Wildfires as an ecosystem service

Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment
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Abstract

Wildfires are often viewed as destructive disturbances. We propose that when including both evolutionary and socioecological scales, most ecosystem fires can be understood as natural processes that provide a variety of benefits to humankind. Wildfires provide open habitats that enable the evolution of a diversity of shade-intolerant plants and animals that have long been used by humans. There are many provisioning, regulating, and cultural services that we obtain from wildfires; prescribed fires and wildfire management are tools for mimicking the ancestral role of wildfires in a highly populated world.
Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Wildfires as an ecosystem service
Series title Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment
DOI 10.1002/fee.2044
Volume 17
Issue 5
Year Published 2019
Language English
Publisher The Ecological Society of America
Contributing office(s) Western Ecological Research Center
Description 7 p.
First page 289
Last page 295
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