SGER: Response of Tropical Montane Cloud Forest Ecotone to Severe Fires, Cordillera Central, Dominican Republic

2005年春天，严重的自然火灾烧毁了多米尼加共和国中部科迪勒拉的原始森林。先前对这些森林的研究将海拔约2000米的森林组成的离散变化归因于历史火灾的影响。面对逐渐变化的环境因素，植被的这种离散变化是例外的，并且假设森林组成和火灾可能性之间存在强反馈。最近的火灾为这一假设提供了强有力的经验检验，并可以为这些反馈的强度提供定量证据。将使用远程图像绘制火灾的范围和蔓延模式。基于火灾前建立的一组永久地块，将进行火灾强度的现场采样和遥感图像的地面真实性。从火灾中恢复的植被也将被量化。通过本研究，我们可以更好地了解全球受威胁的热带山地云雾林对未来气候变化伴随的火灾频率变化的敏感性。这项研究的重要的更广泛的影响将包括对本科生的培训，以及多米尼加国家公园管理局工作人员作为向导和实地助理参与研究。

In spring 2005, severe natural fires burned through the virgin forests of the Cordillera Central, Dominican Republic. Previous research in these forests attributed a discrete change in forest composition at about 2,000 m elevation to the effects of historic fires. Such discrete shifts in vegetation in the face of gradually changing environmental factors are exceptional, and strong feedbacks between forest composition and the likelihood of fire were hypothesized. The recent fires present a powerful empirical test of this hypothesis and could provide quantitative evidence of the strength of these feedbacks. The extent and pattern of spread of the fires will be mapped using remote imagery. Based on a set of permanent plots that were established before the fires, field sampling of fire intensity and ground truthing of remote imagery will be conducted. Initial vegetation recovery from the fires also will be quantified. Understanding of the sensitivity of globally-threatened tropical montane cloud forests to changes in fire frequency accompanying future climate change should be improved by this proposed study. Important broader impacts of the research will include the training of undergraduate students and the participation in the research by Dominican National Park Service staff who serve as guides and field assistants.