Vulnerability of land systems to fire: Interactions among humans,climate, the atmosphere,and ecosystems |
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Authors: | Sandra Lavorel Mike D Flannigan Eric F Lambin Mary C Scholes |
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Institution: | (1) Laboratoire d’Ecologie Alpine, CNRS, Université Joseph Fourier, BP 53 X, 38041 Grenoble Cedex 9, France;(2) Research School of Biological Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, 0200, Australia;(3) Canadian Forest Service, Sault Ste Marie, ON, Canada, P6A 2E5;(4) Department of Geography, University of Louvain, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Louvain, Belgium;(5) Department of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwaterstrand, Johannesburg, 2000, South Africa |
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Abstract: | Fires are critical elements in the Earth System, linking climate, humans, and vegetation. With 200–500 Mha burnt annually,
fire disturbs a greater area over a wider variety of biomes than any other natural disturbance. Fire ignition, propagation,
and impacts depend on the interactions among climate, vegetation structure, and land use on local to regional scales. Therefore,
fires and their effects on terrestrial ecosystems are highly sensitive to global change. Fires can cause dramatic changes
in the structure and functioning of ecosystems. They have significant impacts on the atmosphere and biogeochemical cycles.
By contributing significantly to greenhouse gas (e.g., with the release of 1.7–4.1 Pg of carbon per year) and aerosol emissions,
and modifying surface properties, they affect not only vegetation but also climate. Fires also modify the provision of a variety
of ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, soil fertility, grazing value, biodiversity, and tourism, and can hence
trigger land use change. Fires must therefore be included in global and regional assessments of vulnerability to global change.
Fundamental understanding of vulnerability of land systems to fire is required to advise management and policy. Assessing
regional vulnerabilities resulting from biophysical and human consequences of changed fire regimes under global change scenarios
requires an integrated approach. Here we present a generic conceptual framework for such integrated, multidisciplinary studies.
The framework is structured around three interacting (partially nested) subsystems whose contribute to vulnerability. The
first subsystem describes the controls on fire regimes (exposure). A first feedback subsystem links fire regimes to atmospheric
and climate dynamics within the Earth System (sensitivity), while the second feedback subsystem links changes in fire regimes
to changes in the provision of ecological services and to their consequences for human systems (adaptability). We then briefly
illustrate how the framework can be applied to two regional cases with contrasting ecological and human context: boreal forests
of northern America and African savannahs. |
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Keywords: | Climate Earth system feedback Ecosystem services Emissions Fire regime Global change Human-environment system Land use Vulnerability analysis |
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