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The contribution of humans to past biomass burning in the tropics

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Sediment Records of Biomass Burning and Global Change

Part of the book series: NATO ASI Series ((ASII,volume 51))

Summary

Tropical ecosystems, particularly savannas, contribute substantially to global biomass burning which influences the composition of the atmosphere as well as the nature and stability of soils, hydrology and vegetation. The history of burning in the tropics is constructed mainly from the analysis of charcoal preserved in accumulated sediments and within soils derived from a range of tropical environments. There is evidence for burning from the mid Tertiary associated with the development of savannas and drier or more seasonal rainforest types under global drying. The trend towards increased burning appears to have accelerated in more recent geological times due to the activities of people. Some separation of human from natural burning has been possible from a comparison of past burning patterns in areas with different human histories, and particularly from rainforest which is unlikely to experience frequent fires in the absence of people. Although there is evidence that Homo erectus used fire as long ago as 1.5 my, it is not until the time of evolution of H. sapiens that any relationship between people and biomass burning can be demonstrated. The earliest proposed anthropogenic burning is from at least 40 ky and possibly up to 140 ky BP in Australia where the environment may have been extremely sensitive to impact from an additional ignition source. Dates for increased burning within the rainforests of New Guinea also extend back to about 40 ky. Further increases in tropical burning are recorded by sites in Central and South America from the early Holocene, presumably with the arrival of people, and in most parts of the tropical region from the mid Holocene with the development and spread of agriculture and with the colonization of oceanic islands. Charcoal peaks are frequently associated with times of climate change and it is likely that, regardless of the nature of future fire management strategies, biomass burning will continue to increase in the near future because of the predicted period of climate change.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Palynology and Palaeoecology, Department of Geography and Environmental Science, Monash University, Clayton, Vic. 3168, Australia

    A. P. Kershaw, M. B. Bush, G. S. Hope, K.-F. Weiss, J. G. Goldammer & R. Sanford

  2. Department of Botany, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, 27708, USA

    M. B. Bush

  3. Division of Archaeology and Natural History, The Australian National University, Canberra, A.C.T., 0200, Australia

    G. S. Hope

  4. Fire Ecology Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Freiburg University, PO Box D-79085, Freiburg, Germany

    K.-F. Weiss & J. G. Goldammer

  5. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Denver, Denver, Colorado, 80208, USA

    R. Sanford

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  1. A. P. Kershaw
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  2. M. B. Bush
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  3. G. S. Hope
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  5. J. G. Goldammer
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708, USA

    James S. Clark

  2. Centre des Faibles Radioactivités, CNRS/CEA, Avenue de la Terrasse, 91198, Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France

    Hélène Cachier

  3. Arbeitsgruppe Feuerökologie, Max-Planck-Institut für Chemie, Universität Freiburg, D-79085, Freiburg, Germany

    Johann G. Goldammer

  4. Great Lakes Forestry Center, Canadian Forest Service, P6A 5M7, Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, Canada

    Brian Stocks

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Kershaw, A.P., Bush, M.B., Hope, G.S., Weiss, KF., Goldammer, J.G., Sanford, R. (1997). The contribution of humans to past biomass burning in the tropics. In: Clark, J.S., Cachier, H., Goldammer, J.G., Stocks, B. (eds) Sediment Records of Biomass Burning and Global Change. NATO ASI Series, vol 51. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-59171-6_19

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-59171-6_19

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