Fire: One of Our Most Frequent Natural Disturbances Fire can be beneficial as a disturbance. In addition to increasing the variety of habitats for wildlife, in certain fire regimes it tends to favor tree species that are more fire resistant and less vulnerable to insect attack and disease infection. In addition, fire is an important part of the forest nutrient cycle, especially on drier sites.
Without periodic fires, nutrients become less available to plants and soil organisms. Although fire can be kept out of the forest for long periods, it will eventually return, and when it does, the fuel buildups caused by decades without disturbance usually result in much larger and more catastrophic burns — burns that can consume tens of thousands of acres and do long-term damage to soils and other resources.
Key Concepts: The Take-home message Ecosystems constantly change in ways that are only partially predictable.
Disturbances are common and important in virtually all ecosystems.
The positive effects of disturbance on biodiversity are now well recognized by land managers, but not necessarily by the public.
Efforts to suppress disturbance, such as lightning-caused fires, floods, erosion, drought, disease, and insects, which have been perceived to be in conflict with economic interests, have resulted in reduced biodiversity and ecosystem health.
The more we attempt to maintain an ecosystem in a static condition, the less likely we are to achieve what we intended. We must be willing to bear both the economic and biologic consequences of such management.