Understanding Fire Regimes and the Ecological Effects of Fire

Davies, G. Matt

doi:10.1002/9781118529539.ch6

Cited by 8 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 120 publications

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“…This suggests that fires in early conifer‐dominated ecosystems were likely quick‐burning ‘flashy’ fires. Whether a surface fire will reach the tree crown or ignite the crown relies strongly on fire intensity (Davies ). Because the scale‐leaved morphologies supported rapid energy release and therefore burned with high peak fire intensities, thus generating long flame lengths, this would be more likely to enhance drying and crown scorch, promoting ignition of live canopy fuels.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A 350‐million‐year legacy of fire adaptation among conifers

Belcher

Lamont

et al. 2015

Journal of Ecology

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Summary Current phylogenetic evidence shows that fire began shaping the evolution of land plants 125 Ma, although the fossil charcoal record indicates that fire has a much longer history (>350 Ma). Serotiny (on‐plant seed storage) is generally accepted as an adaptation to fire among woody plants. We developed a conceptual model of the requirements for the evolution of serotiny, and propose that serotiny is only expressed in the presence of a woody rachis as supporting structure, compact scales covering seeds as protective structure, seed wing as dispersal structure, and crown fire as the agent of selection and mechanism for seed release. This model is strongly supported by empirical data for modern ecosystems. We reconstructed the evolutionary history of intrinsic structural states required for the expression of serotiny in conifers, and show that these were diagnostic for early (‘transitional’) conifers from 332 Ma (late‐Carboniferous). We assessed the likely flammable characteristics of early conifers and found that scale‐leaved conifers burn rapidly and with high intensity, supporting the idea that crown fire regimes may have dominated early conifer ecosystems. Synthesis. Coupled with strong evidence for frequent fire throughout the Permian‐Carboniferous and fossil evidence for other fire‐related traits, we conclude that many early conifers were serotinous in response to intense crown fires, indicating that fire may have had a major impact on the evolution of plant traits as far back as 350 Ma.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A 350‐million‐year legacy of fire adaptation among conifers

Belcher

Lamont

et al. 2015

Journal of Ecology

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“…The relative importance of factors is expected to vary among ecosystems but, in general, the characteristics of the prevailing disturbance regime, including the frequency, intensity, and severity of disturbances, significantly impact plant community structure and composition (Denslow , Carson and Pickett , Biswas and Mallik , Davies ). For example, the Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis states that intermediate levels of disturbance can maintain biodiversity by preventing dominance by competitive species when there is infrequent disturbance and dominance by colonizers after frequent disturbances (Connell ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relative importance of abiotic, biotic, and disturbance drivers of plant community structure in the sagebrush steppe

Mitchell

Bakker

Vincent

et al. 2017

Ecological Applications

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Abiotic conditions, biotic factors, and disturbances can act as filters that control community structure and composition. Understanding the relative importance of these drivers would allow us to understand and predict the causes and consequences of changes in community structure. We used long-term data (1989-2002) from the sagebrush steppe in the state of Washington, USA, to ask three questions: (1) What are the key drivers of community-level metrics of community structure? (2) Do community-level metrics and functional groups differ in magnitude or direction of response to drivers of community structure? (3) What is the relative importance of drivers of community structure? The vegetation in 2002 was expressed as seven response variables: three community-level metrics (species richness, total cover, compositional change from 1989 to 2002) and the relative abundances of four functional groups. We used a multi-model inference framework to identify a set of top models for each response metric beginning from a global model that included two abiotic drivers, six disturbances, a biotic driver (initial plant community), and interactions between the disturbance and biotic drivers. We also used a permutational relative variable importance metric to rank the influence of drivers. Moisture availability was the most important driver of species richness and of native forb cover. Fire was the most important driver of shrub cover and training area usage was important for compositional change, but disturbances, including grazing, were of secondary importance for most other variables. Biotic drivers, as represented by the initial plant communities, were the most important driver for total cover and for the relative covers of exotics and native grasses. Our results indicate that the relative importance of drivers is dependent on the choice of metric, and that drivers such as disturbance and initial plant community can interact.

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“…Fire intensity and severity (see [5] for complete definitions) are strongly influenced by plant traits, which are readily observable in the fossil record. Plant traits influence fuel structure, and govern both the amount, and rate, of energy released from a fire, which in turn determines how much energy is transferred to the ground and other plants [6]. The behaviour of a fire, and the degree to which it is able to damage live, dead, litter and ground components of ecosystems determines ecosystem recovery, community composition and/or change, as well as feedbacks to Earth surface processes [7][8][9] and Earth system processes [10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The influence of leaf morphology on litter flammability and its utility for interpreting palaeofire

Belcher

2016

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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One contribution of 24 to a discussion meeting issue 'The interaction of fire and mankind'. Studies of palaeofire rely on quantifying the abundance of fossil charcoals in sediments to estimate changes in fire activity. However, gaining an understanding of the behaviour of palaeofires is also essential if we are to determine the palaeoecological impact of wildfires. Here, I use experimental approaches to explore relationships between litter fire behaviour and leaf traits that are observable in the fossil record. Fire calorimetry was used to assess the flammability of 15 species of conifer litter and indicated that leaf morphology related to litter bulk density and fuel load that determined the duration of burning and the total energy released. These data were applied to a fossil case study that couples estimates of palaeolitter fire behaviour to charcoal-based estimates of fire activity and observations of palaeoecological changes. The case study reveals that significant changes in fire activity and behaviour likely fed back to determine ecosystem composition. This work highlights that we can recognize and measure plant traits in the fossil record that relate to fire behaviour and therefore that further research is warranted towards estimating palaeofire behaviour as it can enhance our ability to interpret the palaeoecological impact of palaeofires throughout Earth's long evolutionary history.This article is part of the themed issue 'The interaction of fire and mankind'.

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Understanding Fire Regimes and the Ecological Effects of Fire

Cited by 8 publications

References 120 publications

A 350‐million‐year legacy of fire adaptation among conifers

A 350‐million‐year legacy of fire adaptation among conifers

Relative importance of abiotic, biotic, and disturbance drivers of plant community structure in the sagebrush steppe

The influence of leaf morphology on litter flammability and its utility for interpreting palaeofire

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