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How do the wets burn? Fire behavior and intensity in wet grasslands in the Brazilian savanna

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Abstract

Although wetlands are commonly managed with fire by local communities and managers in tropical savannas, little is known about fire behavior in these ecosystems. We measured fire intensity and temperature in 13 experimental early (June) and late (September) dry season fires in wet grasslands in the Brazilian savanna, the "Cerrado". We aimed to characterize "Cerrado" wet grasslands fire behavior and to understand how fire season (early vs. late dry season) and time since last fire affect fire behavior and intensity. We compared fire intensities in biennially burnt areas to areas unburned for 5 years. Experimental fires consumed 60–98 % of the fuel and were of low intensity (240–1083 kW m−1) compared to those in dry savanna grassland with similar fuel loads (0.4–1.3 kg m−2). Fires in areas with contrasting times since last fire (2 and 5 years) had similar intensities. Late dry season fires tended to be more intense than early dry season fires, but the difference was not significant. The low fire intensities are probably due to high soil water availability year around, a characteristic of wetlands. Maximum temperatures were low (149–442 °C, mostly at 50 cm in height) compared to fires in dry savanna ecosystems. Our results can directly contribute to plan and implementation of fire management programs in the “Cerrado”, where it is mostly still not carried out.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Jalapão State Park for the research permit and all logistic support; Capes/Fulbright, Ibama, Instituto Sociedade População e Natureza (ISPN), the International Foundation for Science (IFS) and the University of Hawai’i for Grants; Jalapão local communities for participating in field activities and for allowing the experiments to be carried out in their lands. A.F. received financial support from FAPESP (2008/10049-9) and she has a productivity Grant from CNPq (306170/2015-9).

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  1. Isabel B. Schmidt

    Present address: Departamento de Ecologia, Universidade de Brasília, Campus Universitário Darcy Ribeiro, Brasília, DF, CEP 70.910-900, Brazil

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Botany Department and Ecology, Evolution & Conservation Biology Program (EECB), University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI, USA

    Isabel B. Schmidt & Tamara Ticktin

  2. Departamento de Botânica, Instituto de Biociências, UNESP–Universidade Estadual Paulista, Rio Claro, Brazil

    Alessandra Fidelis

  3. Departamento de Ecologia, Universidade de Brasília, Campus Universitário Darcy Ribeiro, Brasília, DF, CEP 70.910-900, Brazil

    Heloísa S. Miranda

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  1. Isabel B. Schmidt
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Correspondence to Isabel B. Schmidt.

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Schmidt, I.B., Fidelis, A., Miranda, H.S. et al. How do the wets burn? Fire behavior and intensity in wet grasslands in the Brazilian savanna. Braz. J. Bot 40, 167–175 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40415-016-0330-7

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