Fire plays a key role in Earth system processes. Wildfires
influence the carbon cycle and the nutrient balance of our planet,
and may even play a role in regulating the oxygen content of our
atmosphere. The evolutionary history of plants has been intimately
tied to fire and this in part explains the distribution of our
ecosystems and their ability to withstand the effects of natural
fires today.
Fire Phenomena and the Earth System brings together the
various subdisciplines within fire science to provide a synthesis
of our understanding of the role of wildfire in the Earth system.
The book shows how knowledge of fire phenomena and the nature of
combustion of natural fuels can be used to understand modern
wildfires, interpret fire events in the geological record and to
understand the role of fire in a variety of Earth system processes.
By bringing together chapters written by leading international
researchers from a range of geological, environmental, chemical and
engineering disciplines, the book will stimulate the exchange of
ideas and knowledge across these subject areas. Fire Phenomena
and the Earth System provides a truly interdisciplinary guide
that can inform us about Earth’s past, present and
beyond.
Readership: Advanced students and researchers across a
wide range of earth, environmental and life sciences, including
biogeochemistry, paleoclimatology, atmospheric science,
palaeontology and paleoecology, combustion science, ecology and
forestry.
Table of Content
Contributors, vii
Foreword, ix
Preface, xii
Acknowledgements, xv
PART 1 FIRE BEHAVIOUR, 1
1 An Introduction to Combustion in Organic Materials, 3
Jose L. Torero
2 Smouldering Fires and Natural Fuels, 15
Guillermo Rein
3 Experimental Understanding of Wildland Fires, 35
Albert Simeoni
4 Wildfire Behaviour and Danger Ratings, 53
Eulalia Planas and Elsa Pastor
5 Satellite Remote Sensing of Fires, 77
David P. Roy, Luigi Boschetti and Alistair M.S. Smith
PART 2 FIRE AND THE BIOSPHERE, 95
6 Understanding Fire Regimes and the Ecological Effects of Fire,
97
G. Matt Davies
7 Plant Adaptations to Fire: an Evolutionary Perspective,
125
Jeremy J. Midgley and William J. Bond
8 Fire and the Land Surface, 135
Stefan H. Doerr and Richard A. Shakesby
9 Identification of Black Carbon in the Earth System, 157
Karen Hammes and Samuel Abiven
PART 3 FIRE AND THE EARTH’S PAST, 177
10 Identifying Past Fire Events, 179
Ian J. Glasspool and Andrew C. Scott
11 A 21 000-Year History of Fire, 207
Mitchell J. Power
12 A 450-Million-Year History of Fire, 229
Claire M. Belcher, Margaret E. Collinson and Andrew C.
Scott
PART 4 FIRE AND THE EARTH SYSTEM, 251
13 Evaluating the Atmospheric Impact of Wildfires, 253
Solene Turquety
14 The Dependence of Flame Spread and Probability of Ignition on
Atmospheric Oxygen: an Experimental Investigation, 273
Andrew J. Watson and James E. Lovelock
15 Fire Feedbacks on Atmospheric Oxygen, 289
Timothy M. Lenton
16 Biochar and Carbon Sequestration, 309
Ondøej Ma Sek
Index, 323
Colour plate section 1 falls between pages 16 and 17
Colour plate section 2 falls between pages 192 and 193
About the author
Claire M. Belcher is Senior Lecturer in Earth System
Science at the University of Exeter. Prior to this she held a
unique joint position as a Marie Curie Fellow at the School of
Geosciences and BRE Centre for Fire Safety Engineering at the
University of Edinburgh. Her research is internationally recognised
for integrating state-of-the-art modern experimental methods into
studies of Earth’s ancient past. She is not only seen as a
leader in her field but also as an innovator and facilitator of
interdisciplinary research within fire science, an approach which
is reflected in this book.
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