In 1977, the Volkswagen Foundation sponsored the first of a series of International Symposia on Fire Ecology at Freiburg University, Federal Republic of Germany. The scope of the congresses was to create a platform for researchers at a time when the science of fire ecology was not yet recognized and established outside of North America and Australia. Whereas comprehensive information on the fire ecology of the northern boreal, the temperate, and the mediter ranean biotas is meanwhile available, it was recognized that conside rable gaps in information exist on the role of fire in tropical und sub tropical ecosystems. Thus it seemed timely to meet the growing scientific interest and public demand for reliable and updated infor mation and to synthesize the available knowledge of tropical fire ecology and the impact of tropical biomass burning on global eco system processes. The Third Symposium on Fire Ecology, again sponsored by the Volkswagen Foundation and held at Freiburg University in May 1989, was convened to prepare this first pantropical and multidisci plinary monograph on fire ecology!. The book, in which 46 scientists cooperated, analyzes those fire-related ecosystem processes which have not yet been described in a synoptic way. Following the editor's concept, duplication at previous efforts in describing tropical vegeta tion patterns and dynamics was avoided. Extensive bibliographical sources are given in the reference lists of the chapters.

1 Fire in Tropical Ecosystems and Global Environmental Change: An Introduction

2 The Impact of Droughts and Forest Fires on Tropical Lowland Rain Forest of East Kalimantan
3 The Role of Fire in the Tropical Lowland Deciduous Forests of Asia
4 Fire in the Pine-Grassland Biomes of Tropical and Subtropical Asia
5 Fire in Some Tropical and Subtropical South American Vegetation Types: An Overview
6 Fire in the Ecology of the Brazilian Cerrado
7 Fire in the Tropical Rain Forest of the Amazon Basin
8 Interactions of Anthropogenic Activities, Fire, and Rain Forests in the Amazon Basin
9 Social and Ecological Aspects of Fire in Central America
10 Fires and Their Effects in the Wet-Dry Tropics of Australia
11 Fire Management in Southern Africa: Some Examples of Current Objectives, Practices, and Problems
12 Prescribed Fire in Industrial Pine Plantations
13 Landscapes and Climate in Prehistory: Interactions of Wildlife, Man, and Fire
14 Fire Conservancy: The Origins of Wildland Fire Protection in British India, America, and Australia
15 The Contribution of Remote Sensing to the Global Monitoring of Fires in Tropical and Subtropical Ecosystems
16 Remote Sensing of Biomass Burning in the Tropics
17 NOAA-AVHRR and GIS-Based Monitoring of Fire Activity in Senegal - a Provosional Methodology and Potential Applications
18 Factors Influencing the Emissions of Gases and Particulate Matter from Biomass Burning
19 Ozone Production from Biomass Burning in Tropical Africa. Results from DECAFE-88
20 Estimates of Annual and Regional Releases of CO2 and Other Trace Gases to the Atmosphere from Fires in the Tropics, Based on the FAO Statistics for the Period 1975-1980
21 Global Change: Effects on Forest Ecosystems and Wildfire Severity
Appendix: TheFreiburg Declaration on Tropical Fires.