Remote measurement of the 1992 Tapera prescribed fire at the Reserva Ecologica do IBGE

Abstract

Across the 2 million km² of the Cerrado ecosystem in central Brazil, open burnings of vegetation are a common and frequent disturbance. Their origins predominantly are human today, but evidence of frequent burnings extends millennia into records from lacustrine sediments (Ferraz-Vicentini 1999). Burning is a visible source of extensive particulate air pollution and likely an important source of carbon emissions to the atmosphere that may contribute to global climate change (Krug et al. 2006, Riggan et al. in preparation). The season and frequency of burning may have important ecological effects on the structure, composition, and persistence of natural vegetation (Sato et al. 1998). Many of the expected or realized ecological and atmospheric effects are likely related to fire intensity and the mass of biomass consumed, but because of the extreme environment of fires and the difficulty of approaching them, the physical nature and variability of burning has only recently been measured and appreciated.

Citation

Riggan, P. J.;Tissell, R. G.; Lockwood, R.N. 2010. Remote measurement of the 1992 Tapera prescribed fire at the Reserva Ecologica do IBGE. p. 35-46, In: Miranda, H. S. (Ed.) Efeitos do regime do fogo sobre a estrutura de comunidades de cerrado: Resultados do Projeto Fogo. IBAMA, Brasilia, DF, Brasil. ISBN 978-85-7300-305-5