摘要
2005年3～4月,多米尼加共和国中央山脉幅员1000 km^2的热带山地森林曾发生严重火灾。林火范围涵盖了我们在1999年建立的永久植被样地网络,这一网络设立的目的是检测森林环境、植被与干扰的相互作用。我们采用快鸟(QuickBird)卫星影像和野外调查绘制了景观区域内的林火程度和等级图示。96%的松林发生火灾,但在沿大部分群落交错区边界的松林-云林中被迅速扑灭。地形因素和林火等级对群落交错区的林火特征无显著影响。该结果验证了我们之前的假设,即林火是构成这一山区松林和云林之间不连续边界的主要因素。植被结构和组成对景观内林火特征与蔓延的调节具有直接作用。
In March and April 2005,severe fires burned over 1000 km2 of tropical montane forests in the Cordillera Central,Dominican Republic.The fire burned through our network of permanent vegetation plots,which were established in 1999 to examine interactions among environment,vegetation,and disturbance.We used QuickBird satellite imagery combined with field surveys to map the extent and severity of the fire across the landscape.The fire burned through 96% of the pine forest but quickly extinguished at the pine-cloud forest boundary along most of the ecotone.Topographic factors and fire severity had no influence on fire behavior at the ecotone.These observations support our original hypothesis that fire maintains the abrupt boundary between the pine and cloud forest vegetation in these mountains.Vegetation structure and composition played a direct role in regulating fire spread and behavior in this landscape.
