Remote Sensing-Based Assessment of the 2005–2011 Bamboo Reproductive Event in the Arakan Mountain Range and Its Relation with Wildfires

Abstract

Pulse ecological events have major impacts on regional and global biogeochemical cycles, potentially inducing a vast set of cascading ecological effects. This study analyzes the widespread reproductive event of bamboo (Melocanna baccifera) that occurred in the Arakan Mountains (Southeast Asia) from 2005 to 2011, and investigates the possible relationship between massive fuel loading due to bamboo synchronous mortality over large areas and wildfire regime. Multiple remote sensing data products are used to map the areal extent of the bamboo-dominated forest. MODIS NDVI time series are then analyzed to detect the spatiotemporal patterns of the reproductive event. Finally, MODIS Active Fire and Burned Area Products are used to investigate the distribution and extension of wildfires before and after the reproductive event. Bamboo dominates about 62,000 km 2 of forest in Arakan. Over 65% of the region shows evidence of synchronous bamboo flowering, fruiting, and mortality over large areas, with wave-like spatiotemporal dynamics. A significant change in the regime of wildfires is observed, with total burned area doubling in the bamboo-dominated forest area and reaching almost 16,000 km 2 . Wildfires also severely affect the remnant patches of the evergreen forest adjacent to the bamboo forest. These results demonstrate a clear interconnection between the 2005-2011 bamboo reproductive event and the wildfires spreading in the region, with potential relevant socio-economic and environmental impacts.

Climate teleconnections synchronizePicea glaucamasting and fire disturbance: Evidence for a fire‐related form of environmental prediction

“…Similarly to our results for white spruce, in these studies the same climate cue (precipitation in previous months) was responsible for both the induction of flowering and the increase of burnt area, due to fuel build‐up and improved fuel connectivity after moist years. A significant increase in burnt area has also been observed after widespread reproduction of bamboo in South‐East Asia (Fava & Colombo, ), although in this case fire is not driven by weather, but rather by the increase in fuel that followed post‐reproduction mortality of bamboo over large areas.…”

Bamboo, climate change and forest use: A critical combination for southwestern Amazonian forests?

“…Indeed, it has been observed that, especially in the dry years, recently dead bamboo forests catch fire more easily than actively growing bamboo forests do (Dalagnol et al 2018). Also, a study on Melocanna baccifera bamboo forests in Myanmar showed that, after a die-off event, the burned areas in bamboo forests more or less doubled (Fava and Colombo 2017). Adding human disturbance to increased flammability easily leads to wildfires as seen in the more southern parts of Amazonia (Cochrane and Laurance 2008;Devisscher et al 2016).…”

Life cycle of bamboo in the southwestern Amazon and its relation to fire events

“…For normal distribution, the average and standard deviation were computed. For skewed distribution, a more appropriate method was applied to estimate the average, standard deviation and skewness parameter (xi) (Fernandez and Steel, 1998).…”

“…Since areas with dead bamboo are difficult to maintain trails and hinder the work of rubber trappers (Carvalho et al, 2013), it can be used in forest management planning in order to avoid areas where the die-off year occurred in the last 3 years and dry culms are still not decomposed, or to avoid areas with likely future die-off. It can also be used for public policy planning regarding food and human health security, for example, in bamboo forests in Southeast Asia, where bamboo reproductive events cause huge rodent invasion and proliferation that then damage nearby crop plantations (Fava and Colombo, 2017). It could also be used to explore broader scientific questions on the ecology of bamboo-dominated forests such as studies on maintenance/expansion of bamboo patches, flowering waves, cross-pollination between patches, fauna habitat dynamics and impacts on short-and long-term carbon dynamics.…”