Fire in the Pine-Grassland Biomes of Tropical and Subtropical Asia

Abstract

The genus Pinus is one of the most widely distributed genera of trees in the extra-tropical northern hemisphere (Critchfield and Little 1966; Mirov 1967). In the evolutionary history of its approximately 105 species two main centers of speciation are recognized. These are in southeastern Eurasia and southern North America, from where Pinus extends into the tropics. The range of extension of the pines in tropical South Asia has been described by Critchfield and Little (1966), Kowal (1966), Cooling (1968), and Stein (1978). Schweinfurth (1988) has compiled additional information and references on the distribution of pines in South East Asia provided by vegetation maps of the Himalayas, China, Cambodia, Viet Nam, Sumatra, and Thailand.