Understanding and modelling wildfire regimes: An ecological perspective

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Sandy P. Harrison - , University of Reading, Leverhulme Centre for Wildfires, Environment and Society (Author)
  • I. Colin Prentice - , Leverhulme Centre for Wildfires, Environment and Society, Imperial College London (Author)
  • Keith J. Bloomfield - , Imperial College London (Author)
  • Ning Dong - , Imperial College London (Author)
  • Matthias Forkel - , Junior Professorship in Environmental Remote Sensing, Leverhulme Centre for Wildfires, Environment and Society (Author)
  • Matthew Forrest - , Leverhulme Centre for Wildfires, Environment and Society, Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (Author)
  • Ramesh K. Ningthoujam - , Leverhulme Centre for Wildfires, Environment and Society, Imperial College London (Author)
  • Adam Pellegrini - , University of Cambridge (Author)
  • Yicheng Shen - , University of Reading, Leverhulme Centre for Wildfires, Environment and Society (Author)
  • Mara Baudena - , National Research Council of Italy (CNR) (Author)
  • Anabelle W. Cardoso - , Yale University, University of the Witwatersrand (Author)
  • Jessica C. Huss - , University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (Author)
  • Jaideep Joshi - , International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg (Author)
  • Imma Oliveras - , University of Oxford (Author)
  • Juli G. Pausas - , Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) (Author)
  • Kimberley J. Simpson - , University of Sheffield, Rhodes University (Author)

Abstract

Recent extreme wildfire seasons in several regions have been associated with exceptionally hot, dry conditions, made more probable by climate change. Much research has focused on extreme fire weather and its drivers, but natural wildfire regimes-And their interactions with human activities-Are far from being comprehensively understood. There is a lack of clarity about the 'causes' of wildfire, and about how ecosystems could be managed for the co-existence of wildfire and people. We present evidence supporting an ecosystem-centred framework for improved understanding and modelling of wildfire. Wildfire has a long geological history and is a pervasive natural process in contemporary plant communities. In some biomes, wildfire would be more frequent without human settlement; in others they would be unchanged or less frequent. A world without fire would have greater forest cover, especially in present-day savannas. Many species would be missing, because fire regimes have co-evolved with plant traits that resist, adapt to or promote wildfire. Certain plant traits are favoured by different fire frequencies, and may be missing in ecosystems that are normally fire-free. For example, post-fire resprouting is more common among woody plants in high-frequency fire regimes than where fire is infrequent. The impact of habitat fragmentation on wildfire crucially depends on whether the ecosystem is fire-Adapted. In normally fire-free ecosystems, fragmentation facilitates wildfire starts and is detrimental to biodiversity. In fire-Adapted ecosystems, fragmentation inhibits fires from spreading and fire suppression is detrimental to biodiversity. This interpretation explains observed, counterintuitive patterns of spatial correlation between wildfire and potential ignition sources. Lightning correlates positively with burnt area only in open ecosystems with frequent fire. Human population correlates positively with burnt area only in densely forested regions. Models for vegetation-fire interactions must be informed by insights from fire ecology to make credible future projections in a changing climate.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number125008
JournalEnvironmental research letters
Volume16
Issue number12
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2021
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

Scopus 85122597381

Keywords

Keywords

  • biodiversity, fire regimes, fire spread, fire-related plant adaptations, fire-vegetation models, landscape fragmentation, lightning ignitions

Library keywords