The tropics are home to most of the world¿s biodiversity and are currently the frontier for human settlement. Tropical ecosystems are being converted to agricultural and other land uses at unprecedented rates. Land conversion and maintenance almost always rely on fire and, because of this, fire is now more prevalent in the tropics than anywhere else on Earth. Despite pervasive fire, human settlement and threatened biodiversity, there is little comprehensive information available on fire and its effects in tropical ecosystems.
Tropical deforestation, especially in rainforests, has been widely documented for many years. Forests are cut down and allowed to dry before being burned to remove biomass and release nutrients to grow crops. However, fires do not always stop at the borders of cleared forests. Tremendously damaging fires are increasingly spreading into forests that were never evolutionarily prepared for wild fires. The largest fires on the planet in recent decades have occurred in tropical forests and burned millions of hectares in several countries.
The numerous ecosystems of the tropics have differing levels of fire resistance, resilience or dependence. At present, there is little appreciation of the seriousness of the wild fire situation in tropical rainforests but there is even less understanding of the role that fire plays in the ecology of many fire adapted tropical ecosystems, such as savannas, grasslands and other forest types.

Changing Fire Regimes in Tropical Montane Cloud Forests: A Global Synthesis Preface List of figures List of tables List of abbreviations and acronyms List of contributors Fire in the Tropics ¿ Mark A. Cochrane Fire and Fire Ecology ¿ Concepts and Principles ¿ Mark A. Cochrane and Kevin C. Ryan Global Overview of Fire in the Tropics Overview: Global Fire Regime Conditions, Threats, and Opportunities for Fire Management in the Tropics -- Ayn Shlisky, Ane A.C. Alencar, María Manta Nolasco and Lisa M. Curran Fire in the Australian Tropics Fire Driven Land Cover Change in Australia and W.D. Jackson's Theory of the Fire Ecology of Southwest Tasmania -- David M.J.S. Bowman and Sam W. Wood Fires in Australiäs Tropical Savannas: Interactions with Biodiversity, Global Warming and Exotic Biota -- A. Malcolm Gill, R.J. Williams and J.C.Z. Woinarski Aboriginal Fire Use in Australian Tropical Savannas: Ecological Effects and Management Lessons -- Tom Vigilante, Brett P. Murphy and David M.J.S. Bowman Fire in the African Tropics Fire Ecology and Fire Politics in Mali and Madagascar ¿ Christian A. Kull and Paul Laris Climate Change and Wildland Fires in Mozambique ¿ Anja A. Hoffmann, Jo-Ellen Parry, Carla Cuambe, Dominick Kwesha and Washington Zhakata Fire in the Asian Tropics Tropical Peatland Fires in Southeast Asia -- Susan Page, Agata Hoscilo, Andreas Langner, Kevin Tansey,Florian Siegert, Suwido Limin, and Jack Rieley Fire, ecology and management of Seasonal Evergreen Forests, Conservation and Mainland Southeast Asia -- Laura A. Johnson and Philip Dearden Fire Behavior and Fire Effects Across the Forest Landscape of Continental Southeast Asia -- Patrick J. Baker and Sarayudh Bunyavejchewin Forest Fire Regimes and their Ecological Effects in Seasonally Dry Tropical Ecosystems in the Western Ghats, India -- Narendran Kodandapani, Mark A. Cochrane and R. Sukumar Fire and Land Use Effects on Biodiversity and Livelihoods in the Southern Sumatran Wetlands -- Unna Chokkalingam, Iwan Kurniawan, Suyanto, Rizki Pandu Permana, Meilanie Buitenzorgy and Robiyanto Hendro Susanto Fire in the South American Tropics Fire, Land Use, Land Cover Dynamics and Climate Change in the Brazilian Amazon -- Mark A. Cochrane Fires in Cerrado, the Brazilian Savanna -- Heloisa Sinátora Miranda, Margarete Naomi Sato, Walter Nascimento Neto and Felipe Salvo Aires The Role of Fire in Vegetation Dynamics of Upland Savannas of the Venezuelan Guayana -- Bibiana Bilbao, Alejandra Leal, Carlos Mendez and Maria Dolores Delgado-Cartay Pattern and Process: Fire-initiated Grass Invasion at Amazon Transitional Forest Edges -- Jennifer K. Balch, Daniel C. Nepstad, and Lisa M. Curran Fire in the Central American Tropics Fire in Páramo Ecosystems of Central and South America ¿ Sally P. Horn and Maarten Kappelle. Pan-tropical Fire The Consequences of Fire for the Fauna of Humid Tropical Forests -- Jos Barlow

Professor Mark A. Cochrane is eminently qualified to explain in detail the historic and current fire situations in the tropics. He is internationally renowned for the documentation of the characteristics, behavior and ecological effects of fire in tropical forests. His research focuses on understanding spatial patterns, interactions and synergisms between the multiple physical and biological factors that affect ecosystems. His recent published work has emphasized human dimensions of land-cover change and the potential for sustainable development and it has been instrumental in the Brazilian government's recent (2003) program to increase its national forest system in the Amazon to 50 million hectares. In current research programs, Professor Cochrane investigates the drivers and effects of disturbance regime changes resulting from various forms of forest degradation, including fire, fragmentation and logging. He is the President of the Association for Fire Ecology of the Tropics (AFET) and has written and edited several books and articles in influential scientific publications about fire in tropical forests.