Changing fire regimes in tropical montane cloud forests: a global synthesis

Abstract

Evidence for the occurrence of fire in montane cloud forests on both historical and modern time scales has mounted in recent years, yet understanding of fire regimes and the influence of fire on the dynamics of these ecosystems remains poor. This chapter discusses current knowledge of the frequency, severity, causes, and impacts of fire in montane cloud forests worldwide as reflected in paleoecological records, recent field studies, and satellite image analyses. Synthesis of the literature suggests that both human activities and climatic fluctuations have played important and often interlinked roles in determining historical fire regimes in montane cloud forests. In particular, increasing human populations and land use pressures surrounding cloud forest ecosystems, combined with more rapid climate warming this century due to anthropogenic forcing, is apparently leading to dramatic intensification of fire regimes in montane cloud forest regions. These changes may be accompanied by the transformation of cloud forests to more fire-dependent plant communities (comprising species from adjacent ecosystems with more frequent fire) that no longer have sufficient resilience to recover from fire and re-establish the original cloud forest vegetation. Management efforts need to focus on preventing fires ignited by people for land use purposes from spreading into adjacent cloud forest areas, as well as actively involving local people and communities in fire management and suppression efforts.