Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-2258, USA, Texas, United States
Because savanna biodiversity requires frequent fires and forests can be damaged by fires, there exists an apparent conflict between the conservation needs of tropical savannas and forests. I suggest this apparent conflict exists because people have shifted the fire season from the rainy season, when lightning is frequent but forests are too moist to burn, to the dry season, when both savannas and forests are flammable. Fire and grazing experiments suggest restoration of rainy season savanna fires is possible, if cattle are managed to permit fine fuels to accumulate, and if prescribed burns are timed to maintain livestock production.
