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Science 11 June 1999:
Vol. 284. no. 5421, pp. 1832 - 1835
DOI: 10.1126/science.284.5421.1832
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Reports

Positive Feedbacks in the Fire Dynamic of Closed Canopy Tropical Forests

Mark A. Cochrane, 123* Ane Alencar, 3 Mark D. Schulze, 24 Carlos M. Souza Jr., 2 Daniel C. Nepstad, 13 Paul Lefebvre, 1 Eric A. Davidson 1

The incidence and importance of fire in the Amazon have increased substantially during the past decade, but the effects of this disturbance force are still poorly understood. The forest fire dynamics in two regions of the eastern Amazon were studied. Accidental fires have affected nearly 50 percent of the remaining forests and have caused more deforestation than has intentional clearing in recent years. Forest fires create positive feedbacks in future fire susceptibility, fuel loading, and fire intensity. Unless current land use and fire use practices are changed, fire has the potential to transform large areas of tropical forest into scrub or savanna.

1 Woods Hole Research Center, Post Office Box 296, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA.
2 Instituto do Homen e Meio Ambiente da Amazônia (IMAZON), Caixa Postal 1015, Belém, Pará, CEP 66017-000 Brazil.
3 Instituto de Pesquisa Ambiental da Amazônia, Campus do Guamá, UFPa Avenida Augusto Correa S/N, Caixa Postal 8602, Belém, Pará, CEP 66.075-900, Brazil.
4 Department of Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: cochrane{at}whrc.org

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