Fire in the Earth System

Fire is a worldwide phenomenon that appears in the geological record soon after the appearance of terrestrial plants. Fire influences global ecosystem patterns and processes, including vegetation distribution and structure, the carbon cycle, and climate. Although humans and fire have always coexiste...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2009-04, Vol.324 (5926), p.481-484
Main Authors: Bowman, David M.J.S, Balch, Jennifer K, Artaxo, Paulo, Bond, William J, Carlson, Jean M, Cochrane, Mark A, D'Antonio, Carla M, DeFries, Ruth S, Doyle, John C, Harrison, Sandy P, Johnston, Fay H, Keeley, Jon E, Krawchuk, Meg A, Kull, Christian A, Marston, J. Brad, Moritz, Max A, Prentice, I. Colin, Roos, Christopher I, Scott, Andrew C, Swetnam, Thomas W, van der Werf, Guido R, Pyne, Stephen J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Animals
Biological and medical sciences
Biological Evolution
Carbon
Climate
Climate change
Climate models
Earth (Planet)
Ecology
Ecosystem
Fire behavior
Fire ecology
Fire regimes
Fires
Forest fires
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Geology
Grassland fires
Humans
Paleoclimatology
Plants
Review
Synecology
Terrestrial ecosystems
Vegetation
Wildland firefighting
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Summary:Fire is a worldwide phenomenon that appears in the geological record soon after the appearance of terrestrial plants. Fire influences global ecosystem patterns and processes, including vegetation distribution and structure, the carbon cycle, and climate. Although humans and fire have always coexisted, our capacity to manage fire remains imperfect and may become more difficult in the future as climate change alters fire regimes. This risk is difficult to assess, however, because fires are still poorly represented in global models. Here, we discuss some of the most important issues involved in developing a better understanding of the role of fire in the Earth system.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.1163886