Tropical Fire Ecology in Colombia (FIRECO)

‘Megafire’ is an emerging concept commonly used to describe fires that are extreme in terms of size, behaviour, and/or impacts, but the term’s meaning remains ambiguous. We sought to resolve ambiguity surrounding the meaning of ‘megafire’ by conducting a structured review of the use and definition of the term in several languages in the peer‐reviewed scientific literature. We collated definitions and descriptions of megafire and identified criteria frequently invoked to define megafire. We recorded the size and location of megafires and mapped them to reveal global variation in the size of fires described as megafires. We identified 109 studies that define the term ‘megafire’ or identify a megafire, with the term first appearing in the peer‐reviewed literature in 2005. Seventy‐one (~65%) of these studies attempted to describe or define the term. There was considerable variability in the criteria used to define megafire, although definitions of megafire based on fire size were most common. Megafire size thresholds varied geographically from > 100–100,000 ha, with fires > 10,000 ha the most common size threshold (41%, 18/44 studies). Definitions of megafire were most common from studies led by authors from North America (52%, 37/71). We recorded 137 instances from 84 studies where fires were reported as megafires, the vast majority (94%, 129/137) of which exceed 10,000 ha in size. Megafires occurred in a range of biomes, but were most frequently described in forested biomes (112/137, 82%), and usually described single ignition fires (59% 81/137). As Earth’s climate and ecosystems change, it is important that scientists can communicate trends in the occurrence of larger and more extreme fires with clarity. To overcome ambiguity, we suggest a definition of megafire as fires > 10,000 ha arising from single or multiple related ignition events. We introduce two additional terms – gigafire (> 100,000 ha) and terafire (> 1,000,000 ha) – for fires of an even larger scale than megafires.

Colombia ha venido avanzando en el monitoreo anual de los incendios forestales y el área quemada y su relación con las variaciones en un mismo año y de un año a otro de las condiciones climáticas que los propician, así como de las causas antrópicas que los generan. A nivel mundial se habla de cambios en el régimen de incendios, no obstante, en Colombia todavía no se ha determinado si la tendencia en el tiempo es de aumento en la extensión, tamaño y frecuencia de los incendios. En este estudio se presenta un análisis comparativo de las dos primeras décadas del siglo XXI en términos de los patrones espaciales y temporales de las áreas quemadas, con el objetivo de analizar cambios en algunos parámetros del régimen de incendios en el país (extensión total, tamaño, configuración espacial de los parches quemados y frecuencia). Se utilizó la información del producto de área quemada mensual Fire_cci v5.1 derivado del sensor MODIS a una resolución de 250 m para mapear mensualmente todos los parches detectados como quemados o las cicatrices de quemas desde enero del 2001 hasta marzo del 2020. El área quemada presentó una gran variabilidad anual y en el curso del año, siendo febrero y enero los meses más afectados por incendios. El área total quemada en un mes ha tendido a disminuir en la segunda década del siglo XXI, pero el tamaño promedio de los parches quemados ha aumentado de 188,75 ha en promedio en la primera década a 196,2 ha en la segunda década, durante la cual también se han detectado un mayor número de fragmentos. En términos de frecuencia, se encontró una gran variabilidad con zonas, especialmente las bajas, donde ha aumentado la frecuencia en la segunda década comparada con la primera. Se confirmó un cambio en algunas propiedades del régimen de incendios en Colombia, ya que, aunque el área total afectada disminuyó y los incendios menores se redujeron, el patrón encontrado indica una clara tendencia a más incendios de mayor tamaño y frecuencia.

Fire is a natural agent with a paramount role in ecosystem functioning and biodiversity maintenance. Still, it can also act as a negative force against many ecosystems. Despite some knowledge of the interactions of fire and vegetation, there is no clear understanding of how different components of fire regimes (i.e., severity, history, or frequency) influence known patterns of animal communities. Therefore, we performed a systematic review on the global responses of arthropods, birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians to different fire regimes. Specifically, we focused on assessing how fire severity, history, and frequency modulate the effect of fire on the richness and abundance of faunal communities. We conducted a systematic review of 566 papers retrieved from the Scopus database. We also scrutinized all the documents included in the meta-analysis of Pastro et al. (Pastro et al. Glob Ecol Biogeogr 23:1146–1156, 2014). Our selection criteria excluded studies without data on species richness or abundance. We also excluded studies without adequate controls and those without information about the fire regime of the study zone. After careful examination, we used data from 162 studies to perform a quantitative meta-analysis. From the 162 studies meeting our selection criteria, nearly 60% of the studies are from North America, 25% from Australia, 11% from Europe, and 4% from the tropics. According to the ecological role of fire, 90% of the studies were carried out in fire-dependent ecosystems (i.e., conifer forests, natural savannas, pastures). Finally, 40% of the studies analyzed birds, 22% mammals, and 20% arthropods. The meta-analysis of the available evidence indicates that fire history is an important modulator of animal richness and abundance. Whether negative or positive, animal responses depended on the time since the last fire event. Considering that short-term studies may not capture such a long-term effect on fauna, this translates to more challenges at implementing fire management strategies. Whether or not we can anticipate the impact of the fire will then depend on future efforts to implement long-term research.

El conocimiento del estado de la vegetación de los bosques de galería es fundamental para el diseño de estrategias de manejo orientadas a la conservación de la diversidad de especies de flora y fauna, así como los servicios ecosistémicos que prestan estos bosques. Por ello se realizó un análisis de la composición y estruc�tura de los bosques de galería de aguas mixtas y asociados a aguas claras en la Reserva Natural Bojonawi. Se identificó que estos bosques son ecosistemas con una alta diversidad y heterogeneidad estructural lo cual se ve evidenciado en la compo�sición de especies, índices de diversidad y una estructura multiestratificada. Se encontraron diferencias significativas en la composición y estructura de los bosques según estén asociados a aguas mixtas o aguas claras. En general los bosques de aguas claras tienen una mayor diversidad de especies en la regeneración natural, así como una mayor cantidad de especies en el estrato superior y aportan mayores valores de biomasa por hectárea, mientras que los bosques de aguas mixtas tienen mayores valores de diversidad de individuos con un DAP ≥10 cm pero en el estrato superior tienen menor cantidad de especies con una altura superior a 15 m

El cambio climático y el uso del suelo han alterado los regímenes del fuego, impactando ecosistemas sensibles al fuego como los bosques de galería. Ante este panorama, el objetivo de este trabajo fue conocer la respuesta de la vegetación al fuego utilizando como modelo la palma Astrocaryum jauari (Arecaceae), para lo cual se analizó la estructura de la palma en las comunidades de bosques afectados por fuego y no quemados, así como los cambios en la abundancia de sus individuos entre los años 2017-2019 y la variación intraespecifica de 18 rasgos morfológicos. Se encontró que esta palma es una especie con gran valor de importancia en las comu�nidades de los sectores evaluados, siendo mayor la abundancia de individuos adultos en los bosques quemados y mayor la cantidad de regeneración natural asociada a renuevos en los boques no quemados. Igualmente se encontraron diferencias signi�ficativas en los atributos funcionales de los individuos según el ambiente en el cual se encuentran, distinguiéndose claramente dos tipos de estrategias, en la cual las palmas presentes en bosques no quemados tienen una estrategia adquisitiva que se ve reflejada en alto valores de área foliar, contrario a las palmas del bosque quemado que tienen una estrategia conservativa, con bajos valores de área foliar pero con una alta inversión en estructuras que le confieren resistencia física como lo son un mayor espesor foliar y una mayor altura de distribución de espinas a lo largo de la estípite.

Wildfires have increased in protected areas (PAs) of the Colombian Amazon following the 2016 peace agreement between the Government and the Revolutionary Armed Forced of Colombia (FARC—Spanish acronym). Recent study efforts to understand this issue suffer from data scarcity and limited consultation of local stakeholder perspectives on factors affecting wildfires. This study uses a social–ecological systems framework to investigate local perceptions of factors driving and/or preventing wildfires in the Los Picachos, La Macarena and Tinigua PAs, which are shared by two Amazonian departments experiencing wildfire increase. Four stakeholder categories were selected to represent varied and possibly conflicting interests: cattle ranchers, the national park service, local authorities and cross‐sectional stakeholders. We combined a participative mapping approach with interviews to illustrate stakeholder perceptions of interactions between key variables in graphical causal models. Network analyses were used to determine areas of agreement on key variables, and to compare local priorities with those of key informants at the national level. Local stakeholders and key informants widely agreed on the roles of extensive cattle ranching and land grabbing as key drivers of wildfires. The analysis identified areas for further research into wildfire occurrence within PAs. These include lack of governance and untitled land, as well as the effects of poor access to basic public services on unsustainable ranching methods. This study revealed contested opinions between ranchers and other stakeholders over interactions between ranching, roads and illicit crops, and consequently their effects on wildfire occurrence. This indicates the need for cautious implementation of the National Development Plan, prioritising road maintenance over expansion, integrating arable alternatives to cattle ranching and considering multiple stakeholders in regional decision‐making around wildfire reduction. The strengths and limitations of the participative mapping approach employed here are discussed with a view to aiding decision‐making in post‐conflict regions of the Global South. Los incendios forestales han aumentado en las áreas protegidas (AP) de la Amazonía colombiana tras la firma del acuerdo de paz del año 2016 entre el Gobierno y las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC). Estudios recientes se esfuerzan en comprender este problema, pero se ven limitados por la escasez de datos y la dificultad de consulta a las partes locales interesadas acerca de su percepción sobre los factores que inciden en los incendios forestales. Este estudio utiliza un marco de sistemas socioecológicos para investigar la percepción local sobre los factores que impulsan y/o previenen los incendios forestales en las AP de Los Picachos, La Macarena y Tinigua. Áreas que son compartidas por dos departamentos amazónicos que presentan un aumento marcado de los incendios forestales. Se seleccionaron cuatro categorías de actores focales para representar la variedad de intereses y posibles conflictos: ganaderos, parques nacionales naturales de Colombia, las autoridades locales y las otras partes interesadas transversales. Combinamos un enfoque de entrevistas con mapeo participativo con el fin de ilustrar las percepciones de los actores focales sobre las interacciones entre variables clave en los modelos causales gráficos. Utilizamos un análisis de redes para determinar áreas de acuerdo sobre las variables clave, y también para comparar las prioridades locales con las prioridades de informantes clave a nivel nacional. Las partes interesadas locales y los actores focales coincidieron ampliamente en los roles de la ganadería extensiva y el acaparamiento de tierras como principal impulsor de los incendios forestales. El análisis permitió identificar áreas prioritarias para ampliar el conocimiento sobre la dinámica de incendios forestales dentro de las AP. Las áreas prioritarias de investigación incluyen: la falta de gobernanza, las tierras sin título, así como el por qué el acceso deficiente a servicios públicos incide sobre el establecimiento de ganadería insostenibles. Este estudio revela opiniones controvertidas entre ganaderos y otros actores focales sobre las interacciones entre la ganadería, las vías y los cultivos ilícitos, y, en consecuencia, sus efectos en la ocurrencia de incendios forestales. Lo anterior, muestra la necesidad de una implementación cautelosa del Plan Nacional de Desarrollo, priorizando el mantenimiento de vías en lugar de la construcción de nuevas vías, integrando alternativas sostenibles de manejo a la ganadería basadas en buenas prácticas, e involucrando a múltiples partes interesadas en la toma de decisiones regionales en torno a la reducción de incendios forestales. Las fortalezas y limitaciones del enfoque de mapeo participativo que empleamos, se discuten en aras de apoyar la toma de decisiones en las regiones del Sur Global bajo un escenario de post‐conflicto. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.

Fire is a global disturbance that has a strong influence on biodiversity. Seasonal fires are common in neotropical savannas of South America, yet few studies have analyzed how the fauna of these habitats and nearby forests respond to fire. We evaluated the effects of fire on the community of non-volant small mammals in the Colombian llanos by comparing their populations in both unburned (no record of fire for the last 20 years) and recently burned areas (three years after the last fire event). Vegetation structure was monitored at 240 plots. We used hierarchical single-season occupancy modeling to determine potential effects of fire on small mammal detection and occupancy. Our results indicate that fire has long-term effects on plant diversity and richness, as well as on the species composition. Three years after the last fire event, the average richness of plant species at burned sites was lower than at unburned sites. Fire also affected the distribution of vegetation strata leading to an increased abundance and diversity of plants in the ground and herbaceous strata in burned plots. The hierarchical models indicate that mammals’ occupancy tracks these changes in vegetation structure. However, the effect of fire was not consistent among species. We found that fire may restrict (Didelphis marsupialis), promote (Zygodontomys brevicauda) or have no impact (Oecomys sp.) on the mammals’ distribution depending on how each species uses the strata that disappeared because of fire. These findings provide evidence toward wildfire prevention for biodiversity conservation in fire-sensitive ecosystems of northern South America.

Biodiversity faces many threats and these can interact to produce outcomes that may not be predicted by considering their effects in isolation. Habitat loss and fragmentation (hereafter 'fragmentation') and altered fire regimes are important threats to biodiversity, but their interactions have not been systematically evaluated across the globe. In this comprehensive synthesis, including 162 papers which provided 274 cases, we offer a framework for understanding how fire interacts with fragmentation. Fire and fragmentation interact in three main ways: (i) fire influences fragmentation (59% of 274 cases), where fire either destroys and fragments habitat or creates and connects habitat; (ii) fragmentation influences fire (25% of cases) where, after habitat is reduced in area and fragmented , fire in the landscape is subsequently altered because people suppress or ignite fires, or there is increased edge flammability or increased obstruction to fire spread; and (iii) where the two do not influence each other, but fire interacts with fragmentation to affect responses like species richness, abundance and extinction risk (16% of cases). Where fire and fragmentation do influence each other, feedback loops are possible that can lead to ecosystem conversion (e.g. forest to grassland). This is a well-documented threat in the tropics but with potential also to be important elsewhere. Fire interacts with fragmentation through scale-specific mechanisms: fire creates edges and drives edge effects; fire alters patch quality; and fire alters landscape-scale connectivity. We found only 12 cases in which studies reported the four essential strata for testing a full interaction, which were fragmented and unfragmented landscapes that both span contrasting fire histories, such as recently burnt and long unburnt vegetation. Simulation and empirical studies show that fire and fragmentation can interact synergistically, multiplicatively, antagonistically or additively. These cases highlight a key reason why understanding interactions is so important: when fire and fragmentation act together they can cause local extinctions, even when their separate effects are neutral. Whether fire-fragmentation interactions benefit or disadvantage species is often determined by the species' preferred successional stage. Adding fire to landscapes generally benefits early-successional plant and animal species, whereas it is detrimental to late-successional species. However, when fire interacts with fragmentation , the direction of effect of fire on a species could be reversed from the effect expected by successional preferences. Adding fire to fragmented landscapes can be detrimental for species that would normally co-exist with fire, because species may no longer be able to disperse to their preferred successional stage. Further, animals may be attracted to particular successional stages leading to unexpected responses to fragmentation, such as higher abundance in more isolated unburnt patches. Growing human populations and increasing resource consumption suggest that fragmentation trends will worsen over coming years. Combined with increasing alteration of fire regimes due to climate change and human-caused ignitions, interactions of fire with fragmentation are likely to become more common. Our new framework paves the way for developing a better understanding of how fire interacts with fragmentation, and for conserving biodiversity in the face of these emerging challenges.

Gallery forests are widespread in most tropical savanna landscapes creating a mosaic of grass dominated systems with tree components and forest patches. Interactions among water, nutrient availability, and wildfires have influenced the structure, patterns, and processes of these landscape systems and have shaped today’s biodiversity in the savanna–forest transitions of the Orinoco basin in Colombia and Venezuela. However, savanna fires have become larger and more frequent in these areas. In order to investigate the impacts of fire on gallery forests, we established 18 forest plots of 0.1 ha within three different fire exposures: (1) fire affected forests along the edge (<100 m) from open savanna to gallery forest (burned edge), (2) fire affected closed forests (burned interior; >100 m from the edge), and (3) no evidence of fire (unburned). We identified responses of the vegetation to fire (through natural regeneration) by analyzing the compositional and structural changes and quantifying fire-related functional traits for the most abundant tree species. We surveyed 128 species, corresponding to 77 genera and 35 families. Tree height is over 10.70 m (� 2.72) in unburnt forests. Dead tree presence in burnt edges (21.76% � 24.3) almost doubles that of burnt interior (13.08% � 15.73). The aboveground biomass (AGB) of unburnt forests (176.9 Mg/ha) was more than double that of the interior burnt forests (74.4 Mg/ha) and four times higher that AGB in the edge burnt sites (41.3 Mg/ha). Of the most abundant species, 62% were classified as fire-sensitive species, 14% were fire survivors and 24% were resistant to fires and mostly present in communities with lower diversity. Although fire-tolerant species in general presented thicker barks, higher wood densities, and higher leaf dry matter content, no clear pattern of fire response was associated only with functional traits. Thus, overall fire is resulting in strong compositional changes, with more fire-resistant species, which are species that establish in disturbed areas and encouraging grasses, resulting in savanna encroachment into gallery forests. Consequences on the long-term should be monitored.

A fire probability map is an important tool for landscape management, providing better identification of areas prone to fires and helping optimize the allocation of limited resources for fire prevention, control, and management. In this study, the random forest machine learning algorithm was applied to model the probability of fire occurrence in the Colombian-Venezuelan plains (llanos) ecoregion in South America. Information on burned areas was collected using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Product MCD64A1 for the period 2015-2019. We also used spatial information of related factors that were grouped into four levels of information: topography, human presence, vegetation, and climate-related variables. The model had an accuracy of 94%, which indicates the performance of the model was excellent. The cartography generated from the model can be used as base information in the context of fire management in the region, to identify areas for prioritizing efforts and attention. The probability of occurrence zoning results indicates that the very low category covers the largest area (28.2%), followed by low (23.2%), very high (17.6%), moderate (17.2%), and high (13.8%).

Este informe identifica las áreas prioritarias que presentan una alta probabilidad de amenaza de incendio, con el fin de apoyar la toma de decisiones y la planificación de estrategias para mitigar el riesgo y el impacto de los incendios. La atención se ha centrado en las zonas protegidas de América del Sur, los asentamientos brasileños y las propiedades privadas rurales de la Amazonia brasileña. Esas zonas cuentan con una estructura institucional o un marco jurídico que permite utilizar la información aquí presentada para orientar las medidas sobre el terreno. En América del Sur, hemos identificado 56 áreas protegidas (PA) bajo niveles de Máxima Alerta y Alerta en los próximos tres meses, que corresponden a una superficie de 1.900 km² y 210.000 km², respectivamente. En Brasil, identificamos 137 Asentamientos (SET, acrónimo en inglés), que cubren un área de 36.000 km², bajo los niveles de Máxima Alerta y Alerta durante los próximos tres meses. Finalmente, en la Amazonia brasileña, identificamos 285 Propiedades Rurales Privadas (RP, acrónimo en inglés), correspondientes a un área de 1.600 km², bajo la categoría de Alerta en los próximos tres meses. La mayoría de ellas (156) son pequeñas propiedades que son más vulnerables a los impactos negativos de los incendios, durante condiciones de menor precipitación o mayor temperatura que el promedio general de largo plazo. Las condiciones climatológicas previstas para los tres meses (menores precipitaciones o mayor temperatura que el promedio a largo plazo) también pueden indicar las zonas que pueden verse afectadas, lo que repercutirá en la producción agrícola y, por lo tanto, amenazará la seguridad alimentaria en esas regiones.

Os incêndios florestais e queimadas na América do Sul atingiram máximos de ocorrências entre fevereiro e junho, e também entre agosto e outubro de 2020, com esses oito meses sendo os valores mais altos já registrados desde 2011. Durante março, abril e maio de 2020, respectivamente, os focos de queimadas foram 21%, 49% e 10% maiores do que os picos registrados anteriormente desde 1998. Em agosto, setembro e outubro, respectivamente, os focos de queimadas foram 3,5%, 9,3% e 17% maiores desde 2011. Este relatório identifica áreas prioritárias com alta probabilidade de ameaça de incêndios, a fim de apoiar a tomada de decisões e estratégias de planejamento para mitigar o risco e os impactos de queimadas e incêndios florestais. O foco deste relatório técnico são as áreas protegidas sul-americanas, assentamentos no território brasileiro e imóveis rurais no bioma Amazônia brasileiro. Essas áreas contam com uma estrutura institucional ou legal que permite o uso das informações apresentadas neste relatório para orientar as ações no terreno. Na América do Sul, identificamos 56 Áreas Protegidas (AP) em níveis de Alerta e Alerta Alto para os próximos três meses, correspondendo a uma área de 1.900 km² e 210.000 km², respectivamente. No Brasil, identificamos 137 Assentamentos (SET), cobrindo uma área de 36.000 km², em níveis de Alerta Alto e Alerta nos próximos três meses. Por fim, na Amazônia brasileira, identificamos 285 Imóveis Rurais (IR), correspondentes a uma área de 1.600 km², em Alerta nos próximos três meses. A maioria (156) são pequenos imóveis rurais, os mais vulneráveis aos impactos negativos das queimadas e incêndios durante condições de baixa pluviosidade ou alta temperatura. A previsão das condições climatológicas de três meses (chuvas mais baixas ou temperatura mais alta do que a média de longo prazo) também pode indicar áreas onde a produção agrícola pode ser afetada, ameaçando a segurança alimentar nestas regiões. Entre as recomendações, destacamos a importância da identificação precoce de áreas prioritárias sob os níveis de Alerta Alto e Alerta de condições de queimadas e incêndios florestais. Também deve ser destacado que este relatório se concentra em um período de previsão de três meses, portanto, condições climatológicas de curta escala, como períodos de seca, podem alterar significativamente a probabilidade de incêndio, particularmente na parte norte do continente. As áreas sob alerta e alerta alto devem implementar um planejamento estratégico e redes de comunicação, e as autoridades federais, regionais e locais devem estar cientes dos resultados do relatório. A população local, associações e organizações da sociedade civil devem ser informadas e, se necessário, devem revisar e atualizar as estratégias de monitoramento e combate de incêndios, quando existirem, ou considerar iniciar um plano se tais ações ainda são incipientes. Se todas as ações importantes forem implantadas, poderemos evitar os impactos socioeconômicos e ambientais do fogo em nosso continente.

The Andean forest is a high diversity ecosystem. These forests are negatively affected by anthropogenic pressures that have greatly increased wildfires. Wildfires may increase species susceptibility to other disturbances like insect pests. Little is known of these ecosystems, their responses to wildfires, or their interactions with other disturbances. This study seeks to understand what traits mediates the response of Quercus humboldtii to fires and whether a possible interaction of this disturbance with insect herbivory may occur. We analysed changes in biomass, structure and composition and determined the variation in oak regrowth after fires. We studied oak survival and its relationship with functional traits (height and bark thickness) and its interaction with fire and herbivory. We found that after the last fire, there was an impact on the forest in its structure with a mortality of 40% of adult trees and a reduction in tree species diversity. Structural characteristics, such as tree height and bark thickness, influenced survival of oaks while fire stimulated resprouting from the root collar. Although a high herbivory by insects was found, we did not observe any interaction with fire. This study proves that wildfires in northern Andean forests may produce a severe amount of tree mortality and decrease tree diversity. Yet, the dominant Q. humboldtii appears to be a resilient species because its ability to resprout after fire. This response should be monitored to assess potential effects that an increase in the frequency of wildfires coupled with other disturbances may have in changing species composition and structure of Andean forests under new climatic scenarios.

Los ecosistemas tropicales albergan una gran parte de la biodiversidad mundial y a pesar de ello están siendo transformados por el cambio de uso de la tierra a un ritmo sin precedentes. La conversión de la cobertura de la tierra y el mantenimiento de pastos y áreas para cultivos en Latino América están altamente relacionados con el uso del fuego. El origen de los incendios y sus causas son numerosos y en la región es clara su asociación de forma directa o indirecta con actividades humanas. Suramérica está siendo cada vez más afectada por los incendios y desde el 2001 en todos los años se ha detectado actividad asociada al fuego. Los impactos de los incendios sobre los ecosistemas naturales son múltiples y varían en magnitud, pero se ha avanzado un poco en su conocimiento. Este artículo presenta una recopilación del conocimiento que se tiene en ecología del fuego tropical en los tres países andinos del norte de Suramérica, mostrando los avances en los patrones espaciales y temporales de los incendios, los efectos sobre los ecosistemas y las dinámicas post incendio. Se evidencian grandes vacíos del conocimiento en la ecología del fuego de gran parte de los ecosistemas de esta región.

In the last decades, wildfires have burnt millions of hectares of tropical forests, resulting in strong negative environmental, social, cultural and economic impacts. It is thought that this trend is going to increase due to the interactions among climate change, vegetation conditions and the mismanagement of land use. The acknowledgment of the political, legal and statutory conditions regarding fire in the country, is essential to determine if the current tools and plans can adapt to the dynamics conditions and prescribe the needed actions to prevent and reduce the impacts generated by wildfire. The results indicate that despite the increase of wildfires, the country does not have with a national policy although there is a normative framework base on fire suppression. Considering the current context, challenges ad implications carried by wildfires, we propose the formulation of an update integral fire management policy base on the prevention and control of fires, and the management of the affected areas, that recognizes the territorial and cultural policies, and that guarantee the populations security, the conservation of the forests, the biodiversity and the associated ecosystem services.

Estado del conocimiento de la ecología del fuego en Colombia: síntesis de hallazgos y aplicaciones.

El cambio en el uso del suelo y el fuego como mecanismo utilizado para el mismo han creado perturbaciones ecológicas a grandes escalas, como lo son la fragmentación y aislamiento de ecosistemas importantes en paisajes tropicales. En el presente estudio, analizamos los cambios de uso del suelo entre los años 2012-2016 y los eventos de fuego entre los años 2016-2018, para identificar la dinámica de cambio espaciotemporal en la Serranía de la Lindosa, Guaviare, a partir de información oficial y sensores remotos. Para 2016 la cobertura boscosa se redujo en un 17 % correspondiendo con el aumento de vegetación secundaria y pastizales en el área. Los focos de fuego detectados estuvieron concentrados en el noroeste y sureste de la serranía, puntos coincidentes en zonas de bosque primario y zonas de pastizal consolidadas. Estos resultados indican que existe un proceso activo de deforestación en la serranía, que fragmenta la matriz boscosa dejando parches de bosque aislados, lo cual tendría repercusiones sobre la biodiversidad allí presente. Asimismo, la sinergia entre dicho proceso y el uso de fuego se muestra como amenaza constante, a diferentes escalas, sobre los diferentes ecosistemas. Esta información se presenta como herramienta para elaborar estrategias puntuales para evitar mayores repercusiones negativas sobre la serranía, que actualmente se encuentra en estado vulnerable.

Conocer la extensión de las áreas quemadas en el trópico es de vital importancia por las implicaciones que tiene en términos de impactos ambientales. La Orinoquía colombiana es una región que todos los años es afectada por una época de quemas y donde se presentan condiciones para el desarrollo natural de incendios de tamaño considerable. El objetivo de este estudio fue determinar, a partir de qué tamaño se considera un incendio grande y cuáles son las características de estos en el área de estudio. Para ello se desarrolló y aplicó una metodología con información de imágenes satelitales derivadas de MODIS, a partir de las cuales se analizaron e identificaron las huellas quemadas y se usaron los datos históricos disponibles. El umbral a partir del cual se consideró una huella quemada como un “gran incendio” (≥214 ha) se determinó adaptando la metodología de Pareto 80-20 aplicada a la serie de tiempo disponible y a las condiciones particulares de la región de análisis. A partir de la identificación de las mayores huellas quemadas ocurridas entre los años 2000 y 2014, se realizaron análisis para establecer la temporalidad. Los resultados muestran que los grandes incendios duran alrededor de tres días con unas dimensiones de 625 hectáreas en promedio. Los más grandes se presentaron en regiones con mayor ocurrencia de incendios a lo largo de los años, particularmente, en zonas con características de topografía plana y cobertura vegetal muy propensa a la quema.

Armed conflict, and its end, can have powerful effects on natural resources, but the influence of war and peace on highly biodiverse tropical forests remains disputed. We found a sixfold increase in fires in protected areas across biodiversity hotspots following guerrilla demobilization in Colombia, and a 52% increase in the probability of per-pixel deforestation within parks for 2018. Peace requires urgent shifts to include real-time forest monitoring, expand programmes to pay for ecosystem services at the frontier, integrate demobilized armed groups as staff of protected areas, and establish a domestic market for frontier deforestation permits. © 2018, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.

Satellite-based strategies for burned area mapping may rely on two types of remotely sensed data: postfire reflectance images and active fire detection. This study uses both methods in a synergistic way. In particular, burned area mapping is carried out using MCD43B4 [Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS); Terra 1 Aqua nadir bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF); adjusted reflectance 16-day L3 global 1-km sinusoidal grid V005 (SIN)] postfire datasets and MODIS active fire products. The developed methodology was tested in Colombia, an area not covered by any known MODIS ground antenna, using data from 2004. The resulting burned area map was validated using a high-spatial-resolution Landsat-7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM1) image and compared to two global burned area products: L3JRC (terrestrial ecosystem monitoring global burnt area product) and MCD45A1 (MODIS Terra 1 Aqua burned area monthly global 500-m SIN grid V005). The results showed that this method would be of great interest at regional to national scales because it proved to be quick, accurate, and cost effective.

This work aims to use remote sensing as a method for determining fire dynamics in the department of Cundinamarca and the city of Bogotá D.C. in Colombia, by analyzing the temporal and spatial distribution of fires and the different types of vegetation affected in the 2011-2010 period. Based on MODIS fire hotspots, we found that the pattern fires in the study area are within the national standard, which includes increased number of events during the dry seasons (January-March and July September). The fire incidence is caused by low rainfall that complements the root causes of ignition, which are mainly started by human intervention. The most affected populations are Caparrapí with 159 fires; Bogotá with 152 fires and Guaduas with 101 fires. Bogotá recorded most of their fires within protected areas in the south, in the area of Sumapaz. Sumapaz National Park (84), followed by the District Integrated Management Cuchilla de San Antonio (21) and Protective Forest Reserve Páramo Grande (9). Among the vegetation affected we can find grasses, shrubs, bushes and mosaics, emphasizing high values of impact on vegetation of páramo and subpáramo. The central and northwestern parts, south and southeast parts of the department, are those with more outbreaks, and most of them are between 0 to 1,000 masl and 3,000 to 4,000 masl. Finally active fires in the study area follow a pattern associated to the climate and in particular to the dry season but also show an altitudinal pattern. National and regional protected areas are effective against fires.

p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%;"> En el avance del uso de teledetección como método para determinar la dinámica de incendios en el país y como complemento a trabajos desarrollados a nivel nacional, se analizó la distribución temporal y espacial de incendios y coberturas vegetales del departamento de Cundinamarca, la ciudad de Bogotá D.C y en las diferentes categorías de conservación y manejo, en los últimos 10 años. A partir de datos procesados por FIRMS y analizados en ArcGIS 10 y PSAW Stadistics 18, se encontró que los incendios en el área de estudio se mantienen dentro del patrón nacional, destacando además que la incidencia es causada por la poca precipitación y la intervención del hombre en espacios naturales. Las poblaciones más afectadas son Caparrapí 159 incendios, Bogotá 152 incendios y Guaduas 101 incendios. Bogotá registra la mayoría de sus incendios en la parte sur, en la localidad de Sumapaz. En cuanto a áreas protegidas del departamento el Parque Nacional Natural Sumapaz con 84 registros encabeza, seguido por el Distrito de Manejo Integrado Cuchilla de San Antonio con 21 registros y la Reserva Forestal Protectora Paramo Grande con 9 nueve registros. Entre la vegetación afectada se destacan los pastos, arbustos, matorrales y sus mosaicos, resaltando alto valores de incidencia sobre la vegetación de paramo y subpáramo. Las partes centro y noroccidentales, sur y surorientales, del departamento, son las que presentan más conflagraciones, y que en su mayoría se ubican entre los 0 a 1000 msnm y 3000 a 4000 msnm. </p

Every year, between 2.5 and 4.0 million km2 of vegetation are burned around the world, emitting an annual average of 2,013 Tg of C, at least 50% of which is estimated to represent net emissions that are not compensated for by the regeneration of vegetation. In Colombia, the official statistics of burned areas are not well known, but it is estimated that burned areas vary between 15,000 and 20,000 km2 per year. The main objective of this study was the development and application of a new algorithm for mapping burned areas in Colombia, using a synergistic combination of reflectance images and thermal anomalies detected by the MODIS sensors installed on NASA 's TERRA and AQUA satellites. Upon applying the developed algorithm, a burned surface area in Orinoquía of 998,473 ha was obtained for the month of February, 2007. The validation of the algorithm was performed using high spatial resolution Landsat images and the comparison of the data with the global MODIS MCD45A1 burned area product. The developed algorithm performed very similar to MCD45A1, with an overall accuracy of 79% in both cases. The new algorithm, which was developed for the mapping of burned areas in Colombia, can be used to complement deforestation and forest degradation monitoring procedures that are being implemented in Colombia in the context of the REDD+ mechanism initiation.

The upper ranges of the northern Andes are characterized by unique Neotropical, high altitude ecosystems known as paramos. These tundra-like grasslands are widely recognized by the scientific community for their biodiversity and their important ecosystem services for the local human population. Despite their remoteness, limited accessibility for humans and waterlogged soils, paramos are highly flammable ecosystems. They are constantly under the influence of seasonal biomass burning mostly caused by humans. Nevertheless, little is known about the spatial extent of these fires, their regime and the resulting ecological impacts. This paper presents a thorough mapping and analysis of the fires in one of the world’s largest paramo, namely the “Complejo de Páramos” of Cruz Verde-Sumapaz in the Eastern mountain range of the Andes (Colombia). Landsat TM/ETM+ and MODIS imagery from 2001 to 2013 was used to map and analyze the spatial distribution of fires and their intra- and inter-annual variability. Moreover, a logistic regression model analysis was undertaken to test the hypothesis that the dynamics of the paramo fires can be related to human pressures. The resulting map shows that the burned paramo areas account for 57,179.8 hectares, of which 50% (28,604.3 hectares) are located within the Sumapaz National Park. The findings show that the fire season mainly occurs from January to March. The accuracy assessment carried out using a confusion matrix based on 20 reference burned areas shows values of 90.1% (producer accuracy) for the mapped burned areas with a Kappa Index of Agreement (KIA) of 0.746. The results of the logistic regression model suggest a significant predictive relevance of the variables road distance (0.55 ROC (receiver operating characteristic)) and slope gradient (0.53 ROC), indicating that the higher the probability of fire occurrence, the smaller the distance to the road and the higher the probability of more gentle slopes. The paper sheds light on fires in the Colombian paramos and provides a solid basis for further investigation of the impacts on the natural ecosystem functions and biodiversity.

Tropical forests in NW Amazonia are highly threatened by the expansion of the agricultural frontier and subsequent deforestation. Fire is used, both directly and indirectly, in Brazilian Amazonia to propagate deforestation and increase forest accessibility. Forest fragmentation, a measure of forest degradation, is also attributed to fire occurrence in the tropics. However, outside the Brazilian Legal Amazonia the role of fire in increasing accessibility and forest fragmentation is less explored. In this study, we compared fire regimes in five countries that share this tropical biome in the most north-westerly part of the Amazon Basin (Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Brazil). We analysed spatial differences in the timing of peak fire activity and in relation to proximity to roads and rivers using 12 years of MODIS active fire detections. We also distinguished patterns of fire in relation to forest fragmentation by analysing fire distance to the forest edge as a measure of fragmentation for each country. We found significant hemispheric differences in peak fire occurrence with the highest number of fires in the south in 2005 vs. 2007 in the north. Despite this, both hemispheres are equally affected by fire. We also found difference in peak fire occurrence by country. Fire peaked in February in Colombia and Venezuela, whereas it peaked in September in Brazil and Peru, and finally Ecuador presented two fire peaks in January and October. We confirmed the relationship between fires and forest fragmentation for all countries and also found significant differences in the distance between the fire and the forest edge for each country. Fires were associated with roads and rivers in most countries. These results can inform land use planning at the regional, national and subnational scales to minimize the contribution of road expansion and subsequent access to the Amazonian natural resources to fire occurrence and the associated deforestation and carbon emissions.

Vegetation fires are widespread over the world but little attention has been paid to savanna fires in South America. Spatial distribution of savanna fires in Los Llanos Orientales of Colombia was investigated and estimates were made of the area burned as detected from satellite data in the dry season when most fires occur (December 2000, March 2001). A number of 3639 burned scars (with an extension of 488,235 ha) were detected in the period analysed. This burned area accounted for 5.18% of the savanna area (9,419,741 ha) and 2.87% of the total study area (17,017,854 ha). The mean size of the fire scars was 134.17 ha and over 75% of the patches are smaller than 115 ha. This data is the first local estimate of burned area in the Colombian savannas and might be of importance for future calculations of greenhouse and atmospheric trace gas emissions to the atmosphere from Colombia.

Spatial and temporal distribution patterns of the thermal anomalies detected by the sensor MODIS are analyzed for the Colombian territory between December 2000 and February 2009. A study of the inter-annual and intra-annual dynamics of the surface affected by fires for different vegetation types is presented in this paper. We also analyze patterns inside protected areas, forest reserves, indigenous reserves and black communities' territories, in order to analyze the possible role as barrier to fires of these management figures in Colombia. Additionally we provide information on the spatial and temporal distribution of fire hotspots in the natural regions, Environmental Authorities and administrative boundaries such as Colombian Departments. The information provided by this type of analysis can be very useful for the decision making in the management of natural resources in the country. The results indicate that annually the Colombian Llanos is the most affected area more by fires, followed by the Caribbean and the Amazonian regions, in particular the Amazon piedmont. These analyses show the potential to identify and to model the distribution of fires in the country and the identification of fire patterns according to the characteristics of the vegetation as well as their management. They can be useful to improve the management of fire risk in the country as well as to understand changes in land use cover occurred in Colombia in the last decade.

La acción del hombre y la variabilidad climática asociada al calentamiento global está afectando la incidencia de fuegos en las regiones tropicales, aumentando tanto su intensidad como su frecuencia, particularmente en periodos de sequías. En este estudio se realizó un análisis espacio temporal para identificar la ocurrencia de fuegos dentro y fuera de áreas protegidas en el noroeste de la Amazonía. El objetivo fue analizar la efectividad de estas figuras de protección o manejo en los países de la región en términos de reducción de la afectación por incendios. Se utilizaron datos de focos activos de fuegos detectados por sensores remotos (MODIS) para el periodo comprendido entre diciembre del año 2000 hasta febrero del año 2015 en Brasil, Colombia, Ecuador, Perú y Venezuela. Se siguió la denominación asignada por La Unión Internacional para la Conservación de la Naturaleza (IUCN), las áreas protegidas presentes en la región se agruparon en tres categorías, y la dinámica de los incendios fue analizada a diferentes niveles de estudio. Los resultados indican que las áreas protegidas presentan en todos los casos una menor densidad de fuegos, a diferencia de territorios sin ningún tipo de protección. En términos de comparación de la efectividad, se presenta una mayor cantidad de fuegos en la categoría de resguardo indígena, mientras que la mayor densidad de fuegos por km2 ocurre en áreas tipo categorías II-III. Los resultados obtenidos mostraron que la presencia de áreas protegidas en el noroeste de la Amazonía es efectiva para mitigar la incidencia de fuegos forestales.

Vegetation burning in tropical countries is a threat to the environment, causing not only local ecological, economic and social impacts, but also large-scale implications for global change. The burning is usually a result of interacting factors, such as climate, land-use and vegetation type. Satellite-derived monthly time series datasets of rainfall, burned area and active fire detections between December 2000 and 2009 were used in this study. A map of vegetation types was also used to determine these factors' spatial and temporal variability and interactions with the total amount of burned area and active fires detected in Colombia. Grasslands represented the vegetation most affected by fires every year in terms of burned area (standardised by their total area), followed by secondary vegetation, pasture and forests. Grasslands were also most affected by active fires, but followed closely by pasture, agricultural areas, secondary vegetation and forests. The results indicated strong climate and fire seasonality and marked regional difference, partly explained by climatic differences amongst regions and vegetation types, especially in the Orinoco and Caribbean regions. The incidence of fire in the Amazon and Andes was less influenced by climate in terms of burned area impacted, but the strength of the ENSO phenomenon affected the Orinoco and the Andes more in terms of burned area. Many of the active fires detected occurred in areas of transition between the submontane and lowland Andes and the Amazon, where extensive conversion to pasture is occurring. The possible high impact of small fires on the tropical rainforest present in this transition area and the Amazonian rainforest deserves more attention in Colombia due to its previous lack of attention to its contribution to global change.

The ecological characteristics of forest edges have been intensively studied in the Amazon region, but the occurrence and intensity of fires as large-scale edge effects are less well known, as is the role of different types of management in modifying this relationship. We used remote sensing techniques to examine the relationship between forest fragmentation, fire and management across NW Amazonia. Our study was based on forest data for 2005 and on active fire data from the MODerate-resolution imaging Spectro-radiometer (MODIS), with information on the occurrence and strength of fires based on fire radiative power (FRP) data. We analyzed the fragmentation and fire occurrence and intensity in a 50 × 50 km grid. We also calculated the distance at which edge-related fires occur in the forest interior and outside the forest edge. Forest fragmentation had a significant impact on fire occurrence and fire intensity, supporting the hypothesis that the more fragmented a forest is, the higher the degree of biomass combustion. These results are in agreement with the occurrence of an edge effect on both the occurrence and the intensity of fire. The different types of management in the region influence the occurrence and intensity of fire, whereas fire as a large-scale edge effect occurs independent of the management type. Finally, we suggest that a high connectivity in protected areas and indigenous reserves and also in outside areas should be encouraged to minimize edge-driven fire processes.

Fire is an important tool in tropical forest management, as it alters forest composition, structure, and the carbon budget. The United Nations program on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) aims to sustainably manage forests, as well as conserve and enhance their carbon stocks. Despite the crucial role of fire management, decision-making on REDD+ interventions fails to systematically include fires. Here, we address this critical knowledge gap in two ways. First, we review REDD+ projects and programs to assess the inclusion of fires in monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) systems. Second, we model the relationship between fire and forest for a pilot site in Colombia using near-real-time (NRT) fire monitoring data derived from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). The literature review revealed fire remains to be incorporated as a key component of MRV systems. Spatially-explicit modeling of land use change showed the probability of deforestation declined sharply with increasing distance to the nearest fire the preceding year (multi-year model area under the curve [AUC] 0.82). Deforestation predictions based on the model performed better than the official REDD early-warning system. The model AUC for 2013 and 2014 was 0.81 compared to 0.52 for the early warning system in 2013 and 0.68 in 2014. This demonstrates NRT fire monitoring is a powerful tool to predict sites of forest deforestation. Applying new, publicly available, and open-access NRT fire data should be an essential element of early-warning systems to detect and prevent deforestation. Our results provide tools for improving both the current MRV systems, and the deforestation early-warning system in Colombia. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Vegetation burning is a global environmental threat that results in local ecological, economic and social impacts but also has large-scale implications for global change. The burning is usually a result of interacting factors such as climate, land use and vegetation type. Despite its importance as a factor shaping ecological, economic and social processes, countries highly vulnerable to climate change in Central America, such as El Salvador, lack an assessment of this complex relationship. In this study we rely on remotely sensed measures of the Normalized Vegetation Difference Index (NDVI) and thermal anomaly detections by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor to identify vegetation cover changes and fire occurrences. We also use land use data and rainfall observations derived from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) data to determine the spatial and temporal variability and interactions of these factors. Our results indicate a highly marked seasonality of fire occurrence linked to the climatic variability with a peak of fire occurrences in 2004 and 2013. Low vegetation indices occurred in March–April, around two months after the driest period of the year (December–February), corresponding to months with high detection of fires. Spatially, 65.6% of the fires were recurrent and clustered in agriculture/cropland areas and within 1 km of roads (70%) and only a 4.7% of fires detected were associated with forests. Remaining forests in El Salvador deserve more attention due to underestimated consequences of forest fires. The identification of these clear patterns can be used as a baseline to better shape management of fire regimes and support decision making in this country. Recommendations resulting from this work include focusing on fire risk models and agriculture fires and long-term ecological and economic consequences of those. Furthermore, El Salvador will need to include agricultural fires in the contribution to national accounts emissions.