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Fire ecology of tropical, subtropical and temperate-boreal forest ecosystems
Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC) / Fire Ecology Research Group
BSc Course „Ökologie der Wälder der Erde II“
29-30 November 2012
Ökologie tropischer Wälder
Fire ecology
Feuerökologie der Tropen und Subtropen
(Teil I)
Ecosystems and Fire
Arbeitsgruppe Feuerökologie, Max-Planck-Institut für Chemie
Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC), United Nations University (UNU)
c/o Universität Freiburg
Fire ecology
What is fire?
An Introduction
What is fire?
Fire ecology
Atmospheric CO2
Photosynthesis
Respiration
Biomass
„From an atmospheric CO2 perspective, fire is fast respiration”
Fire ecology
Wülfrath quarry: Cretaceous
caves. Source: C. HartkopfFröder
Fire ecology
Fire ecology of tropical, subtropical and temperate-boreal forest ecosystems
Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC) / Fire Ecology Research Group
BSc Course „Ökologie der Wälder der Erde II“
29-30 November 2012
Fire ecology
Fire ecology
Fire ecology
What is fire?
Fire ecology
• Fire is a rapid, self-sustaining oxidation in
which fuel ejects combusting or burning gas
• Fires start when a flammable and / or a
combustible material with an adequate supply
of oxygen is subjected to enough heat
What is fire?
Fire ecology
• Fire has been burning for hundreds of millions of years
What is fire?
Fire ecology
• Fire is a primary determinant of biome distribution of
large parts of the world
• Fire helped to shape global biome distribution
• Fire maintains structure and function of fire-prone
communities
• Fire is a significant evolutionary force
• Fire is one of the first tools for early humans to re-shape
their environment
• Many plant and animal species are endemic to flammable
ecosystems – both in ancient (not anthropogenic) ecosystems,
but to a certain extent also in cultural ecosystems
• Species attributes have evolved in response to different
fire regimes
Fire ecology of tropical, subtropical and temperate-boreal forest ecosystems
Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC) / Fire Ecology Research Group
BSc Course „Ökologie der Wälder der Erde II“
29-30 November 2012
What is a “Fire Regime” ?
Fire ecology
What is a modified fire regime?
Fire ecology
¾ A composite of fire conditions that characterize
an ecosystem
• A fire regime can be modified by fire
suppression and prevention
Type of fire: ground, surface, crown fire
Frequency: the mean return interval of fire in a certain place
Fire behaviour: intensity and rate of spread.
Fire severity: impact of fire on vegetation, fauna, and soils
• By excessive and inappropriate burning
• By fragmentation of the natural
environment that influences the processes
of fire and the integrity of the ecosystem
Season: time of year or climatic conditions
Size of fire, and regularity or irregularity of recurrence
‘Pyrogeography ’ – a general theory of biological fire?
Fire ecology
‘Pyrogeography ’ – a general theory of biological fire?
Fire ecology
• How much of the world is shaped by fire?
– Which biomes would not exist without fire?
– Do they contain species that do not exist anywhere
else?
– Are any of these species ‘adapted’ to fire?
• How much of the world is NOT shaped by fire
– Why is fire unimportant in such ecosystems?
Vegetation fire regions
A global fire calendar – the year 2009
Vegetation fire regions: determined by fire regimes
Fire ecology
Fire ecology
Fire ecology of tropical, subtropical and temperate-boreal forest ecosystems
Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC) / Fire Ecology Research Group
BSc Course „Ökologie der Wälder der Erde II“
29-30 November 2012
Fire ecology
social/ ecological benefit or
damage?
natural, intentional, or
controlled?
Fire ecology
• Fire-dependent ecosystems
• Fire-sensitive ecosystems
• Fire-independent ecosystems
Fire ecology
Fire ecology
Ecosystems sensitive to fire
Fire-dependent ecosystems
• Ecosystems in which flora and fauna do not have
adaptations against fires. Nevertheless, fire could
create important habitats and niches.
• Ecosystems where fire is necessary to
maintain species composition, biodiversity
and structure. When fire is excluded or
the fire regime is modified in frequency,
the ecosystems changes to somewhat
different
• When fire affects more than a certain threshold of
the entire ecosystem, or happens very frequently, it
causes severe damages, or could even lead to a
complete loss of the ecosystem
• Excessive fire use can have economic, social, and
ecological impacts
Fire ecology
Fire ecology
Ecosystems independent to fire
• Ecosystems where fire plays a minor or no role at
all
• Too cold, too dry, or too humid to burn
Examples for fire-sensitive
ecosystems in the
tropics
Fire ecology of tropical, subtropical and temperate-boreal forest ecosystems
Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC) / Fire Ecology Research Group
BSc Course „Ökologie der Wälder der Erde II“
29-30 November 2012
Fire-sensitive ecosystems
Fire ecology
Fire-sensitive ecosystems
Fire ecology
semihumid to perhumid tropical rain forests
Cloud forests in the Caribbean
Fire ecology
Fire-dependent ecosystems
Fire ecology
Fire-dependent ecosystems
Fire ecology
Examples for firedependent ecosystems
in the tropics
Fire-dependent ecosystems
Fire ecology
Palmares (Mauritia flexosa)
and savannas
in Venezuela and Colombia
Bulbostylus paradoxa
(Cyperaceae) in neotropical
savannas
Fire ecology of tropical, subtropical and temperate-boreal forest ecosystems
Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC) / Fire Ecology Research Group
BSc Course „Ökologie der Wälder der Erde II“
29-30 November 2012
Fire-dependent ecosystems
Bulbinella latifolia
Protea cynaroides
Fire ecology
Fire-dependent ecosystems
Fire ecology
Aloe dichotoma
Pinus caribaea (Central America)
Fire-dependent ecosystems
Fire ecology
Fire-dependent ecosystems
Fire ecology
Terminalia crenulata
Syzigium cuminii
Muthaga (Butea monosperma)
Pinus caribaea and Pinus tropicalis, Pinar del Río, Cuba
Fire-dependent ecosystems
Fire ecology
Soliga Tribe, Biligiri Rangaswamy, Karnataka, India
Eravikulam, Western Ghats, India
Fire ecology
Vegetación de páramo y
puna en las zonas altas de
los Andes
humid tropical
evergreen forest =
fire sensitive
native grassland =
fire dependent
Dynamic relation between two types of ecosystems and the role of fire…
Fire ecology of tropical, subtropical and temperate-boreal forest ecosystems
Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC) / Fire Ecology Research Group
BSc Course „Ökologie der Wälder der Erde II“
29-30 November 2012
SavFIRE 2006-10
Fire ecology
What is a controlled fire?
Fire ecology
Patch mosaic burning in the KNP....
A “controlled fire” is
realized according to a
non-written plan
estimating fire behaviour
to reach desired
objectives, usually based
on traditional knowledge
and experience
Pyrodiversity equals biodiversity?
What is a prescribed fire?
Prescribed Burning is realized
according to a technical plan
(written) under prescription,
considering fuel load, weather
and topography, to estimate a
certain fire behaviour that marks
objectives compatible with
ecological conditions.
Fire ecology
Gleich geht es weiter
Es folgt Teil II
Fire ecology