Fire Ecology And Impacts of Fire on Biodiversity

Subject of Assignment: Animal Diversity

Submitted by: Wajeeha Mehmood Class: BS III Semester: VI

FIRE ECOLOGY AND IMPACTS OF FIRE ON BIODIVERSITY

Contents:
Contents: __________________________________________________________________ 1 Fire Components: ________________________________________________________ 4 Abiotic responses to Fire: _____________________________________________________ 5 Biotic responses and adaptations:______________________________________________ 6 Plants: ____________________________________________________________________ 6
i. Fire intolerance: ____________________________________________________________ 6
ii. Fire tolerance: ___________________________________________________________________ 6 iii. Fire resistance_____________________________________________________7

Long term impacts:__________________________________________________________ 8

Forests: ______________________________________________________________________________ 9

Forests in British Columbia: _______________________________________________________ 9

Shrub lands: ______________________________________________________________ 10

California shrub lands: __________________________________________________________ 10 South African Fynbos shrub lands: ________________________________________________ 10

Grasslands: _______________________________________________________________ 11
South African savanna: _________________________________________________________ 11

Fire suppression: ___________________________________________________________ 12

Chaparral communities ______________________________________________________________ 12

Fire as a management tool: __________________________________________________ 13

The Florida everglades ______________________________________________________________ 13

Management policies: ______________________________________________________ 14

In United States: ____________________________________________________________________ 14

Conclusion: _______________________________________________________________ 15 References: _______________________________________________________________ 16

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FIRE ECOLOGY AND IMPACTS OF FIRE ON BIODIVERSITY

Fire Ecology:
Fire ecology is concerned with the processes linking the natural incidence of fire in an ecosystem and the ecological effects of this fire. Many ecosystems, such as the North American prairie and chaparral ecosystems, and the South African savanna, have evolved with fire as a natural and necessary contributor to habitat vitality and renewal. Many plant species in naturally fire-affected environments require fire to germinate. Fire suppression can lead to the build-up of inflammable debris and the creation of less frequent but much larger and destructive wildfires. Campaigns in the United States have historically molded public opinion to believe that wildfires are always harmful to nature. This view is based on the outdated belief that ecosystems progress toward equilibrium and that any disturbance, such as fire, disrupts the harmony of nature. More recent ecological research has shown, however, that fire is an integral component in the function and biodiversity of many natural habitats, and that the organisms within these communities have adapted to withstand, and even to exploit, natural wildfire. Fire suppression, in combination with other human-caused environmental changes, has resulted in unforeseen consequences for natural ecosystems. Some uncharacteristically large wildfires in the United States have been caused as a consequence of years of fire suppression and the continuing expansion of people into fire-adapted ecosystems. Land managers are faced with tough questions regarding where to restore a natural fire regime.

Wildfire in California 5 September 2008

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FIRE ECOLOGY AND IMPACTS OF FIRE ON BIODIVERSITY

Fire Components:
A fire regime describes the pattern that fire follows in a particular ecosystem. Its "severity" is a term that uses to refer to the impact that a fire has on an ecosystem. Ecologists can define this in many ways, but one way is through an estimate of plant mortality. Fire can burn at three levels: 1. Ground fires will burn through soil that is rich in organic matter. 2. Surface fires will burn through dead plant material that is lying on the ground. 3. Crown fires will burn in the tops of shrubs and trees. Ecosystems may experience predominantly one of these fire regimes, or a mix of all three. Fires will often break out during a dry season, but in some areas wildfires may also commonly occur during a time of year when lightning is prevalent. The frequency over a span of years at which fire will occur at a particular location is a measure of how common wildfires are in a given ecosystem. It is either defined as the average interval between fires at a given site, or the average interval between fires in an equivalent specified area.

The map showing global fire recorded in February 2008

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FIRE ECOLOGY AND IMPACTS OF FIRE ON BIODIVERSITY

Abiotic responses to Fire:

Fire has important effects on the abiotic (non-living) components of an ecosystem, particularly the soil.

Effects of fire on soil:

Fire can affect the soil by direct contact with it and by its effects on the plant community associated with it. By removing overhead vegetation, fire can lead to increased solar radiation on the soil surface by day, resulting in greater warming, and to greater cooling through the loss of radiative heat at night. Fewer leaves left to intercept rain will allow more moisture to reach the soil surface. In addition, plant transpiration will be reduced following a fire, allowing the soil to retain more moisture. Exposure to sunlight, wind and evaporation, however, will work in the other way, to dry the soil. The fire may have created an impermeable crust at the soil surface, if organic matter on the ground was heated by the fire into a waxy residue, and if this has happened, it may lead to increased soil erosion through surface run-off. Fire may cause nutrient loss and through increased a variety and of mechanisms, by water.

including oxidation, volatilization,

erosion

leaching

Temperatures must be very high, however, to cause a significant loss of nutrients, which are often replaced by organic matter left behind in the fire. Charcoal is able to counteract some nutrient and water loss because of its absorptive properties.

Accumulation of organic matter on soil after wildfire

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FIRE ECOLOGY AND IMPACTS OF FIRE ON BIODIVERSITY

Overall,

soils

become

more basic (higher

pH)

following

fires

because

of acid combustion. By driving novel chemical reactions at high temperatures, fire can even alter the texture and structure of soils by affecting the clay content and the soil's porosity.

Biotic responses and adaptations:

Plants:
Plants have evolved many adaptations to cope with fire. In chaparral communities in Southern California, for example, some plants have leaves coated in flammable oils that encourage an intense fire. This heat causes their fire-activated seeds to germinate and the young plants can then capitalize on the lack of competition in a burnt landscape. Other plants have smoke-activated seeds, or fire-activated buds. The serotinous cones of the Lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) are sealed with a resin that a fire melts away, releasing the seeds. Many plant species, including the shade-intolerant giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum), require fire to make gaps in the vegetation canopy that will let in light, allowing their seedlings to compete with the more shade-tolerant seedlings of other species, and so establish themselves. Because their stationary nature precludes any fire avoidance, plant species may only be: I. Fire-intolerant II. Fire-tolerant III. Fire-resistant i. Fire intolerance: Fire-intolerant plant species tend to be highly flammable and are destroyed completely by fire. Some of these plants and their seeds may simply fade from the community after a fire and not return, others have adapted to ensure that their offspring survives into the next generation. Obligate seeders are plants with large, fire-activated seed banks that germinate, grow, and mature rapidly following a fire, in order to reproduce and renew the seed bank before the next fire. ii. Fire tolerance: Fire-tolerant species are able to withstand a degree of burning and continue growing despite damage from fire. These plants are sometimes referred to as resprouters.
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FIRE ECOLOGY AND IMPACTS OF FIRE ON BIODIVERSITY

Ecologists have shown that some species of resprouters store extra energy in their roots to aid recovery and re-growth following a fire. For example, after an Australian bushfire, the Mountain Grey Gum tree (Eucalyptus cypellocarpa) starts producing a mass of shoots of leaves from the base of the tree all the way up the trunk towards the top, making it look like a black stick completely covered with young, green leaves.

A fire tolerant plant Eucalyptus cypellocarpa

iii. Fire resistance: Fire-resistant plants suffer little damage during a characteristic fire regime. These include large trees whose flammable parts are high above surface fires. Mature Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa) is an example of a tree species that suffers virtually no crown damage under a naturally mild fire regime, because it sheds its lower, vulnerable branches as it matures.

A fire resistant plant Pinus ponderosa

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FIRE ECOLOGY AND IMPACTS OF FIRE ON BIODIVERSITY

Animals, birds and microbes:

Like plants, animals display a range of abilities to cope with fire, but they differ from plants in that they must avoid the actual fire to survive. Although birds are vulnerable when nesting, they are generally able to escape a fire; indeed they often profit from being able to take prey fleeing from a fire and to recolonize burned areas quickly afterwards. Mammals are often capable of fleeing a fire, or seeking cover if they can burrow. Amphibians and reptiles may avoid flames by burrowing into the ground or using the burrows of other animals. Amphibians in particular are able to take refuge in water or very wet mud. Some arthropods also take shelter during a fire, although the heat and smoke may actually attract some of them, to their peril. Microbial organisms in the soil vary in their heat tolerance but are more likely to be able to survive a fire the deeper they are in the soil. Low fire intensity, a quick passing of the flames and a dry soil will also help. An increase in available nutrients after the fire has passed may result in larger microbial communities than before the fire.

Long term impacts:

Fire behavior is different in every ecosystem and the organisms in those ecosystems have adapted accordingly. One sweeping generality is that in all ecosystems, fire creates a mosaic of different habitat patches, with areas ranging from those having just been burned to those that have been untouched by fire for many years. This is a form of ecological succession in which a freshly burned site will progress through continuous and directional phases of colonization following the destruction caused by the fire. Ecologists usually characterize succession through the changes in vegetation that successively arise. After a fire, the first species to re-colonize will be those whose seeds are already present in the ground, or those whose seeds are able to travel into the burned area quickly. These are generally fast-growing herbaceous plants that need lots of light and are poor competitors
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FIRE ECOLOGY AND IMPACTS OF FIRE ON BIODIVERSITY

in crowded areas. As time passes, more slowly growing, shade-tolerant, and competitive, woody species will crowd out the herbaceous plants. These woody plants may be shrubs or trees. Different species of plants, animals, and microbes specialize in exploiting different stages in this process of succession, and by creating these different types of patches, fire allows a greater number of species to exist within a landscape. Soil characteristics will be a factor in determining the specific nature of a fire-adapted ecosystem, as will climate and topography.

Forests:
Mild to moderate fires burn in the forest understory, remove small trees and herbaceous groundcover. Only high-intensity fires will burn into the crowns of the tallest trees. Crown fires may require support from ground fuels to maintain the fire in the forest canopy (passive crown fires), or the fire may burn in the canopy independently of any ground fuel support (an active crown fire). Fires used in the management of woodlands will typically aim for low to moderate intensity, whereas wildfires can evolve into crown fires. When a forest burns frequently and thus has less plant litter build-up, below-ground soil temperatures rise only slightly and will not be lethal to roots that lie deep in the soil. Although other characteristics of a forest will influence the impact of fire upon it, factors such as climate and topography play an important role in determining fire severity and fire extent. Fires spread most widely during drought years, are most severe on upper slopes and are influenced by the type of vegetation that is growing.

Forests in British Columbia:

In Canada, forests cover about 10% of the land area and yet harbor 70% of the countrys bird and terrestrial mammal species. Natural fire regimes are important in maintaining a diverse assemblage of vertebrate species in up to twelve different forest types in British Columbia. Different species have adapted to exploit the different stages of succession, regrowth and habitat change that occurs following an episode of burning, such as downed trees and debris. The characteristics of the initial fire, such as its size and intensity, cause the habitat to evolve differentially afterwards and influence how vertebrate species are able to use the burned areas.
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FIRE ECOLOGY AND IMPACTS OF FIRE ON BIODIVERSITY

Shrub lands:
Shrub fires typically concentrate in the canopy and spread continuously if the shrubs are close enough together. Shrub lands are typically dry and are prone to accumulations of highly volatile fuels, especially on hillsides. Fires will follow the path of least moisture and the greatest amount of dead fuel material. Surface and below-ground soil temperatures during a burn are generally higher than those of forest fires because the centers of combustion lie closer to the ground, although this can vary greatly. Common plants in shrub land or chaparral include manzanita, chamise and Coyote Brush.

California shrub lands:

California shrub land, commonly known as chaparral, is a widespread plant community of low growing species, typically on arid sloping areas of the California or western foothills of the Sierra Nevada. There are a number of common shrubs and tree shrub forms in this association, including salal, toyon, coffeeberry and Western poison oak. Regeneration following a fire is usually a major factor in the association of these species.

California shrub lands

South African Fynbos shrub lands:

Fynbos shrub lands occur in a small belt across South Africa. The plant species in this ecosystem are highly diverse, yet the majority of these species are obligate seeders, that is, a fire will cause germination of the seeds and the plants will begin a new life-cycle because of it.
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Fynbos shrub lands

These plants may have evolved into obligate seeders as a response to fire and nutrientpoor soils. Because fire is common in this ecosystem and the soil has limited nutrients, it is most efficient for plants to produce many seeds and then die in the next fire. Investing a lot of energy in roots to survive the next fire when those roots will be able to extract little extra benefit from the nutrient-poor soil would be less efficient. It is possible that the rapid generation time that these obligate seeders display has led to more

rapid evolution and speciation in this ecosystem, resulting in its highly diverse plant community.

Grasslands:
Grasslands burn more readily than forest and shrub ecosystems, with the fire moving through the stems and leaves of herbaceous plants and only lightly heating the underlying soil, even in cases of high intensity. In most grassland ecosystems, fire is the primary mode of decomposition, making it crucial in the recycling of nutrients.

South African savanna:

In the savanna of South Africa, recently burned areas have new growth that provides palatable and nutritious forage compared to older, tougher grasses. This new forage attracts large herbivores from areas of unburned and grazed grassland that has been kept short by constant grazing. On these unburned "lawns", only those plant species adapted to heavy grazing are able to persist; but the distraction provided by the newly burned areas

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allows grazing-intolerant grasses to grow back into the lawns that have been temporarily abandoned, so allowing these species to persist within that ecosystem.

South African savanna

Fire suppression:
Fire serves many important functions within fire-adapted ecosystems. Fire plays an important role in nutrient cycling, diversity maintenance and habitat structure. The suppression of fire can lead to unforeseen changes in ecosystems that often adversely affect the plants, animals and humans that depend upon that habitat. Wildfires that deviate from a historical fire regime because of fire suppression are called uncharacteristic fires. Chaparral communities: In 2003, southern California witnessed powerful chaparral wildfires. Hundreds of homes and hundreds of thousands of acres of land went up in flames. Extreme fire weather (low humidity, low fuel moisture and high winds) and the accumulation of dead plant material from 8 years of drought, contributed to a catastrophic outcome. Although some have maintained that fire suppression contributed to an unnatural buildup of fuel loads, a detailed analysis of historical fire data has showed that this may not have been the case. Fire suppression activities had failed to exclude fire from the southern California chaparral. Research showing differences in fire size and frequency between southern California and Baja has been used to imply that the larger fires north of the border are the result of fire suppression, but this opinion has been challenged by numerous investigators and is no longer supported by the majority of fire ecologists.

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FIRE ECOLOGY AND IMPACTS OF FIRE ON BIODIVERSITY

One consequence of the fires in 2003 has been the increased density of invasive and nonnative plant species that have quickly colonized burned areas, especially those that had already been burned in the previous 15 years. Because shrubs in these communities are adapted to a particular historical fire regime, altered fire regimes may change the selective pressures on plants and favor invasive and non-native species that are better able to exploit the novel post-fire conditions.

Fire as a management tool:

Restoration ecology is the name given to an attempt to reverse or mitigate some of the changes that humans have caused to an ecosystem. Controlled burning is one tool that is currently receiving considerable attention as a means of restoration and management. Applying fire to an ecosystem may create habitats for species that have been negatively impacted by fire suppression, or fire may be used as a way of controlling invasive species without resorting to herbicides or pesticides. Native American use of fire, not natural fires, historically maintained the diversity of the savannas of North America. When, how, and where managers should use fire as a management tool is a subject of debate. The Florida everglades: The Florida Everglades is one example of an ecosystem with a historical regime of frequent fires. Currently, the everglades are undergoing long-term and large-scale restoration. A problem that ecologists and managers have is how frequently to prescribe burns. There is a strong relationship between climate and fire in Florida and it may be that climate holds the key to this question. The El Nio Southern Oscillation (ENSO) increases the frequency of lightning strikes, opening up a window for fire before there is too much precipitation. While direct human effects on ecosystems through fire suppression and agriculture are well-established, some researchers of global warming suggest that there is a negative correlation between ENSO and dry conditions in Florida, and additionally that human-induced climate change may result in a perpetual El Nio that never allows conditions to become dry enough for fire in the future.

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Florida everglades

Management policies:
In United States: Fire policy in the United States involves the federal government, individual state governments, tribal governments, interest groups, and the general public. The new federal outlook on fire policy parallels advances in ecology and is moving towards the view that many ecosystems depend on disturbance for their diversity and for the proper maintenance of their natural processes. Although human safety is still the number one priority in fire management, new US government objectives include a long-term view of ecosystems. The newest policy allows managers to gauge the relative values of private property and resources in particular situations and to set their priorities accordingly. Techniques such as sophisticated risk assessment strategies, that integrate the latest in ecological research with the social and economic consequences of a particular outcome, are one way to make the most informed fire policy decisions based on the interests of many stakeholders. The US government now recognizes that the longer fuel accumulates in fire-suppressed areas, the greater will be the damage when an unexpected fire burns out of control. One of the primary goals in fire management is to improve public education in order to suppress the Smokey Bear fire-suppression mentality and introduce the public to the benefits of regular natural fires.
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Fire reintroduction will need to be mindful of regulations set by the Clean Air Act and the Environmental Protection Agency concerning wildfire emissions, limited fire

professionals, potential property damage from escaped fire and complaints about smoke and destruction of scenic views.

Conclusion:
Fires affect biodiversity of animal and plant, hidden and apparent. There are interactions between plants and fires because plants supply the fuels for fires that, in turn, affect the plants. Animals, too, depend on plants as food, protective cover and nesting or roosting sites. Knowledge of the degree of dependence of fires and animals on plants is important to the understanding of ecosystem function and conservation; it provides a little explored avenue for future research.

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References:
Beaty, M.R. and A.H. Taylor. 2001. Spatial and temporal variation of fire regimes in a mixed conifer forest landscape, Southern Cascades, California, USA. Journal of Biogeography 28: 955-966. Begon, M., J.L. Harper and C.R. Townsend. 1996. Ecology: individuals, populations, and communities, Third Edition. Blackwell Science Ltd., Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Bond, W. J., and J. E. Keeley. 2005. Fire as a global 'herbivore': the ecology and evolution of flammable ecosystems. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 20: 387-394. Brockway, D.G., R.G. Gatewood, and R.B. Paris. 2002. Restoring fire as an ecological process in shortgrass prairie ecosystems: initial effects of prescribed burning during the dormant and growing seasons. Journal of Environmental Management 65:135-152. Bunnell, F.L. 1995. Forest-dwelling vertebrate faunas and natural fire regimes in British Columbia: patterns and implications for conservation. Conservation Biology 9: 636-644. DeBano, L.F., D.G. Neary, P.F. Ffolliot. 1998. Fires Effects on Ecosystems. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, New York, USA. Knox, K.J.E. and P. Clarke. 2005. Nutrient availability induces contrasting allocation and starch formation in resprouting and obligate seeding shrubs. Functional Ecology 19: 690-698. Kramp, B.A., D.R. Patton, and W.W. Brady. 1986. Run wild: wildlife/habitat relationships. U.S. Forest Service, Southwestern Region. MacDougall, A.S., B.R. Beckwith, and C.Y. Maslovat. 2004. Defining conservation strategies with historical perspectives: a case study from a degraded oak grassland ecosystem. Conservation Biology 18:455-465. McCullough, D.G., R.A. Werner, and D. Neumann. 1998. Fire and insects in northern and boreal forest ecosystems of North America. Annual Review of Entomology 43: 107-127.

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