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Fire in Australian savannas: from leaf to landscape |
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| Authors: | Jason Beringer Lindsay B. Hutley David Abramson Stefan K. Arndt Peter Briggs Mila Bristow Josep G. Canadell Lucas A. Cernusak Derek Eamus Andrew C. Edwards Bradley J. Evans Benedikt Fest Klaus Goergen Samantha P. Grover Jorg Hacker Vanessa Haverd Kasturi Kanniah Stephen J. Livesley Amanda Lynch Stefan Maier Caitlin Moore Michael Raupach Jeremy Russell‐Smith Simon Scheiter Nigel J. Tapper Petteri Uotila |
| Affiliation: | 1. School of Earth and Environment, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia;2. School of Geography and Environmental Science, Monash University, Melbourne, Vic., Australia;3. School of Environment, Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT, Australia;4. Department of Forest and Ecosystem Science, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Vic., Australia;5. CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, Canberra, ACT, Australia;6. School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University, Cairns, Qld, Australia;7. School of the Environment, University of Technology, Sydney, NSW, Australia;8. Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW, Australia;9. Meteorological Institute, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany;10. Juelich Supercomputing Centre, Research Centre Juelich, Juelich, Germany;11. Centre for High Performance Scientific Computing in Terrestrial Systems, Research Centre Juelich, Juelich, Germany;12. Airborne Research Australia/Flinders University, Salisbury South, SA, Australia;13. Faculty of Geoinformation & Real Estate, Department of Geoinformation, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bahru, Malaysia;14. Department of Resource Management and Geography, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Vic., Australia;15. Department of Geological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA;16. Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (LOEWE BiK‐F), Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung, Frankfurt am Main, Germany;17. Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki, Finland |
| Abstract: | Savanna ecosystems comprise 22% of the global terrestrial surface and 25% of Australia (almost 1.9 million km2) and provide significant ecosystem services through carbon and water cycles and the maintenance of biodiversity. The current structure, composition and distribution of Australian savannas have coevolved with fire, yet remain driven by the dynamic constraints of their bioclimatic niche. Fire in Australian savannas influences both the biophysical and biogeochemical processes at multiple scales from leaf to landscape. Here, we present the latest emission estimates from Australian savanna biomass burning and their contribution to global greenhouse gas budgets. We then review our understanding of the impacts of fire on ecosystem function and local surface water and heat balances, which in turn influence regional climate. We show how savanna fires are coupled to the global climate through the carbon cycle and fire regimes. We present new research that climate change is likely to alter the structure and function of savannas through shifts in moisture availability and increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide, in turn altering fire regimes with further feedbacks to climate. We explore opportunities to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions from savanna ecosystems through changes in savanna fire management. |
| Keywords: | biomass burning climate feedbacks greenhouse gas exchange net ecosystem carbon balance savanna |