Fire Project

The consequences of wildfires for tropical forest biodiversity


 
Project team

Primary contacts

Jos Barlow
Carlos Peres

Additional Members

Torbjørn Haugaasen
Bernard Lagan


Project summary

This research focused on the ecological effects of fires in humid tropical forests, examining how the tropical forest biota responded one and three years after low-intensity (understorey) fires, and high-intensity recurrent fires. The resulting studies were the first to quantify the consequences of fires for the understorey avifauna (Barlow et al. 2002, Barlow and Peres 2004a, 2004b) and large vertebrates (Barlow and Peres 2006), and allowed us to quantify short-term changes in forest structure (Haugaasen et al. 2003) Collaboration with other Amazonian projects has allowed us to produce the first quantitative comparison of the short-term influences of these disturbance events (Barlow et al. 2006).


Publications
Barlow, J. and Peres, C.A. 2008. Fire-mediated dieback and compositional cascade in an Amazonian forest. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B. doi:10.1098/rstb.2007.0013
[Abstract in English and Portuguese]

Barlow, J., Peres, C. A., Henriques, L. M. P., Stouffer, P. C. & Wunderle, J. M. 2006. The Responses of Understorey Birds to Forest Fragmentation, Logging and Wildfires: an Amazonian Synthesis. Biological Conservation. 128 (2): 182-19
[Abstract in English and Portuguese]
  
Barlow, J., and C. Peres. 2006. Effects of single and recurrent wildfires on fruit production and large vertebrate abundance in a central Amazonian forest. Biodiversity and Conservation.
[Abstract in English and Portuguese]

Barlow, J., and C.A. Peres. 2006. Consequences of cryptic and recurring fire disturbances for ecosystem structure and biodiversity in Amazonian forests. Pages 225-240 in W. F. Laurance, and C. A. Peres, editors. Emerging threats to tropical forests. Chicago University Press.

Barlow, J., and C. A. Peres. 2005. Ecological responses to El Niño-induced surface fires in central Amazonia. Pages 87-96 in Y. Malhi, and O. Phillips, editors. Tropical Forests and Global Atmospheric Change. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Barlow, J., and C. A. Peres. 2004. Avifaunal responses to single and recurrent wildfires in Amazonian forests. Ecological Applications 14:1358–1373.
[Abstract in English and Portuguese]

Barlow, J., and C. A. Peres. 2004. Ecological responses to El Niño-induced surface fires in central Amazonia: Management implications for flammable tropical forests. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B 359:367-380.
[Abstract in English and Portuguese]

Barlow, J., C. A. Peres, B. Lagan, and T. Haugaasen. 2003. Large tree mortality and the decline of forest biomass following Amazonian wildfires. Ecology letters 6:6-8.
[Abstract in English and Portuguese]

Barlow, J., B. O. Lagan, and C. A. Peres. 2003. Morphological correlates of fire-induced tree mortality in a central Amazonian forest. Journal of Tropical Ecology 19:291-299.
[Abstract in English and Portuguese]

Haugaasen, T., J. Barlow, and C. A. Peres. 2003. Surface wildfires in central Amazonia: Short-term impact on forest structure and carbon loss. Forest Ecology and Management 179:321-331.
[Abstract in English and Portuguese]

Peres, C. A., J. Barlow, and T. Haugaasen. 2003. Vertebrate Responses to Surface Fires in a Central Amazonian Forest. Oryx 37:97-109.
[Abstract in English and Portuguese]

Haugaasen, T., J. Barlow, and C. A. Peres. 2003. Effects of surface fires on understorey insectivorous birds and terrestrial arthropods in central Brazilian Amazonia. Animal conservation 6:299-306.
[Abstract in English and Portuguese]

Barlow, J., and C. A. Peres. 2003. Fogo rasteiro: Uma nova ameaça na região amazônica. Ciencia Hoje 34:24-29.

Barlow, J., T. Haugaasen, and C. A. Peres. 2002. Effects of ground fires on understorey bird assemblages in Amazonian forests. Biological Conservation 105:157-169.
[Abstract in English and Portuguese]

Collaborating institutions

Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Conservation, School of
Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, United Kingdom




Project Sponsors




 Natural Environment Research Council, United Kingdom
 Conservation International (USA)