In:
PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science (PLoS), Vol. 17, No. 3 ( 2022-3-31), p. e0263313-
Abstract:
Anthropogenic fire use is widespread across Madagascar and threatens the island’s unprecedented endemic biodiversity. The vast majority (96%) of lemur species are already threatened with extinction, and Madagascar has already lost more than 44% of its forests. Previous conservation assessments have noted the role of fire in the rampant deforestation and habitat degradation across Madagascar, but published, quantified data on fire use across the island are incredibly limited. Here, we present the first quantification of spatiotemporal patterns in fire occurrence across Madagascar using VIIRS satellite fire detection data. We assess which regions of Madagascar have the most prevalent fire use, how fire use is changing over time, and what this means for Madagascar’s remaining forest ecosystems. An average of 356,189 fires were detected every year in Madagascar from 2012–2019, averaging 0.604 fires/km 2 . Fire use was near-ubiquitous across the island, but was most prevalent in the western dry deciduous forests and succulent woodlands ecoregions. Fire frequency in the eastern lowlands was highest around the remaining humid rainforest, and fire frequency was increasing over time around much of the remaining humid and dry forest. We found that 18.6% of all remaining forest was within 500 m of a fire within a single year, and 39.3% was within 1 km. More than half of remaining forest was within 1 km of a fire in a single year in the dry deciduous forests, succulent woodlands, and mangroves ecoregions. However, fire frequency within national park protected areas was, on average, 65% lower than their surroundings. Only 7.1% of national park forest was within 500 m of a fire within one year, and 17.1% was within 1 km, suggesting that national parks are effective at reducing fire frequency in Madagascar’s tropical forests.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
1932-6203
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0263313
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0263313.g001
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0263313.g002
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0263313.g003
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0263313.g004
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0263313.t001
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0263313.t002
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0263313.s001
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0263313.s002
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0263313.s003
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0263313.s004
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0263313.s005
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0263313.s006
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0263313.s007
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0263313.s008
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0263313.s009
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0263313.s010
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0263313.s011
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0263313.s012
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0263313.r001
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0263313.r002
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0263313.r003
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0263313.r004
Language:
English
Publisher:
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Publication Date:
2022
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2267670-3
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