Discussion |
| In many regions it is sufficient to
consider fuel load and litter moisture as the key driver of the fire regime
as the simulation results have shown. In some regions the simulated FRI
differed from the observation, e.g. in Siberia, the Prairie grasslands,
the Brazilian Cerrado and some parts of the African savannah (e.g. Collins
& Wallace 1990; Goldammer 1990; Scholes & Walker 1993; Goldammer
& Furyaev 1996). In the first case permafrost and mosses seem to play
a critical role in driving the litter and soil hydrology, whereas in the
latter additional processes like human land use and specific soil conditions
seem to play an integral part. The influence of these factors on litter
moisture needs to be addressed in later studies. Then, the validity of
our approach to model fire can be proved.
These tools are useful in analysing fire regimes under different climate conditions. Such studies help in understanding the role of various components in driving fire and prove at the same time the applicability of modelling approaches to simulate fire regimes of different ecosystems in the terrestrial biosphere. Such a simulation model can later help to address questions like the impact of fire on global biogeochemical cycles and the role of vegetation regeneration under climate change conditions, to give only a few examples. Close connections with field ecologists are therefore of major importance. A great help for our work would be to enlarge the observation of litter moisture, length of fire season and annual area burnt over several years for a broader range of ecosystems. It would enhance the discussion of our concept of modelling fire at the global scale. |
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