9.7 ECOLOGICAL CHANGES 
302 
9.7.1 From fire to flood 
302 
9.7.2 Carbon emissions and fire behavior 
305 
9.7.3 Tropical peatlands under a changing climate 
307 
9.8 FUTURE PROSPECTS 
308 
9.9 REFERENCES 
309 
10 Fire ecology and management of seasonal evergreen forests in mainland Southeast Asia 
314 
10.1 ABSTRACT 
314 
10.2 INTRODUCTION 
314 
10.3 STUDY AREA 
317 
10.4 FIRE IN SEASONAL EVERGREEN FOREST 
319 
10.5 WHY DO SEASONAL EVERGREEN FORESTS BURN? 
323 
10.6 EFFECT OF FIRE ON SEASONAL EVERGREEN FOREST 
326 
10.7 SUMMARY AND IMPLICATIONS 
330 
10.8 REFERENCES 
331 
11 Fire behavior and fire effects across the forest landscape of continental Southeast Asia 
336 
11.1 ABSTRACT 
336 
11.2 INTRODUCTION 
337 
11.3 CAUSES OF FIRE 
339 
11.3.1 Climate 
339 
11.3.2 Fuels 
340 
11.3.3 Ignition 
341 
11.4 FIRE BEHAVIOR 
341 
11.5 FIRE SEVERITY 
345 
11.5.1 Fire effects on individual trees 
345 
11.5.2 Fire effects at the stand scale 
347 
11.5.3 Fire and tree species abundance 
348 
11.6 FIRE REGIMES 
351 
11.7 FIRE, LANDSCAPE, AND LAND USE 
353 
11.8 FIRE AND CLIMATE 
354 
11.9 ISSUES FOR FIRE MANAGEMENT 
355 
11.10 REFERENCES 
356 
12 Forest fire regimes and their ecological effects in seasonally dry tropical ecosystems in the Western Ghats, India 
360 
12.1 ABSTRACT 
360 
12.2 INTRODUCTION 
361 
12.3 HUMANS AND FIRE IN THE WESTERN GHATS 
361 
12.3.1 Indigenous communities and fires 
362 
12.3.2 Agricultural fires in the Western Ghats 
362 
12.3.3 Fire and forestry 
362 
12.4 LINK BETWEEN FIRE REGIMES AND FIELD STUDIES 
362 
12.5 BACKGROUND 
363 
12.5.1 Spatial parameters of fire regimes 
363 
12.5.2.1 Tropical dry deciduous forests 
364 
12.5.2.2 Tropical dry thorn forest 
364 
12.5.2.3 Tropical moist deciduous forest 
365 
12.6 METHODS 
365 
12.6.1 Vegetation map 
365 
12.6.2 Delineating forest fires in the Nilgiri landscape 
365 
12.6.3 Forest structure, diverity, fuel loads, and fire frequency 
366 
12.6.3.1 Transects 
366 
12.6.3.2 Canapy cover 
366 
12.6.3.3 Regenerration of woody plant species 
366 
12.6.3.4 Species composition 
366 
12.6.3.5 Fuel composition and fuel load estimation 
367 
12.6.3.6 Estimating grass and leaf litter 
367 
12.6.3.7 Fire history of transects 
367 
12.6.3.8 Statistical tests 
367 
12.7 RESULTS 
367 
12.7.1 Spatial and temporal characteristics of fires in the Nilgiri landscape 
367 
12.7.2 Fuels, vegetation characteristics, and forest fires 
368 
12.7.2.1 Tropical dry deciduous forests 
368 
12.7.2.2 Tropical dry thorn forests 
371 
12.7.2.3 Tropical moist deciduous forests 
373 
12.8 DISCUSSION 
374 
12.8.1 Climate change and forest fires 
375 
12.8.2 Forest fires and conservation 
375 
12.9 CONCLUSIONS 
376 
12.10 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 
376 
12.11 REFERENCES 
376 
13 Fire and land use effects on biodiversity in the southern Sumatran wetlands 
380 
13.1 ABSTRACT 
380 
13.2 INTRODUCTION 
381 
13.3 METHODS 
383 
13.3.1 Land cover classification 
383 
13.3.2 Socio-economic surveys 
384 
13.3.3 Field ecological surveys 
384 
13.3.4 Distance and access 
384 
13.3.5 Fire patterns 
384 
13.3.6 Vegetation structure and links to environmental/disturbance variables 
385 
13.3.7 Woody species diversity and composition 
385 
13.4 FIRE HISTORY 
386 
13.5 LAND USE HISTORY 
388 
13.6 DRIVING FORCES BEHIND THE FIRES 
390 
13.7 BIODIVERSITY IMPACTS 
392 
13.7.1 Landscape level 
392 
13.7.2 Woody species diversity and composition at the patch level 
393 
13.7.3 Vegetation structure at the patch level 
399 
13.7.4 Further fire susceptibility and regeneration potential 
400 
13.8 DISCUSSION 
402 
13.8.1 Fire management issues and options for the wetlands of southern Sumatra 
404 
13.8.1.1 Ban fire use and promote zero-burning techniques? 
404 
13.8.1.2 Is controlled burning feasible? 
404 
13.8.1.3 Are there any effective incentive mechanisms to prevent burning or to limit fire spread? 
404 
13.8.1.4 Can alternative livelihppds that are not dependent on fire be provided ? 
405 
13.8.1.5 Halt further development and restore still remote, sparsely inhabited wetlands 
406 
13.9 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 
406 
13.10 REFERENCES 
407 
Part V Fire in the South American tropics 
411 
14 Fire, land use, land cover dynamics, and climate change in the Brazillian Amazon 
412 
14.1 ABSTRACT 
412 
14.2 INTRODUCTION 
413 
14.3 FIRE AS A TOOL 
414 
14.4 FIRE AND LAND USE 
415 
14.4.1 Shifting cultivation 
415 
14.4.2 Cattle ranching 
415 
14.4.3 Industrial agriculture 
416 
14.4.4 Logging 
416 
14.4.5 Fire and landscapes 
418 
14.5 FIRE BEHAVIOR 
421 
14.6 FIRE SEVERITY 
423 
14.7 ECOSYSTEM EFFECTS 
425 
14.8 FIRE AND CLIMATE 
429 
14.8.1 Climate, weather anomalies, and climate change effects 
429 
14.8.2 Land cover change and climate 
431 
14.8.3 Fire and climate 
431 
14.9 FIRE MODELING 
432 
14.9.1 Fire susceptibility 
432 
14.9.2 Mechanistic model of fire susceptibility 
433 
14.9.2.1 The ET pump 
434 
14.9.2.2 The DC pump 
434 
14.9.3 Fuels 
436 
14.10 CONCLUSIONS 
438 
14.10.1 Rehabilitating fire-impacted forests 
440 
14.11 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 
441 
14.12 REFERENCES 
441 
15 Fires in the cerrado, the Brazilian savanna 
450 
15.1 ABSTRACT 
450 
15.2 INTRODUCTION 
450 
15.3 FIRE HISTORY AND FIRE FREQUENCY 
451 
15.4 CERRADO FIRES 
453 
15.5 HERBACEOUS-LAYER VEGETATION 
456 
15.6 WOODT-LAYER VEGETATION 
460 
15.7 WATER USE AND CARBON FLUX 
465 
15.8 FINAL CONSIDERATIONS 
466 
15.9 REFERENCES 
467 
16 The role of fire in the vegetation dynamics of upland davannas of the Venezuelan Guayana 
474 
16.1 ABSTRACT 
474 
16.2 INTRODUCTION 
475 
16.3 CAUSES AND USE OF FIRE 
476 
16.4 STUDY SITE 
477 
16.5 EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN 
481 
16.6 FIRE BEHAVIOR 
483 
16.7 EFFECT OF FIRE ON SAVANNA PLANT COVER AND SPECIES COMPOSITION 
488 
16.7.1 Plan species composition and abundance 
489 
16.7.2 Effect of fire on plant species composition and abundance 
492 
16.8 EFFECT OF FIRE ON SAVANNA BIOMASS 
493 
16.8.1 Biomass dynamics in unburned savanna plots 
494 
16.8.2 Biomass recovery of burned savanna plots 
495 
16.8.3 Biomass recovery and fire frequency 
496 
16.9 CONCLUSIONS: OPTIONS FOR FIRE MANAGEMENT IN CANAIMA NATIONAL PARK 
496 
16.10 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 
498 
16.11 REFERENCES 
499 
17 Pattern and process: Fire-initiated grass invasion at Amazon transitional forest edges 
504 
17.1 ABSTRACT 
504 
17.2 INTRODUCTION 
505 
17.3 METHODS: INCREASING FIRE FREQUENCY AT A FOREST PASTURE EDGE 
506 
17.4 RESULTS: FIRE PROMOTES GRASS INVASION 
507 
17.5 POTENTIAL MECHANISMS OF FIRE-INITIATED VEGETATION TRANSITIONS 
510 
17.5.1 Competition-based mechanisms 
510 
17.5.1.1 Immediate nutrient pulse, but eventual nutrient deficiency 
511 
17.5.1.2 Increased drought-like conditions favor grasses 
513 
17.5.2 Demographic mechanisms 
514 
17.5.2.1 Mortality 
514 
17.5.2.2 Propagule sources 
515 
17.5.2.3 Herbivory and predation 
516 
17.5.3 Grass-fire cycle 
517 
17.6 CONCLUSIONS 
518 
17.7 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 
519 
17.8 REFERENCES 
520 
Part VI Fire in the Central American tropics 
526 
18 Fire in the páramo ecosystems of Central and South America 
527 
18.1 ABSTRACT 
527 
18.2 INTRODUCTION 
528 
18.3 THE PÁRAMOS OF CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA 
528 
18.4 CAUSES OF PÁRAMO FIRES 
532 
18.5 THE "NATURALNESS", FIRE DEPENDENCY, AND CONSERVATION VALUE OF NEOTROPICAL PÁRAMOS 
534 
18.6 FIRE BEHAVIOR 
537 
18.7 FIRE SEVERITY AND POST-FIRE VEGETATION DEVELOPMENT 
538 
18.8 FIRE FREQUENCY 
542 
18.9 CHARCOAL AND POLLEN EVIDENCE OF LONG-TERM FIRE HISTORY 
544 
18.9.1 Records from Costa Rica 
544 
18.9.2 Records from Ecuador and northern Peru 
546 
18.10 ISSUES FOR FIRE MANAGEMENT 
549 
18.11 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 
553 
18.12 REFERENCES 
553 
Part VII Pan-tropical fire 
562 
19 The consequences of fire for the fauna of humid tropical forests 
563 
19.1 ABSTRACT 
563 
19.2 INTRODUCTION 
563 
19.3 FAUNAL MORTALITY AND TEMPORAL RESPONSES TO FIRE 
564 
19.4 SUB-LETHAL EFFECTS 
566 
19.5 FIRE SEVERITY AND RECURRENT FIRES 
566 
19.6 SPATIAL SCALE OF EFFECTS 
567 
19.7 FIRES AND OTHER THREATS TO BIODIVERSITY 
568 
19.8 SYNERGISTIC EFFECTS OF FIRE 
568 
19.9 GEOGRAPHICAL VIRIANCE IN FAUNAL RESPONSES TO FIRE 
569 
19.10 FIRE AND THE ARTHROPOD LITTER FAUNA 
570 
19.11 CONCLUSION AND RESEARCH PRIORITIES 
571 
19.12 REFERENCES 
573 
20 Fire in tropical pine ecosystems 
577 
20.1 ABSTRACT 
577 
20.2 INTRODUCITON 
578 
20.3 FIRE AND LIFE HISTORY CHARACTERISTICS AND ADAPTATIONS OF TROPICAL PINES 
581 
20.4 ECOSYSTEM CHARACTERISTICS 
589 
20.5 FIRE REGIMES 
590 
20.6 PINE STAND STRUCTURE AND STAND DYNAMICS 
594 
20.7 ECOSYSTEM DYNAMICS 
599 
20.8 CAUSES OF FIRE 
602 
20.9 FIRE BEHAVIOR AND SEVERITY 
605 
20.10 FIRE, LAND USE, AND LANDSCAPES 
607 
20.11 FIRE, PINES, AND CLIMATE CHANGE 
609 
20.12 ISSUES FOR FIRE MANAGEMENT 
611 
20.13 REGIONAL EXAMPLE: PINUS HARTWEGII FORESTS IN MESOAMERICA 
612 
20.13.1 Background 
612 
20.13.2 Fire regime and vegetation dynamics 
613 
20.13.3 Fire behavior and severity 
613 
20.13.4 Understory species response to fire 
615 
20.13.5 Wildlife 
616 
20.13.6 Soils, hydrology, and air quality 
616 
20.13.7 Landscape value 
617 
20.13.8 Other project studies 
617 
20.13.9 Integrated fire management 
617 
20.14 CONCLUSION 
618 
20.15 REFERENCES 
619 
21 Changing fire regimes in tropical montane cloud forests: a global synthesis 
626 
21.1 ABSTRACT 
626 
21.2 INTRODUCTION 
626 
21.3 MCFs: CHARACTERISTICS, DISTRIBUTION, AND DISTURBANCE DYNAMICS 
628 
21.4 PALEOECOLOGICAL EVIDENCE FOR HISTORICAL FIRE REGIMES IN MCFs 
629 
21.5 MODERN EVIDENCE FOR CHANGING FIRE REGIMES IN MCFs 
633 
21.6 CASE STUDY: MODERN PATTERNS OF FIRE ACTIVITY IN MCFs OF SOUTHEASTERN MEXICO 
636 
21.7 CONCLUSIONS 
640 
21.8 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 
641 
21.9 REFERENCES 
641 
Index 
646