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A defining feature of both the Anthropocene concept and the new discipline of pyrogeography is combustion of carbon-rich fuels by humans. A key objective of pyrogeography is understanding to what degree landscape fires set by hominins has overwritten natural fires through geological time, and whether these changes had substantial ecological knock-on effects. This research is essential to precisely define the onset of the Anthropocene. Nonetheless, the commonly used imprecise definition that the Anthropocene commenced at 1780 is a useful organising principle for pyrogeography because it provides a framework to understand the synergistic effects of anthropogenic global environment changes in shaping global fire activity following the Industrial Revolution.

Item Type:	Contribution to Refereed Journal
Keywords:	Earth system, environmental impacts, fire, geological time, hominins, humans, landscape burning, wildfire
Research Division:	Biological Sciences
Research Group:	Ecology
Research Field:	Terrestrial ecology
Objective Division:	Environmental Policy, Climate Change and Natural Hazards
Objective Group:	Adaptation to climate change
Objective Field:	Ecosystem adaptation to climate change
UTAS Author:	Bowman, DMJS (Professor David Bowman)
ID Code:	105846
Year Published:	2015
Web of Science® Times Cited:	14
Deposited By:	Plant Science
Deposited On:	2016-01-15
Last Modified:	2016-01-18
Downloads:	0