Fire dynamics in the araguaia state park, amazonia-Cerrado zone transition

Abstract

Recurrent fires have been present in the Cerrado as part of its evolutionary force. However, human-made fires in this biome have increased as a consequence of deforestation, agricultural and pastures intensification in the last decades. Changes in both carbon stock in the above-ground vegetation and species composition due to fires have been observed in many sites, including the Araguaia State Park (PEA), located in the Cerrado region in Southern Amazon, but fire patterns in this area have not been quantified. Therefore, the objective of this study is to characterize the spatiotemporal dynamics of fires between 2000 and 2013 in this park. The burned areas data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) MOD45 product, and the precipitation data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite were used. We identified the peak in fire occurrence, the most affected areas, and the most critical years, relating the burned area with monthly rainfall. During 14 years of this study, 633,625 ha were burned, covering an area almost three times larger than the PEA. The larger burned areas were observed in 2007, 2010 and 2012. We also observed an exponential growth of the burned areas when the monthly rainfall was less than 150 mm, and fire peaks in August and September. The PEA is a full protected conservation area where fire management strategies should be adopted, especially in the seasonal flooding forests.