Editing Wildfire (section)

=== On ecosystems ===
{{Main|Fire ecology}}

{{See also|Disturbance (ecology)|Forestry}}Wildfires are common in climates that are sufficiently moist to allow the growth of vegetation but feature extended dry, hot periods.<ref name="NOVA222"/> Such places include the vegetated areas of Australia and [[Southeast Asia]], the [[veld]] in southern Africa, the [[fynbos]] in the Western Cape of [[South Africa]], the forested areas of the United States and Canada, and the [[Mediterranean Basin]].

High-severity wildfire creates [[complex early seral forest]] habitat (also called "snag forest habitat"), which often has higher species richness and diversity than unburned old forest.<ref name=":1">{{cite book |doi=10.1016/B978-0-12-802749-3.00011-6 |chapter=In the Aftermath of Fire |title=The Ecological Importance of Mixed-Severity Fires |date=2015 |last1=Dellasala |first1=Dominick A. |last2=Lindenmayer |first2=David B. |last3=Hanson |first3=Chad T. |last4=Furnish |first4=Jim |pages=313–347 |isbn=978-0-12-802749-3 }}</ref> Plant and animal species in most types of North American forests evolved with fire, and many of these species depend on wildfires, and particularly high-severity fires, to reproduce and grow. Fire helps to return nutrients from plant matter back to the soil. The heat from fire is necessary to the germination of certain types of seeds, and the snags (dead trees) and early successional forests created by high-severity fire create habitat conditions that are beneficial to wildlife.<ref name=":1" /> Early successional forests created by high-severity fire support some of the highest levels of native biodiversity found in temperate conifer forests.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Hutto |first=Richard L. |date=1 December 2008 |title=The Ecological Importance of Severe Wildfires: Some Like It Hot |url=https://scholarworks.umt.edu/biosci_pubs/279 |journal=Ecological Applications |language=en |volume=18 |issue=8 |pages=1827–1834 |doi=10.1890/08-0895.1 |issn=1939-5582 |pmid=19263880 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2008EcoAp..18.1827H |access-date=27 August 2019 |archive-date=9 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230709174631/https://scholarworks.umt.edu/biosci_pubs/279/ |url-status=live }}<!--https://scholarworks.umt.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1280&context=biosci_pubs--></ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Donato |first1=Daniel C. |last2=Fontaine |first2=Joseph B. |last3=Robinson |first3=W. Douglas |last4=Kauffman |first4=J. Boone |last5=Law |first5=Beverly E. |date=1 January 2009 |title=Vegetation response to a short interval between high-severity wildfires in a mixed-evergreen forest |url=https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/2578/ |journal=Journal of Ecology |language=en |volume=97 |issue=1 |pages=142–154 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2745.2008.01456.x |issn=1365-2745 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2009JEcol..97..142D |access-date=3 December 2019 |archive-date=30 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230330084911/https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/2578/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Post-fire logging has no ecological benefits and many negative impacts; the same is often true for post-fire seeding.<ref name=":5" /> The exclusion of wildfires can contribute to vegetation regime shifts, such as [[woody plant encroachment]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=O'Connor |first1=Tim G. |last2=Puttick |first2=James R. |last3=Hoffman |first3=M. Timm |date=4 May 2014 |title=Bush encroachment in southern Africa: changes and causes |journal=African Journal of Range & Forage Science |volume=31 |issue=2 |pages=67–88 |doi=10.2989/10220119.2014.939996 |bibcode=2014AJRFS..31...67O }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Cardoso |first1=Anabelle W. |last2=Archibald |first2=Sally |last3=Bond |first3=William J. |last4=Coetsee |first4=Corli |last5=Forrest |first5=Matthew |last6=Govender |first6=Navashni |last7=Lehmann |first7=David |last8=Makaga |first8=Loïc |last9=Mpanza |first9=Nokukhanya |last10=Ndong |first10=Josué Edzang |last11=Koumba Pambo |first11=Aurélie Flore |last12=Strydom |first12=Tercia |last13=Tilman |first13=David |last14=Wragg |first14=Peter D. |last15=Staver |first15=A. Carla |date=28 June 2022 |title=Quantifying the environmental limits to fire spread in grassy ecosystems |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=119 |issue=26 |pages=e2110364119 |doi=10.1073/pnas.2110364119 |doi-access=free |pmc=9245651 |pmid=35733267 |bibcode=2022PNAS..11910364C }}</ref>

Although some ecosystems rely on naturally occurring fires to regulate growth, some ecosystems suffer from too much fire, such as the [[chaparral]] in [[southern California]] and lower-elevation deserts in the American Southwest. The increased fire frequency in these ordinarily fire-dependent areas has upset natural cycles, damaged native plant communities, and encouraged the growth of non-native weeds.<ref>''Interagency Strategy for the Implementation of the Federal Wildland Fire Policy'', 3, 37.</ref><ref>Graham, ''et al''., 3.</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Keeley, J.E. |date=1995 |title=Future of California floristics and systematics: wildfire threats to the California flora |url=http://www.werc.usgs.gov/seki/pdfs/Future%20of%20California%20Floristics%20and%20Systematics%20Wildfire%20Th.pdf |url-status=live |journal=Madroño |volume=42 |pages=175–179 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090507033351/http://www.werc.usgs.gov/seki/pdfs/Future%20of%20California%20Floristics%20and%20Systematics%20Wildfire%20Th.pdf |archive-date=7 May 2009 |access-date=26 June 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite conference |last=Zedler |first=P.H. |date=1995 |editor2=Scott, T. |title=Fire frequency in southern California shrublands: biological effects and management options |publisher=International Association of Wildland Fire |pages=101–112 |book-title=Brushfires in California wildlands: ecology and resource management |editor=Keeley, J.E. |place=Fairfield, WA}}</ref> [[Invasive species]], such as ''[[Lygodium microphyllum]]'' and ''[[Bromus tectorum]]'', can grow rapidly in areas that were damaged by fires. Because they are highly flammable, they can increase the future risk of fire, creating a [[positive feedback loop]] that increases fire frequency and further alters native vegetation communities.<ref name="FireInitiative" /><ref name="van Wagtendonk, 14" />

In the [[Amazon rainforest]], drought, logging, cattle ranching practices, and [[slash-and-burn]] agriculture damage fire-resistant forests and promote the growth of flammable brush, creating a cycle that encourages more burning.<ref>Nepstad, 4, 8–11</ref> Fires in the rainforest threaten its collection of diverse species and produce large amounts of CO<sub>2</sub>.<ref>{{cite web |last=Lindsey |first=Rebecca |date=5 March 2008 |title=Amazon fires on the rise |url=http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/AmazonFireRise/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090813154232/http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/AmazonFireRise/ |archive-date=13 August 2009 |access-date=9 July 2009 |publisher=Earth Observatory (NASA)}}</ref> Also, fires in the rainforest, along with drought and human involvement, could damage or destroy more than half of the Amazon rainforest by 2030.<ref>Nepstad, 4</ref> Wildfires generate ash, reduce the availability of organic nutrients, and cause an increase in water runoff, eroding other nutrients and creating [[flash flood]] conditions.<ref name="Graham, et al., iv" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Bushfire and Catchments: Effects of Fire on Soils and Erosion |url=http://www.ewatercrc.com.au/bushfire/background_effects.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070830055708/http://www.ewatercrc.com.au/bushfire/background_effects.shtml |archive-date=30 August 2007 |access-date=8 January 2009 |url-status=usurped |publisher=eWater Cooperative Research Center's}}</ref> A 2003 wildfire in the [[North Yorkshire Moors]] burned off {{convert|2.5|km2|acre|sigfig=1|sp=us}} of [[Ericaceae|heather]] and the underlying [[peat]] layers. Afterwards, wind erosion stripped the ash and the exposed soil, revealing archaeological remains dating to 10,000&nbsp;BC.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Refern |first=Neil |author2=Vyner, Blaise |title=Fylingdales Moor a lost landscape rises from the ashes |journal=Current Archaeology |volume=XIX |issue=226 |pages=20–27 |issn=0011-3212}}</ref> Wildfires can also have an effect on climate change, increasing the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere and inhibiting vegetation growth, which affects overall carbon uptake by plants.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Running |first=S.W. |date=2008 |title=Ecosystem Disturbance, Carbon and Climate |journal=Science |volume=321 |issue=5889 |pages=652–653 |doi=10.1126/science.1159607 |pmid=18669853 |s2cid=206513681}}</ref>