Large regions of the world are regularly burnt either deliberately or naturally. However, despite the widespread occurrence of such fire-prone ecosystems, and considerable body of research on plant population biology in relation to fire, until now there have only been limited attempts at a coherent conceptual synthesis of the field for use by students or researchers.

Introduction. Why and how do ecosystems burn? Surviving fires - vegetative and reproductive responses. Plant demography and fire I: Interval dependent effects. Plant demography and fire II: Event-dependent effects. Fire and the evolutionary ecology of plants. Fire, competition and the organization of communities. Fire and management. Fire and the ecology of a changing world. References. Index.