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Amazon wildfire research presented at conference in Brazil Annual Meeting of the Society for Conservation Biology July 24, 2005 Below is are abstracts of two papers submitted for the conference. All descriptions are excepts from the official "Book of Abstracts" from the meeting. More abstracts. BRANDO, PAULO; Nepstad, Daniel; Balch, Jennifer K. Instituto de Pesquisa Ambiental da Amazônia (IPAM), Av. Rui Barbosa 136, Santarém, PA, Brazil, pmbrando((AT))ipam.org.br. Extensive areas of Amazon forests experience fire every year, resulting alterations of forest structure and species composition. Much of these areas regenerate after fire by different mechanisms, including resprouting. To assess its importance on forest regeneration we mapped over 1200 individuals of 93 species prior to experimental fire in 100 ha of an Amazon Forest in Mato Grosso, Brazil. Two months after the burn, we revisited the site and, for each individual, we addressed: presence or absence of resprouts, leaves scorched, and fire scar. In presence of resprouts, we quantified their number and designated basal or epicormic vegetative growth to each individual. Preliminary results indicate that 21% of the species had at least one individual resprouting induced by fire. However, 78% of these individuals were less than ten cm dbh. On the other hand, 98% of the individuals larger than 20 cm dbh did not present any resprout nor had their leaves scorched. Basal sprouting was slightly superior when compared to epicormic sprouting, 55% against 45%, respectively. We show that resprouting importance as a strategy of forest regeneration is closely related to fire damage, which depends mainly upon species traits, individuals' size, and fire intensity USING FIRE INCIDENCE TO EVALUATE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PROTECTED AREAS IN THE BRAZILIAN AMAZON. ADENEY, J. MARION; Pimm, Stuart. Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, Duke University, Box 90328, Durham, NC 27708, USA, marion.adeney((AT))duke.edu. Protected areas are often touted as an important part of the long term conservation of tropical forests, but their effectiveness needs evaluation. Because fire is associated with landcover change in the humid tropics, fire incidence is one measure of the effectiveness of protected areas in preserving forests. We used data from the Ionia World Fire Atlas, a product of the European Space Agency (ESA), to evaluate the effectiveness of different reserve types in preventing fire within the Brazilian Amazon. Monthly fire maps in the form of nighttime 1 km2 hot pixels show the locations of fires from 1996 through 2003. Reserves are compared by con trolling for size, prevalent landcover type and distance to roads. While all reserve types have lower incidence of fire then comparable nonprotected areas, reserves differ by type in the incidence of fire per unit area. Indigenous reserves appear to be particularly effective at preventing fires. These findings have implications for conservation priorities in areas under high development pressure. Society for Conservation Biology - Brasilia 2005 News index | RSS | News Feed Advertisements: Organic Apparel from Patagonia | Insect-repelling clothing |
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