Paper Sample on Wildfires: A Historical and Evolutionary Perspective

Introduction

Historical artifacts account for the existence of natural wildfires since the origin of humans and terrestrial plants (Ryan et al., 2013). Over the years, fire played a significant role in the distribution and population of living organisms. Currently, plants and animals in regions prone to wildfires exhibit evolutionary changes that manifested to survival characteristics in the ecosystem (Pausas & Keeley, 2009). In the early years, the major causes of natural wildfires were extreme weather conditions such as drought and lightning (Ryan et al., 2013). However, humans extensive use of natural resources in their daily activities led to more severe fires. Therefore, researchers employed statistical models to predict wildfires’ occurrence and apply preventive measures (Parks, Miller, et al., 2016).

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Many ecologists and foresters downplay the importance of fires in the ecosystem; thus, they recommend employing fire exclusion measures to conserve the environment. Consequently, countries across the globe have drafted and implemented fire exclusion policies that only acknowledge the negative impacts of fire and how to prevent it. Nonetheless, the applied techniques are also damaging ecosystems adapted to thrive after wildfires. Thus, a change in the applied fire exclusion policies is necessary to restore deteriorating fire-adapted environments. This paper aims to elaborate on how fire is an integral part of the ecosystem; therefore, the fire exclusion techniques damage the ecosystem's health rather than restore it.

An in-depth analysis of the statistical models provides a scope of the wildfires' causative agents and the preventive measures. A further review of fire exclusion policies in the United States (US) and their impacts on the environments clarifies the roles of fire in the ecosystem. Moreover, an overview of the US Southwest region will describe the necessary changes required to restore damaged fire-adapted ecosystems.

Issue and Challenges

The increased use of natural resources initiated an increase in severe human-induced wildfires that caused catastrophic damage in the environment. According to researchers, from 2002 to 2015, the Western US forests experienced over 2000 fires (Parks, Holsinger, et al., 2018). The wildfires threaten the survival of biota in many ecosystems, thus the notion of fire exclusion practices to protect living organisms. Throughout history, plants and animals existed in environments prone to natural wildfires and developed evolutionary adaptations for survival (Pausas & Keeley, 2009). However, the extreme conditions of high severity fires posed a new challenge that threatened human lives; hence, the formulation of aggressive fire exclusion policies.

Fire exclusion measures successfully managed to suppress forest fires, but only for a short period. According to Schoennagel et al. (2004), the practices lead to an accumulation of the fuel load, which triggers severe and uncontrollable forest fires. As a result of fire suppression, forests have experienced major wildfires that further damaged the ecosystem's health. Natural wildfires have been a part of the environment and played a vital role in the distribution of biota; thus, its restriction yields environmental deterioration. For instance, Keane et al. (2002) claimed that fire exclusion policies in the US have caused the health of many Rocky Mountain ecosystems to decline. Thus, ecologists and foresters have to consider and acknowledge the importance of fire in the ecosystem.

Furthermore, an evaluation of international and national fire exclusion policies is required to enable controllable natural wildfires. Plants and animals have coexisted with fire as part of the ecosystem; hence, they can survive and thrive in environments prone to wildfires. The exclusion measures must focus on reducing humans' extensive use of natural resources to inhibit human-induced wildfires. Nonetheless, people have to act responsibly and protect the ecosystem's health.

Literature Review

The impacts of wildfire on landscapes is evident in cultural artifacts, fossils, soil composition, and evolutionary adaptations in plants and animals. According to Ryan et al. (2013), in the early years, many US ecosystems were affected by forest fires ignited by Native Americans or lightning. Therefore, the forest adapted to extremely high temperatures and developed fire-sensitive forest species. Over time, the adaptations became evolutionary characteristics that enabled the species to thrive in wildfire-prone environments. An increase in the human population and their extensive use of natural resources led to a shift in the occurrence and severity of fires in the Western US region (Ryan et al., 2013). Thus, researchers evaluated and created a statistical model using forest fires' data from 1984 to 2012 to determine how fire regime characteristics correlate with human activities and anthropogenic climate change (Parks, Miller, et al., 2016). Based on their findings, a significant increase in the accumulation of fuel load caused frequent and high severity forest fires in the Western region (Parks, Miller, et al., 2016). A similar study conducted from 2002 to 2015 established that fuel accumulation was the most effective wildfire causative agent compared to weather conditions like lightning in the early years (Parks, Holsinger, et al., 2018).

Consequently, the US implemented fire exclusion policies to protect forests from wildfires. In their article, Keane et al. (2002) argued that the fire exclusion measures caused a decline in the ecosystem's health of many Rocky Mountains. The suppression of natural wildfires generated cascading effects on the vegetation type, animal population, and ecosystem characteristic. Furthermore, people living around the forest regions were at risk of experiencing unmanageable, high severity fires due to accumulated fuel load (Keane et al., 2002). According to Pausas and Keeley (2009), wildfires are responsible for plant and animal species distribution in many forest environments; thus, their exclusion changes the ecosystems' characteristics. For example, gymnosperms (Ephedra and Ginkgo biloba) have sprouting ability due to crown fires (Pausas & Keeley, 2009). The species acquired an essential trait that ensures regeneration after catastrophic climatic changes. Researchers also found that wildfires produce heat shock waves and chemicals that trigger the germinations of seeds in forests (Pausas & Keeley, 2009). In animals, insect species benefit from postfire colonization of forest regions as the distribution of different animal species' population shifts due to migration in the neighboring zones. The fires eliminate predators and increase nutrients sources from deadwood; hence, ensuring their survival (Pausas & Keeley, 2009).

A critical analysis of the fire exclusion policies in the Southwest regions reveals their effects on the ecosystems' health. The region's biodiversity is declining due to the lack of natural wildfires, which are integral in the regeneration and restoration of environments. Moreover, the measures have also caused further harm by triggering high severity fires threatening the survival of biota. This paper sheds light on the significance of wildfires in the ecosystems and provides recommendations on policy changes that enable natural fires as part of the environment. The research also creates environmental conservation awareness.

Methodology

The paper seeks to understand the shift in fire regimes and the current most effective causative agents. An evaluation of two statistical models that predict the occurrence of wildfires with correlation to human activities and weather conditions provides essential information on the changes. The analysis of international and national fire exclusion policies presents the cascading effects of excluding fires in the ecosystem. Moreover, an in-depth review of the US fire exclusion policies in the Rocky Mountain regions exhibits the declining health of environments that threatens the survival of biota.

A brief overview of the history of natural wildfires and their existence in ecosystems elaborates on the evolutionary characteristics adopted by plants and animals due to fires. Currently, the adaptations are part of various species' survival mechanisms. A further study on the biota's population distribution of forests and their neighboring regions describes the significant impacts of wildfires in the ecosystem. A focus on the woody plants, insects, and soil composition changes in the Southwestern US clarifies the catastrophic effects of the fire exclusion policies.

Understanding the statistical models' complex algorithms proved challenging; thus, the research only utilized the essential information from their findings. Similar causative agents' results and shifts in fire regimes explained the implementation of fire exclusion measures. Through extensive analysis and comparison of the current state of forest ecosystems and earlier environments, the paper defines the vital role of wildfires in the distribution and population of biodiversity. Moreover, the availability of information from previous studies on fire exclusion policies and their environmental impacts enabled comprehensive research.

Conclusion

Fire suppression practices began in ancient times in the Euro-American settlements (Ryan et al., 2013). In recent years, researchers suggested effective fuel management measures to control the distribution and occurrence of wildfires in the Southwest (Schoennagel et al., 2004). According to Schoennagel et al. (2004) research, "wildfires in 1988, 2000, and 2002 burned 3.0 million, 3.4 million, and 2.8 million hectares, respectively." Regardless of the fire suppression practices in the wildfire-prone Western US ecosystems. Decades of fire suppression led to significant fuel accumulation that triggered high severity fires. In the Southwestern US regions, the dry ponderosa pine forests deteriorate due to wildfire regime changes (Schoennagel et al., 2004).