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Title Deforestation, fire susceptibility, and potential tree responses to fire in the eastern Amazon
Creator/Author Uhl, C. (Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park (USA) Agropecuria do Tropico Umnido, Para (Brazil)) ; Kauffman, J.B. (Oregon State Univ., Corvallis (USA))
Publication Date1990 Apr 01
OSTI IdentifierOSTI ID: 6321195
Other Number(s)ISSN0012-9658; CODEN: ECOLA
Resource TypeJournal Article
Resource RelationEcology ; Vol/Issue: 71:2
Subject553000 -- Agriculture & Food Technology; FIRES-- ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS;TROPICAL REGIONS-- DEFORESTATION; BARK;FORESTS;MICROCLIMATES;TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS;WOOD FUELS
Related SubjectBODY;CLIMATES;ECOSYSTEMS;ENERGY SOURCES;FUELS;PLANT TISSUES;TISSUES
Description/Abstract In the state of Para, Brazil, in the eastern Amazon, the authors studied the potential for sustained fire events within four dominant vegetation cover types (undisturbed rain forest, selectively logged forest, second-growth forest, and open pasture), by measuring fuel availability, microclimate, and rates of fuel moisture loss.^They also estimated the potential tree mortality that might result from a wide-scale Amazon forest fire by measuring the thermal properties of bark for all trees in a 5-ha stand of mature forest, followed by measurements of heat flux through bark during simulated fires.^In pastures the average midday temperature was almost 10{degree}C greater and the average midday relative humidity was 30% lower than in primary forest.^The most five-prone ecosystem was the open pasture followed by selectively logged forest, second growth forest, and undisturbed rain forest in which sustained combustion was not possible even after prolonged rainless periods.^Even though the autogenic factors in primary forest of the eastern Amazon create a microclimate that virtually eliminates the probability of fire, they are currently a common event in disturbed areas of Amazonia.^As many as 8 {times} 10{sup 6} ha burned in the Amazon Basin of Brazil in 1987 alone.^In terms of current land-use patterns, altered microclimates, and fuel mass, there are also striking similarities between the eastern Amazon and East Kalimantan, Indonesia (the site of recent rain forest wildfires that burned 3.5 {times} 10{sup 6} ha).
Country of PublicationUnited States
LanguageEnglish
FormatPages: 437-449
System Entry Date2001 May 13

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