Benefits of Wildfires

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anonymoose

anonymoose

Classical Liberal
Benefts of Fire
Te sounds and smells of fre bring diferent images to diferent people. Tat is surprising since fre is one of our greatest tools and one of our most destructive forces. So what is fre? Is it enemy or friend? Fire in the wildlands does not have to be a villain. Fire that is low in intensity and does not grow out of control benefts our wildlands and is actu- ally vital to the survival of several species.
Cleaning the Forest Floor
Fire removes low-growing underbrush, cleans the forest foor of debris, opens it up to sunlight, and nourishes the soil. Reducing this competition for nutrients allows established trees to grow stronger and healthier. History teaches us that hundreds of years ago forests had fewer, yet larger, healthier trees. Forests today have more trees than in the past, but they are not as large or healthy. Established trees have to compete with undergrowth for nutrients and space. Fire clears the weaker trees and debris and returns health to the forest. Clearing brush from the forest foor with low intensity fames can help prevent large damaging wildfres that spread out of control and com- pletely destroy forests. Under optimum conditions, when wildfres do start, the result is a low intensity fre that remains on the ground burning grasses and vegetation, but causing less damage to trees.
Providing Habitat
Wildlands provide habitat and shelter to forest animals and birds. Fire clears wildlands of heavy brush, leaving room for new grasses, herbs and regenerated shrubs that pro- vide food and habitat for many wildlife species. When fre removes a thick stand of shrubs, the water supply is increased. With fewer plants absorbing water, streams are fuller, benefting other types of plants and animals.
Killing Disease
Fire kills diseases and insects that prey on trees and provides valuable nutrients that enrich the soil. More trees die each year from insect infestation and disease than from fre. Many forests struggle against diseases such as pitch canker and bark beetle infesta- tions – pests that destroy the part of the tree that delivers nutrients to the roots, leaves and needles. Fire kills pests and keeps the forest healthy. Vegetation that is burned by fre provides a rich source of nutrients that nourish remaining trees.
New Generations
Change is important to a healthy forest. Some species of trees and plants are actually fre dependent. Tey must have fre every 3-25 years in order for life to continue. Some trees have fre resistant bark and cones that require heat to open and release seeds for regeneration. Chaparral plants, including manzanita, chamise and scrub oak, also require intense heat for seed germination. Tese plants actually encourage fre by having leaves that are covered with fammable resins. Without fre, these trees and plants would eventually succumb to old age with no new generations to carry on their legacy.
www.fre.ca.gov
 
BidenPresident said:
Wildfires are beneficial only when controlled by Park Service.
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The Ecological Benefits of Fire
Wildfires are destructive forces, but they can occur naturally. Because of this, certain plants and animals have evolved to depend on periodic wildfires for ecological balance. Prescribed burns can mimic the benefits of wildfires while also lowering the risks associated with larger, uncontrolled fires.
It might seem counterintuitive that a fire, which burns plant life and endangers animals within an ecosystem, could promote ecological health. But fire is a natural phenomenon, and nature has evolved with its presence. Many ecosystems benefit from periodic fires, because they clear out dead organic material—and some plant and animal populations require the benefits fire brings to survive and reproduce.

For example, as dead or decaying plants begin to build up on the ground, they may prevent organisms within the soil from accessing nutrients or block animals on the land from accessing the soil. This coating of dead organic matter can also choke outgrowth of smaller or new plants. When humans perform a prescribed burn, the goal is to remove that layer of decay in a controlled manner, allowing the other, healthy parts of the ecosystem to thrive. Moreover, nutrients released from the burned material, which includes dead plants and animals, return more quickly into the soil than if they had slowly decayed over time. In this way, fire increases soil fertility—a benefit that has been exploited by farmers for centuries.

Even some animals depend on fire. The sole food source for the endangered Karner blue butterfly caterpillar (Lycaeides melissa samuelis) is a plant called wild lupine (Lupine perennis). Wild lupine requires fire to maintain an ecosystem balance in which it can thrive. Without fire, the lupines do not flourish, and the caterpillars cannot consume enough food to undergo metamorphosis and become butterflies. In this way, healthier, post-burn plant populations generally have broad food web effects that trickle up to the foragers and other animals in the ecosystem. Similarly, animals that use pine trees for their homes benefit from the germinating powers of fire.

Perhaps surprisingly, the animal casualties from wildfires are low—animals survive by burrowing into the ground or fleeing to safer areas. Conversely, fires can help rid an ecosystem of invasive species that have not adapted to regular wildland fires. While animals and plants within fire-prone ecosystems have adapted to thrive within a cycle of wildfires, invasive plants and animals are less likely to recover and could thus be controlled or even eradicated from the ecosystem they invaded.

Suppression alone might make matters worse, depriving nature of its equivalent of spring cleaning and leading to hotter, larger blazes when built-up forest decay finally catches flame. Understanding and appreciating the benefits of fire is the only way to truly keep our homes, population, and ecosystem safe from its dangers.
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/article/ecological-benefits-fire/
 
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