Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
 
                                        
 
 
 
 
                      
 
 
 
Global Biosphere Dynamics Group
    
  
Department of Global Change and Natural Systems
 
 
The fire module of the Lund-Potsdam-Jena Dynamic Global Vegetation Model   
 
 
The fire model described here simulates average fire regimes of various ecosystems at the global scale. Litter moisture, fuel load and the length of the fire season drive fire occurrence in the model and determine the annual area burnt.  
 
Developed to study the interaction of fire and vegetation the fire model was incorporated into the Lund-Potsdam-Jena Dynamic Global Vegetation Model (LPJ-DGVM). Results of a combined model simulation over the historical time period are presented. 
 
The fire model
Incorporation into a Dynamic Global Vegetation Model
Results
Discussion

 

References
Collins SL, Wallace LL (Eds.) (1990). Fire in North American Tallgrass Prairies. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, London. 175 pp.
Goldammer JG (Ed.) (1990). Fire in the Tropical Biota: Ecosystem Processes and Global Challenges. Springer Verlag, Berlin. 497 pp.
Goldammer JG, Furyaev VV (Eds.) (1996). Fire in Ecosystems of Boreal Eurasia. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht - Boston - London. 528 pp.
Johnson EA, Gutsell SL (1994) Fire Frequency Models, Methods and Interpretations. Advances in Ecological Research, 25, 239-287.
Mooney HA, Bonnicksen TM, Christensen NL, Lotan JE, Reiners WA (Eds.) (1981). Fire Regimes and Ecosystem Properties. Proceedings of the Conference. US Forestry Series, Washington, D.C. 
Moreno JM (Ed.) (1998). Large Forest Fires. Backhuys Publishers, Leiden. 239 pp.
Sitch S, Prentice IC, Smith B, Kaplan J (1999) LPJ- a coupled model of vegetation dynamics and the terrestrial carbon cycle. in prep.
Scholes RJ, Walker BH (1993) An African Savanna. Synthesis of the Nylsvley Study. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 
Thonicke K, Venevsky S, Sitch S, Cramer W (1999) The role of fire disturbance for global vegetation dynamics: coupling fire into a Dynamic Global Vegetation Model. Global Change Biology, submitted
Viegas DX, Viegas MTSP, Ferreira AD (1992) Moisture Content of Fine Forest Fuels and Fire Occurrence in Central Portugal. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 2(4), 69-86.
Whelan RJ (1995) The Ecology of Fire. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 346 pp.

These pages are based upon research described in  
Thonicke K, Venevsky S, Sitch S, Cramer W (2001) The role of fire disturbance for global vegetation dynamics: coupling fire into a Dynamic Global Vegetation Model. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 10, 661-677. 
Correction: - minimum amount of fuel load in the simulations is 200 gC/m 2 , instead of g/m² as written in the article

Questions and comments are welcome! Please mailto: Kirsten.Thonicke@pik-potsdam.de  
 
Author:       Kirsten Thonicke  
                  Department of Global Change and Natural Systems 
                  Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research 
                  P.O.Box 60 12 03   
                  14412 Potsdam  
                  Germany 
 
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