Earth is the only planet known to have fire. The reason is
both simple and profound: fire exists because Earth is the only
planet to possess life as we know it. Fire is an expression of life
on Earth and an index of life's history. Few processes are as
integral, unique, or ancient.

Fire on Earth puts fire in its rightful place as an
integral part of the study of geology, biology, human history,
physics, and global chemistry. Fire is ubiquitous in various forms
throughout Earth, and belongs as part of formal inquiries about our
world. In recent years fire literature has multiplied
exponentially; dedicated journals exist and half a dozen
international conferences are held annually. A host of formal
sciences, or programs announcing interdisciplinary intentions, are
willing to consider fire. Wildfire also appears routinely in media
reporting.

This full-colour text, containing over 250 illustrations of fire
in all contexts, is designed to provide a synthesis of contemporary
thinking; bringing together the most powerful concepts and
disciplinary voices to examine, in an international setting, why
planetary fire exists, how it works, and why it looks the way it
does today. Students, lecturers, researchers and professionals
interested in the physical, ecological and historical
characteristics of fire will find this book, and accompanying
web-based material, essential reading for undergraduate and
postgraduate courses in all related disciplines, for general
interest and for providing an interdisciplinary foundation for
further study.

* A comprehensive approach to the history, behaviour and
ecological effects of fire on earth

* Timely introduction to this important subject, with relevance
for global climate change, biodiversity loss and the evolution of
human culture.

* Provides a foundation for the interdisciplinary field of Fire
Research

* Authored by an international team of leading experts in the
field

* Associated website provides additional resources

Andrew C. Scott is Professor of Applied Palaeobotany and a Distinguished Research Fellow in the Department of Earth Sciences at Royal Holloway, University of London, England

David M.J.S.Bowman is Professor of Environmental Change Biology in the School of Plant Science at the University of Tasmania, Australia

William J. Bond is Professor of Plant Ecology in the Department of Botany at the University of Cape Town, South Africa

Stephen J. Pyne is Regent's Professor in the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA

Martin E. Alexander is an Adjunct Professor of Wildland Fire Science and Management at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and formerly a senior fire behavior research officer with the Canadian Forest Service

Fire on Earth puts fire in its rightful place as an integral part of the study of geology, biology, human history, physics, and global chemistry. Fire is ubiquitous in various forms throughout Earth, and belongs as part of formal inquiries about our world. In recent years fire literature has multiplied exponentially; dedicated journals exist and half a dozen international conferences are held annually. A host of formal sciences, or programs announcing interdisciplinary intentions, are willing to consider fire. Wildfire also appears routinely in media reporting.

This full-colour text, containing over 250 illustrations of fire in all contexts, is designed to provide a synthesis of contemporary thinking; bringing together the most powerful concepts and disciplinary voices to examine, in an international setting, why planetary fire exists, how it works, and why it looks the way it does today. Students, lecturers, researchers and professionals interested in the physical, ecological and historical characteristics of fire will find this book, and accompanying web-based material, essential reading for undergraduate and postgraduate courses in all related disciplines, for general interest and for providing an interdisciplinary foundation for further study.

Preface xiii

Acknowledgements xv

About the Authors xvii

About the Companion Website xix

PART ONE FIRE IN THE EARTH SYSTEM 1

Preface to part one 2

Chapter 1 What is fire? 3

1.1 How fire starts and initially spreads 3

1.2 Lightning and other ignition sources 4

1.3 The charring process 6

1.4 Pyrolysis products 7

1.5 Fire types 10

1.6 Peat fires 14

1.7 Fire effects on soils 15

1.8 Post-fire erosion-deposition 18

1.9 Fire and vegetation 22

1.10 Fire and climate 26

1.11 Fire triangles 30

1.12 Fire return intervals 30

1.13 How we study fire: satellites 31

1.14 Modelling fire occurrence 38

1.15 Climate forcing 42

1.16 Scales of fire occurrence 44

Further reading 45

Chapter 2 Fire in the fossil record: recognition 47

2.1 Fire proxies: fire scars and charcoal 47

2.2 The problem of nomenclature: black carbon, char, charcoal, soot and elemental carbon 49

2.3 How we study charcoal: microscopical and chemical techniques 51

2.4 Charcoal as an information-rich source 56

2.5 Charcoal reflectance and temperature 56

2.6 Uses of charcoal 58

2.7 Fire intensity/severity 59

2.8 Deep time studies 60

2.9 Pre-requisite for fire: fuel - the evolution of plants 61

2.10 Charcoal in sedimentary systems 62

Further reading 63

Chapter 3 Fire in the fossil record: earth system processes 65

3.1 Fire and oxygen 65

3.2 Fire feedbacks 67

3.3 Systems diagrams 67

3.4 Charcoal as proxy for atmospheric oxygen 69

3.5 Burning experiments - fire spread 69

3.6 Fire and the terrestrial system 70

Further reading 72

Chapter 4 The geological history of fire in deep time: 420 million years to 2 million years ago 73

4.1 Periods of high and low fire, and implications 73

4.2 The first fires 73

4.3 The rise of fire 75

4.4 Fire in the high-oxygen Paleozoic world 77

4.5 Collapse of fire systems 80

4.6 Fire at the Triassic-Jurassic boundary 82

4.7 Jurassic variation 82

4.8 Cretaceous fires 84

4.9 Fire at the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-P or K-T) boundary 87

4.10 Paleocene fires 88

4.11 Fires across the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum (PETM) 88

4.12 Dampening of fire systems 89

4.13 Rise of the grass-fire cycle 89

Further reading 89

Chapter 5 The geological history of fire - the last two million years 91

5.1 Problems of Quaternary fire history 91

5.2 The Paleofire working group: techniques and analysis 93

5.3 Fire and climate cycles 97

5.4 Fire and humans: the fossil evidence 98

5.5 Fire and the industrial society 101

Further reading 101

References for part one 103

PART TWO BIOLOGY OF FIRE 111

Preface to part two 112

Chapter 6 Pyrogeography - temporal and spatial patterns of fire 113

6.1 Fire and life 113

6.2 Global climate, vegetation patterns and fire 113

6.3 Pyrogeography 116

6.4 Fire and the control of biome boundaries 121

6.5 The fire regime concept 125

6.6 Fire ecology 128

6.7 C…