The Importance of Fire in Ecosystems
Fire is an important part of many ecosystems, affecting wildlife populations in various ways, such as by changing habitat, affecting food supply or quality, or by altering interactions of species. Fire suppression has allowed forested areas to achieve a climax state, which provides less forage for wildlife. While terrestrial wildlife is benefited by fire, large fires through the increase in sediment flow negatively impact aquatic ecosystems. Fire is essential in maintaining biological diversity in the Northern Rocky Mountain forests.
Nutritional Effects
Fire affects nutrition of wildlife in the short-term by increasing the quality of their diets or by alteration of plant content. Long-term benefits are the maintenance of habitats in forage producing conditions. Fire alters the type of plant material present, allowing animals to select for greater nutritional plant material, this improves their diets. Mountain sheep and mule deer in the Rocky Mountains have higher nutritional diets following prescribed fires due mainly to increases in the amount of new plant growth. Plants utilized by the Key deer in the Florida Keys Islands increase in nutritional content and digestibility for seven to eleven months following fire. Although total plant material is severely reduced during fire, the plants recover to original levels or surpass them within two years. Fire increases the digestibility and protein content of lodge pole pine bark through decreases in plant secondary metabolites and organic matter. Although dead bark and burned bark show similar composition, elk use burned bark as a food source even when higher nutritional foods are present in abundance. It is presumed that elk use burned...
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... aquatic ecosystems fire can negatively impact fish populations. Types of fire affect wildlife in different ways. Ground fires have short-term effects and wildlife are not severely impact by these fires. Crown fires show major changes in habitat use patterns by wildlife and have much longer effects, sometimes with. Fire intensity has not often been taken into account when determining the effect of fire on wildlife. The general effect of fire on aquatic systems needs to be more intensively studied. The greatest impact of fire is its disturbance of habitats creating patches, which are each undergoing succession. This mosaic of areas provides areas that are utilized by wildlife for forage. Intense fire is essential to some conifer forests of bird species and in maintenance of biological diversity. Fire plays a critical role in the regulation of many wildlife habitats.
There are a number of interesting similarities between the short stories White Heron and Fire. However, there are also fascinating differences. In the two stories, either of the author used foreshadowing as a literature device. In the Heron, the whistle of the ornithologist not only appears at the ornithologist’s first appearance of the story, but also the end of the story, which makes the structure of the story more precise. In the middle of the fire story, “He would be in to camp by six o'clock; a bit after dark” was mentioned while “He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek, where the boys were already” The foreshadowing echo with each other and tie the whole story together. Moreover, they both have the connection with nature. Also, there are advisors for each of the main characters of the
The ecological effects of wildfires on Yosemite are among some its greatest benefits. Trees like Bishop Pines and Sequoias have evolved in such a way that their seeds will only open when exposed to high temperatures. The fires also help to clear out dead leaves and weeds, thereby making sunlight accessible to new plants and increasing their chances to germinate (Marder). Wildfires are so essential in areas like Yosemite that over millions of years, plants have developed strategies to be successful in this type of environment. For instance, giant sequoias have developed a thick layer of fire-resistant bark. This bark is “the main explanation for tree survival in intense fires” (Gignoux, Colbert, and Menaut). Fire makes the soil fertile and redistributes the nutrients evenly so that the next generation of trees can cover more space. The fires have helped...
The United States Department of agriculture Forest Service investigation report on the thirty mile fire.
Although fire is linked to human life, as it is essential for survival, not only its use for food, security and warmth, particularly in the extreme cold weather
Prescribed fire is a controlled burn of an area done by a team of experienced or educated people in a grassland or forested area. This type of burn is intended to help the health of plant and animal species and restore them to their native state. When certain areas that need to be burned so often do not get burned, they can be a hazard to the ecosystem in which it presides. A forest can get over grown and thick which will create more fuel for a wildfire that can destroy a forest community. In grassland a controlled burn, or prescribed burn, can help eliminate invasive species that can take over grasslands that are harmful to the more desirable plants. This type of fire can be seen as harmful and a disaster by many people, but it has great benefits on the areas in which it is done.
As people of the twenty-first century, we are all too familiar with the frequent occurrence of wildfires in our nation’s forests. Each year millions of acres of woodlands are destroyed in brutal scorches. It has been estimated that 190 million acres of rangelands in the United States are highly susceptible to catastrophic fires (www.doi.gov/initiatives/forest.html.). About a third of these high-risk forests are located in California (www.sfgate.com). These uncontrollable blazes not only consume our beautiful forests but also the wildlife, our homes and often the lives of those who fight the wildfires. The frequency of these devastating fires has been increasing over the years. In fact, in the years 2000 and 2002, it has been reported that the United States has faced its worst two years in fifty years for mass destruction fires (www.doi.gov/initiatives/forest.html.). The increased natural fuels buildup coupled with droughts have been a prevailing factor in contributing to our wildfires and unhealthy forests (www.blm.gov/nhp/news/releases/pages/2004/pr040303_forests.html). Due to the severity of these wildfires, several regulations and guidelines have been implemented to save our forests. In fact, the President himself has devised a plan in order to restore our forests and prevent further destruction of our woodlands.
Thousands upon thousands of acres are lost in forest fires every year. We always hear about the dramatic losses caused by forest fires and are often concerned by them. There are so many horrible effects from fires and most of them affect so many people. Studies have shown that out of all of the different methods to decrease fire damage, prescribed burns are the most affective. Many people would argue that they are not as affective because they cause so many health problems. Although that is a very important view and may seem valid, those health issues are not as extreme as one might think. People should look at the majority of the benefits form prescribed burns and they will see how affective and important they are. Prevention is the key to society these days and is definitely an important factor in saving lives. If more lives can be saved as well as land and wildlife, prescribed burns may be the better way to go about forest fires. Although, prescribed burns are better for the environment in order to prevent drastic forest fires, severe damage to timber and extreme death of wildlife; some people feel it affects the health of a firefighter too much and it causes too many long term effects.
Altho somewhat similar the two stories are very different in many ways. The first story is called “Mystery of Heroism” by Stephen Crane and the other one is “To Build a Fire” by Jack London. Both of the books are part of the short story genre and realism stories. The author's purpose for writing the “Mystery of Heroism” is to tell a story about a brave man who went to get water for a dying man. The purpose for writing “To Build a Fire” is to tell about a man and his dog and how he tried to fight the below freezing temperatures to stay alive. Both authors use realism because they want to tell real stories about people and how they had to overcome struggles in their lifetime. These two stories have similarities but they are way more different than anything else. One of the stories is about a man who has to overcome fear to get water for a man.
Succession is defined as a directional change in community composition and structure over time (Gurevitch et al, 2002). Succession is either primary or secondary. In primary succession plants grow and colonize earth for the first time. In secondary succession plants inhabit and colonize earth that was once inhabited by plants life.
Fire creates the ideal conditions of abundant light and open bare ground, allowing for the germination of new seed populations. The cover of native vegetation will be reduced, promoting the regeneration of the native plant community. Despite this, seeds may still persist in the soil for a number of years, thus, the season following a fire is an optimal time for herbicide control of populations. Seedling and resprouting adult Sharp Rush
This paper is the model study that I have chosen to guide my research question and improve upon its current work. This research study looks at the relationship between wildfire extent and severity, and annual streamflow distribution and timing in the Pacific Northwest. Attention was paid to changes in temperature and precipitation for its influence on snow accumulation and therefore snow melt. The rivers included in the study get the majority of their water from snowmelt and groundwater discharge, which can be influenced by wildfire as well as climate; furthermore, changes in climate can influence wildfire extent and severity. Satellite imagery was used to determine burned areas and magnitude of change in overstory vegetation. Principle components
The USDA and DOI are stuck in a negative feedback cycle, where their lack of ability to fund and improve forest health means forests are prone to larger wildfires, which then means they are forced to divert more money away from forest health programs. The proposal of new funding approaches for wildfire policy enjoys wide biparti...
Wildfires have been a major issue for many years; with the first one being recorded over four hundred and twenty million years ago the world realized they were dealing with an untamable monster. The effects that forest fires have on nature are by far extreme. Wildfire rips across the landscape tearing through and burning every living parcel in its path. If this occurs to often or burns for an excessive amount of time the natural cycle can be thrown out of balance. This equilibrium allows for the best the regeneration of the area and with this disturbance it may be slowed or even stopped. Along with plant life being thrown out of cycle the effects on nature’s creatures is also a major factor. With the loss of the majority of plant life causes the animal’s key food source is lost and many begin to migrate away from the area and into more adequate ones or some just starve to death. On top of losing a food source the anima...
Why you use controlled fires to protect wild areas? I don't think that's a very good idea. Anything terrible can happen like people getting hurt, trees getting burnt down, and the fire will spread and can get even worse.
The Forest fire is occurring very frequently nowadays, reasons for it are a heavy increase in global warming and an increase in temperature.