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<front>
<journal-meta>
<journal-id journal-id-type="publisher">NPG</journal-id>
<journal-title-group>
<journal-title>Nonlinear Processes in Geophysics</journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="publisher">NPG</abbrev-journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="nlm-ta">Nonlin. Processes Geophys.</abbrev-journal-title>
</journal-title-group>
<issn pub-type="epub">1607-7946</issn>
<publisher><publisher-name>Copernicus Publications</publisher-name>
<publisher-loc>Göttingen, Germany</publisher-loc>
</publisher>
</journal-meta>
<article-meta>
<article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.5194/npg-12-575-2005</article-id>
<title-group>
<article-title>Log-periodic behavior in a forest-fire model</article-title>
</title-group>
<contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Malamud</surname>
<given-names>B. D.</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Morein</surname>
<given-names>G.</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Turcotte</surname>
<given-names>D. L.</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff3">
<sup>3</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
</contrib-group><aff id="aff1">
<label>1</label>
<addr-line>Environmental Monitoring and Modelling Research Group, Department of Geography, King’s College London, Strand, London, WC2R 2LS, UK</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff2">
<label>2</label>
<addr-line>Center for Computational Science and Engineering, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff3">
<label>3</label>
<addr-line>Department of Geology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA</addr-line>
</aff>
<pub-date pub-type="epub">
<day>09</day>
<month>06</month>
<year>2005</year>
</pub-date>
<volume>12</volume>
<issue>5</issue>
<fpage>575</fpage>
<lpage>585</lpage>
<permissions>
<copyright-statement>Copyright: &#x000a9; 2005 B. D. Malamud et al.</copyright-statement>
<copyright-year>2005</copyright-year>
<license license-type="open-access">
<license-p>This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 Generic License. To view a copy of this licence, visit <ext-link ext-link-type="uri"  xlink:href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/</ext-link></license-p>
</license>
</permissions>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://npg.copernicus.org/articles/12/575/2005/npg-12-575-2005.html">This article is available from https://npg.copernicus.org/articles/12/575/2005/npg-12-575-2005.html</self-uri>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://npg.copernicus.org/articles/12/575/2005/npg-12-575-2005.pdf">The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://npg.copernicus.org/articles/12/575/2005/npg-12-575-2005.pdf</self-uri>
<abstract>
<p>This paper explores log-periodicity in a forest-fire cellular-automata
model. At each time step of this model a tree is dropped on a randomly
chosen site; if the site is unoccupied, the tree is planted. Then, for a
given sparking frequency, matches are dropped on a randomly chosen site; if
the site is occupied by a tree, the tree ignites and an &quot;instantaneous&quot;
model fire consumes that tree and all adjacent trees. The resultant
frequency-area distribution for the small and medium model fires is a
power-law. However, if we consider very small sparking frequencies, the
large model fires that span the square grid are dominant, and we find that
the peaks in the frequency-area distribution of these large fires satisfy
log-periodic scaling to a good approximation. This behavior can be examined
using a simple mean-field model, where in time, the density of trees on the
grid exponentially approaches unity. This exponential behavior coupled with
a periodic or near-periodic sparking frequency also generates a sequence of
peaks in the frequency-area distribution of large fires that satisfy
log-periodic scaling. We conclude that the forest-fire model might provide a
relatively simple explanation for the log-periodic behavior often seen in
nature.</p>
</abstract>
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</article-meta>
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