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Crawford AJ, Belcher CM, New S, Gallego-Sala A, Swindles GT, Page S, Blyakharchuk TA, Cadillo-Quiroz H, Charman DJ, Gałka M, Hughes PDM, Lähteenoja O, Mauquoy D, Roland TP, Väliranta M. Tropical peat composition may provide a negative feedback on fire occurrence and severity. Nat Commun 2024; 15:7363. [PMID: 39191729 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-50916-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2023] [Accepted: 07/24/2024] [Indexed: 08/29/2024] Open
Abstract
Loss of peat through increased burning will have major impacts on the global carbon cycle. In a normal hydrological state, the risk of fire propagation is largely controlled by peat bulk density and moisture content. However, where humans have interfered with the moisture status of peat either via drainage, or indirectly via climate change, we hypothesise that its botanical composition will become important to flammability, such that peats from different latitudes might have different compositionally-driven susceptibility to ignition. We use pyrolysis combustion flow calorimetry to determine the temperature of maximum thermal decomposition (Tmax) of peats from different latitudes, and couple this to a botanical composition analysis. We find that tropical peat has higher Tmax than other regions, likely on account of its higher wood content which appears to convey a greater resistance to ignition. This resistance also increases with depth, which means that loss of surface peat in tropical regions may lead to a reduction in the subsequent ignitability of deeper peat layers as they are exposed, potentially resulting in a negative feedback on increased fire occurrence and severity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alastair J Crawford
- wildFIRE Lab, Hatherly Laboratories, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK.
- School of Environment, Earth and Ecosystem Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK.
| | - Claire M Belcher
- wildFIRE Lab, Hatherly Laboratories, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | | | - Angela Gallego-Sala
- Geography, Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - Graeme T Swindles
- Geography, School of Natural and Built Environment, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, UK
- Ottawa-Carleton Geoscience Centre and Department of Earth Sciences, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Susan Page
- School of Geography, Geology and the Environment, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK
| | - Tatiana A Blyakharchuk
- Tomsk State University, Tomsk, Russia
- Institute of Monitoring of Climatic and Ecological Systems SB RAS, Tomsk, Russia
| | - Hinsby Cadillo-Quiroz
- School of Life Sciences and Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
| | - Dan J Charman
- Geography, Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - Mariusz Gałka
- Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, Department of Biogeography, Paleoecology and Nature Conservation, University of Lodz, Łódź, Poland
| | - Paul D M Hughes
- Palaeoecology Laboratory, Department of Geography, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
| | | | - Dmitri Mauquoy
- School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK
| | - Thomas P Roland
- Geography, Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - Minna Väliranta
- Ecosystems and Environment Research Programme, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
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Simpson KJ, Archibald S, Osborne CP. Savanna fire regimes depend on grass trait diversity. Trends Ecol Evol 2022; 37:749-758. [PMID: 35577616 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2022.04.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2022] [Revised: 04/14/2022] [Accepted: 04/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Grasses fuel most fires on Earth and strongly influence local fire behaviour through traits that determine how flammable they are. Therefore, grass communities that differ in their species and trait compositions give rise to significant spatial variation in savanna fire regimes across the world, which cannot be otherwise explained. Likewise, fire regimes are continuously modified by alterations to savanna grass community traits, through species introductions and climatic changes. However, current representation of grassy fuels in global fire models misses important variation and therefore limits predictive power. The inclusion of grass trait diversity in models, using remotely sensed trait proxies, for example, will greatly improve our ability to understand and project savanna fires and their roles in the Earth system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kimberley J Simpson
- Plants, Photosynthesis and Soil, School of Biosciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK; Department of Botany, Rhodes University, Makhanda, South Africa.
| | - Sally Archibald
- Centre for African Ecology, School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Colin P Osborne
- Plants, Photosynthesis and Soil, School of Biosciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
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Oliveira ACC, Forti VA, Viani RAG. Fertility responses of a native grass: technology supporting native plant production for restoration in Brazil. Restor Ecol 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/rec.13534] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Ana C. C. Oliveira
- Escola Superior de Agricultura “Luiz de Queiroz” Universidade de São Paulo Piracicaba Brazil
| | - Victor A. Forti
- Centro de Ciências Agrárias Universidade Federal de São Carlos São Carlos Brazil
| | - Ricardo A. G. Viani
- Centro de Ciências Agrárias Universidade Federal de São Carlos São Carlos Brazil
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4
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Gao X, Schwilk DW. Burn hot or tolerate trees: flammability decreases with shade tolerance in grasses. OIKOS 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.08930] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Xiulin Gao
- Dept of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech Univ. Lubbock TX USA
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Berkeley CA USA
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5
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Solofondranohatra CL, Vorontsova MS, Dewhirst RA, Belcher CM, Cable S, Jeannoda V, Lehmann CE. Shade alters the growth and architecture of tropical grasses by reducing root biomass. Biotropica 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/btp.12943] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Cédrique L. Solofondranohatra
- Laboratoire de Botanique Département de Biologie et Ecologie Végétales Faculté des Sciences Université d'Antananarivo Antananarivo Madagascar
- Kew Madagascar Conservation Centre Antananarivo Madagascar
| | | | - Rebecca A. Dewhirst
- Climate and Ecosystem Science Division Department of Energy Lawrence Berkeley National Lab Berkeley CA USA
| | | | - Stuart Cable
- Conservation Science Royal Botanic Gardens Kew Richmond UK
| | - Vololoniaina Jeannoda
- Laboratoire de Botanique Département de Biologie et Ecologie Végétales Faculté des Sciences Université d'Antananarivo Antananarivo Madagascar
| | - Caroline E.R. Lehmann
- School of GeoSciences The University of Edinburgh Edinburgh UK
- Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Edinburgh UK
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