Positive feedbacks of fire, climate, and vegetation and the conversion of tropical savanna

Details Positive feedbacks of fire, climate, and vegetation and the conversion of tropical savanna Positive feedbacks of fire, climate, and vegetation and the conversion of tropical savanna

Nov 2002

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2002georl..29v...9h&link_type=abstract

Geophysical Research Letters, Volume 29, Issue 22, pp. 9-1, CiteID 2052, DOI 10.1029/2002GL015424

Physics

Geophysics

6

Atmospheric Composition And Structure: Biosphere/Atmosphere Interactions, Hydrology: Plant Ecology, Mathematical Geophysics: Modeling, Meteorology And Atmospheric Dynamics: Land/Atmosphere Interactions, Meteorology And Atmospheric Dynamics: Remote Sensing

Scientific paper

We combine general circulation modeling (GCM), remote sensing, and field results to identify a positive feedback loop in which clearing of tropical savannas results in warmer and drier climate, accelerated fire frequencies, and further tree cover loss. The GCM simulations indicate that ongoing clearing of tropical savannas increases temperatures and wind speeds and decreases precipitation and relative humidity, substantially increasing fire frequency. Using NOAA-12 satellite images and meteorological data, we estimate that complete savanna clearing will increase fire frequency by 42%. Combining these data with long-term fire studies, we demonstrate that this fire-mediated feedback may already be contributing to declining tree densities in the world's savannas and will become increasingly important as vegetation change continues in the coming century.

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