Tropical Dry Forest Resilience to Fire Depends on Fire Frequency and Climate

Wildfires are becoming increasingly frequent and devastating in many tropical forests. Although seasonally dry tropical forests (SDTF) are among the most fire-threatened ecosystems, their long-term response to frequent wildfires remains largely unknown. This study is among the first to investigate t...

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Autores principales:	Maximilian Hartung, Geovana Carreño-Rocabado, Marielos Peña-Claros, Masha T. van der Sande
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:	fire Chiquitania tropical dry forest resilience remote sensing Forestry SD1-669.5 Environmental sciences GE1-350
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/a5be7e7846544df2bc24894c616f46d1
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id	oai:doaj.org-article:a5be7e7846544df2bc24894c616f46d1
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:a5be7e7846544df2bc24894c616f46d12021-12-01T13:59:26ZTropical Dry Forest Resilience to Fire Depends on Fire Frequency and Climate2624-893X10.3389/ffgc.2021.755104https://doaj.org/article/a5be7e7846544df2bc24894c616f46d12021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/ffgc.2021.755104/fullhttps://doaj.org/toc/2624-893XWildfires are becoming increasingly frequent and devastating in many tropical forests. Although seasonally dry tropical forests (SDTF) are among the most fire-threatened ecosystems, their long-term response to frequent wildfires remains largely unknown. This study is among the first to investigate the resilience in response to fire of the Chiquitano SDTF in Bolivia, a large ecoregion that has seen an unprecedented increase in fire intensity and frequency in recent years. We used remote sensing data to assess at a large regional and temporal scale (two decades) how fire frequency and environmental factors determine the resilience of the vegetation to fire disturbance. Resilience was measured as the resistance to fire damage and post-fire recovery. Both parameters were monitored for forested areas that burned once (F1), twice (F2), and three times (F3) between 2000 and 2010 and compared to unburned forests. Resistance and recovery were analyzed using time series of the Normalized Burn Ratio (NBR) index derived from Landsat satellite imagery, and climatic, topographic, and a human development-related variable used to evaluate their influence on resilience. The overall resilience was lowest in forests that burned twice and was higher in forests that burned three times, indicating a possible transition state in fire resilience, probably because forests become increasingly adapted during recurrent fires. Climatic variables, particularly rainfall, were most influential in determining resilience. Our results indicate that the Chiquitano dry forest is relatively resilient to recurring fires, has the capacity to recover and adapt, and that climatic differences are the main determinants of the spatial variation observed in resilience. Nevertheless, further research is needed to understand the effect of the higher frequency and intensity of fires expected in the future due to climate change and land use change, which may pose a greater threat to forest resilience.Maximilian HartungGeovana Carreño-RocabadoGeovana Carreño-RocabadoMarielos Peña-ClarosMasha T. van der SandeFrontiers Media S.A.articlefireChiquitaniatropicaldry forestresilienceremote sensingForestrySD1-669.5Environmental sciencesGE1-350ENFrontiers in Forests and Global Change, Vol 4 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	fire Chiquitania tropical dry forest resilience remote sensing Forestry SD1-669.5 Environmental sciences GE1-350
spellingShingle	fire Chiquitania tropical dry forest resilience remote sensing Forestry SD1-669.5 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Maximilian Hartung Geovana Carreño-Rocabado Geovana Carreño-Rocabado Marielos Peña-Claros Masha T. van der Sande Tropical Dry Forest Resilience to Fire Depends on Fire Frequency and Climate
description	Wildfires are becoming increasingly frequent and devastating in many tropical forests. Although seasonally dry tropical forests (SDTF) are among the most fire-threatened ecosystems, their long-term response to frequent wildfires remains largely unknown. This study is among the first to investigate the resilience in response to fire of the Chiquitano SDTF in Bolivia, a large ecoregion that has seen an unprecedented increase in fire intensity and frequency in recent years. We used remote sensing data to assess at a large regional and temporal scale (two decades) how fire frequency and environmental factors determine the resilience of the vegetation to fire disturbance. Resilience was measured as the resistance to fire damage and post-fire recovery. Both parameters were monitored for forested areas that burned once (F1), twice (F2), and three times (F3) between 2000 and 2010 and compared to unburned forests. Resistance and recovery were analyzed using time series of the Normalized Burn Ratio (NBR) index derived from Landsat satellite imagery, and climatic, topographic, and a human development-related variable used to evaluate their influence on resilience. The overall resilience was lowest in forests that burned twice and was higher in forests that burned three times, indicating a possible transition state in fire resilience, probably because forests become increasingly adapted during recurrent fires. Climatic variables, particularly rainfall, were most influential in determining resilience. Our results indicate that the Chiquitano dry forest is relatively resilient to recurring fires, has the capacity to recover and adapt, and that climatic differences are the main determinants of the spatial variation observed in resilience. Nevertheless, further research is needed to understand the effect of the higher frequency and intensity of fires expected in the future due to climate change and land use change, which may pose a greater threat to forest resilience.
format	article
author	Maximilian Hartung Geovana Carreño-Rocabado Geovana Carreño-Rocabado Marielos Peña-Claros Masha T. van der Sande
author_facet	Maximilian Hartung Geovana Carreño-Rocabado Geovana Carreño-Rocabado Marielos Peña-Claros Masha T. van der Sande
author_sort	Maximilian Hartung
title	Tropical Dry Forest Resilience to Fire Depends on Fire Frequency and Climate
title_short	Tropical Dry Forest Resilience to Fire Depends on Fire Frequency and Climate
title_full	Tropical Dry Forest Resilience to Fire Depends on Fire Frequency and Climate
title_fullStr	Tropical Dry Forest Resilience to Fire Depends on Fire Frequency and Climate
title_full_unstemmed	Tropical Dry Forest Resilience to Fire Depends on Fire Frequency and Climate
title_sort	tropical dry forest resilience to fire depends on fire frequency and climate
publisher	Frontiers Media S.A.
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/a5be7e7846544df2bc24894c616f46d1
work_keys_str_mv	AT maximilianhartung tropicaldryforestresiliencetofiredependsonfirefrequencyandclimate AT geovanacarrenorocabado tropicaldryforestresiliencetofiredependsonfirefrequencyandclimate AT geovanacarrenorocabado tropicaldryforestresiliencetofiredependsonfirefrequencyandclimate AT marielospenaclaros tropicaldryforestresiliencetofiredependsonfirefrequencyandclimate AT mashatvandersande tropicaldryforestresiliencetofiredependsonfirefrequencyandclimate
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Tropical Dry Forest Resilience to Fire Depends on Fire Frequency and Climate

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