Despite the publication of a number of recent books, mainly edited compilations, on both fire ecology in general and, more specifically, fire ecology in the tropics, it remains difficult to obtain accessible overviews of many aspects of the subject. This is particularly so with regard to tropical biomass fires. The review presented here attempts to fill this gap with regard to the subjects of ignition and combustion in such fires, focusing on natural and anthropogenic ignition sources, the processes of ignition, the stages of combustion, combustion efficiency, fuel type, fuel flammability, fuel preparation, fuel loading and oxygenation of the environment.
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2.
Alexander, M. E.1982: Calculating and interpreting forest fire intensities. Canadian Journal of Botany60, 349-357.
3.
Anderson, H. E.1970: Forest fuel ignitability. Fire Technology6, 312-319.
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Anderson, J. A. R.1964: Observations on climate damage in peatswamp forest in Sarawak. Commonwealth Forestry Review43, 145-158.
5.
Booysen, P. de V. and Tainton, N. M., editors, 1984: Ecological effects of fire in South African ecosystems. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.
6.
Bowman, D. M. J. S. and Panton, W. J.1993: Decline of Callitris intratropica R.T. Baker and H.G. Smith in the Northern Territory: implications for pre- and post-European colonization fire regimes. Journal of Biogeography20, 373-381.
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Bowman, D. M. J. S. and Wilson, B. A.1988: Fuel characteristics of coastal monsoon forests, Northern Territory, Australia. Journal of Biogeography15, 807-817.
8.
Braithwaite, R. W.1991: Aboriginal fire regimes of monsoonal Australia in the 19th century. Search22, 247-249.
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14.
Chandler, C., Cheney, P., Thomas, P., Trabaud, L. and Williams, D.1983: Fire in forestry (Vols. I & II). New York: Wiley Interscience.
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Crutzen, P. J. and Andreae, M. O.1990: Biomass burning in the tropics: impacts on atmospheric chemistry and biogeochemical cycles. Science239, 1669-1678.
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Crutzen, P. J. and Goldammer, J. G., editors, 1993: Fire and the environment: the ecological, atmospheric, and climatic importance of vegetation fires. Chichester: Wiley.
17.
DeRonde, C., Goldammer, J. G., Wade, D. D. and Soares, R. V.1990: Prescribed fire in industrial pine plantations. Goldammer, J. G., editor, Fire in the tropical biota: ecosystem processes and global challenges, Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 216-272.
18.
Deshmukh, I.1986: Ecology and tropical biology. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific.
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Dickenson, K. J. M. and Kirkpatrick, J. B.1975: The flammability and energy content of some important plant species and fuel components in the forests of southeastern Tasmania. Journal of Biogeography12, 121-134.
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Fensham, R. J.1997: Aboriginal fire regimes in Queensland, Australia: analysis of the explorers’ record. Journal of Biogeography24, 11-22.
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Fuller, M.1991: Forest fires. An introduction to wildland fire behavior, management, firefighting and prevention. New York: Wiley.
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Geldenhuys, C. J.1994: Bergwind fires and the location of forest patches in the southern Cape landscape, South Africa. Journal of Biogeography21, 49-62.
23.
Gill, A. M., Trollope, W. S. W. and MacArthur, D. A.1978: Role of moisture in the flammability of natural fuels in the laboratory. Australian Forest Research8, 199-208.
24.
Goldammer, J. G., editor, 1990: Fire in the tropical biota: ecosystem processes and global challenges. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.
25.
Goldammer, J.G. 1993: Feuer in Waldökosystemen der Tropen und Subtropen. Basel: Birkhäuser-Verlag.
26.
Goldammer, J. G. and Peñafiel, S. R.1990: Fire in the pine-grassland biomes of tropical and subtropical Asia. In Goldammer, J. G., editor, Fire in the tropical biota: ecosystem processes and global challenges, Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 44-62.
27.
Goldammer, J. G. and Seibert, B.1989: Natural rain forest fires in eastern Borneo during the Pleistocene and Holocene. Naturwissenschaften76, 518-520.
28.
Goldammer, J. G. and Seibert, B.1990: The impacts of droughts and fires on tropical lowland rain forest of East Kalimantan. In Goldammer, J. G., editor, Fire in the tropical biota: ecosystem processes and global challenges, Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 11-31.
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32.
Hao, W. M., Liu, M. H. and Crutzen, P. J.1990: Estimates of annual and regional releases of CO2 and other trace gases to the atmosphere from fires in the tropics, based on the FAO statistics for the period 1975-1980. In Goldammer, J. G., editor, Fire in the tropical biota: ecosystem processes and global challenges, Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 440-462.
33.
Haynes, C. D.1985: The pattern and ecology of munwag: traditional Aboriginal fire regimes in north-central Arnhem land. Proceedings of the Ecological Society of Australia13, 203-214.
34.
Home Office (Fire Department) 1974: Manual of firemanship. Book I. Elements of combustion and extinction. London: HMSO.
35.
Kellman, M. and Tackaberry, R.1997: Tropical environments: the functioning and management of tropical ecosystems. London: Routledge.
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43.
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Siegfried, W. R.1981: The incidence of veld-fire in Etosha National Park, 1970-1979. Madoqua12, 225-230.
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Singh, J. S. and Yadava, P. S.1974: Seasonal variation in composition of plant biomass and net primary production of a tropical grassland at Kurukshetra, India. Ecological Monographs44, 351-376.
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Singh, R. P.1980: Energy dynamics in Eucalyptus tereticornis Smith plantations in Western Uttar Pradesh. Indian Forester106, 649-658.
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Stott, P.1986: The spatial pattern of dry season fires in the savanna forests of Thailand. Journal of Biogeography13, 345-358.
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