Reports of new forest fires in the Amazon, alarming assessments of the Mediterranean coast each year, and the staggering figures of lost land areas and images of forests covered in ash evoke deep concern. These events suggest that pillars of ecological stability may be irreversibly lost.It is estimated that over 90% of today’s fires are primarily caused by human activity, compounded by climate change, which creates favourable conditions for the occurrence and spread of fires.

Fighting fire with fire

Before humans began controlling fire to prevent its spread, natural mechanisms and traditional methods used by indigenous peoples were in place[1]. Occasional low-intensity fires were beneficial as they burned ground vegetation and dead organic matter, thereby removing potentially flammable material that can fuel larger fires. Burned areas create gaps in the forest canopy, acting as barriers to the spread of larger and more destructive fires.

Pyrophytes – plants that love fire

Fire is often associated with destruction and irreversible loss. However, some species have adapted to withstand high temperatures, and some even require fire to complete their reproductive cycle. Evolution has enabled that species growing in warmer regions develop special mechanisms to protect themselves against high temperatures, such as thick fire-resistant bark and the ability to accumulate large amounts of water in plant tissues, making them harder to ignite.

A special group of these plants, mainly coniferous species, have developed a mechanism that requires high temperatures to open their cones and release seeds, allowing regeneration on burned surfaces[2]. Unfortunately, these species are not found in Europe, their natural habitats are in North America and Australia, including the giant sequoia (lat. Sequoia gigantea), jack pine (lat. Pinus banksiana), sand pine (lat. Pinus clausa), eucalyptus, and others.

Natural seccession

The process of regenerating a plant community after a fire is called autoseccession[3]. This process is based on the ability of plants to develop new shoots from stumps and seeds suited to such conditions. Fire can promote greater biodiversity because on newly cleared surfaces, plants requiring more light can establish themselves. Pioneer species, which have a strong ability to regenerate and are not hindered by disrupted ecological conditions, also settle in. These pioneer species gradually restore the soil by creating new organic matter, ultimately improving habitat conditions and facilitating the return of natural vegetation.

Learning from the forest

Destructive events that devastate natural communities have always existed, but evolutionary mechanisms have developed to overcome such catastrophes and continue the cycle of growth. From these insights, we can adopt practices to better understand the dynamics of fires and ecosystem reconstruction. Practices we can adopt include:

1. Reduction of potential flammable material – it is achieved by maintaining forest hygiene, which involves removing old dried trees, excess branches left after logging, preventing the formation of weed vegetation and strictly controlled ground fires with trained firefighters present.
2. Discontinuous canopy structure – building forest truck roads and firebreaks disrupts the canopy and helps stop the spread of fire.
3. Diversity – cultivation of mixed forests decreases the likelihood that the entire stand will be affected by fire;
4. Reclamation – while monitoring natural autoseccession, it is possible to identify which species naturally appear and best regenerate the given habitat.

Ecological conditions have begun to change rapidly due to climate change, and the mechanisms for overcoming catastrophic events are not fully adapted to today’s dynamics of fire occurrence and development. Forests are under significant pressure to produce valuable timber in the shortest possible time, which does not give the forest community enough time to recover independently from fires and restore their ecological balance. One measure that can be taken to maintain vital and resilient forests is to follow and support natural processes.

 

 

 

 

[1] Phillips, C. (2023, April). How forest management can build healthy wildfire cycles in western North America. Union of concerned scientists. https://blog.ucsusa.org/carly-phillips/forest-management-and-wildfire-in-western-north-america/

[2] Pyrophile plants. (2017, April). Insanitek. https://insanitek.net/pyrophile-plants/

[3] Lloret, F. (2017, August). Forest wildfires: learning from the beast. Creaf. https://blog.creaf.cat/en/knowledge/forest-wildfires-learning-from-the-beast/