Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences - Biogeography

Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences | Geography Department | Biogeography | Teaching | BSc & MSc Theses | Ongoing & past BSc theses | bachelor_thesis_info | Dynamics and Determinants of Fire Occurrence in the Northern Indochina Subtropical Forests

Dynamics and Determinants of Fire Occurrence in the Northern Indochina Subtropical Forests

 

Anna Wenzel

 

With its especially rich wildlife, the forests of Southeast Asia are considered precious biodiversity hotspots. But at the same time the region constitutes a global fire hotspot with high numbers of fires registered every year by the NASA’s MODIS instruments. This excessive fire occurrence has a range of ecological and socio-economic impacts on a local and global scale. Although some of these fires are occurring naturally, most of them are related to human activities, especially to forest clearings and agriculture. When looking at the ecoregion of the “Northern Indochina Subtropical Forests”, which was designated by the WWF and encompasses the border area between Myanmar, Laos, China, Thailand and Vietnam, the distribution of fires appears in a specific pattern that seems to correspond to the political border demarcations and other spatial determinants. This research’s aim is to have a closer look at the spatial distribution of fire occurrence in this specific region and to descriptively analyse chosen determinants that may influence its dynamics.

 

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