Fire and biodiversity in the Anthropocene
Fire has been a source of global biodiversity for millions of years. However, interactions with anthropogenic drivers such as climate change, land use, and invasive species are changing the nature of fire activity and its impacts. We review how such changes are threatening species with extinction and transforming terrestrial ecosystems. Conservation of Earth’s biological diversity will be achieved only by recognizing and responding to the critical role of fire. In the Anthropocene, this requires that conservation planning explicitly includes the combined effects of human activities and fire regimes. Improved forecasts for biodiversity must also integrate the connections among people, fire, and ecosystems. Such integration provides an opportunity for new actions that could revolutionize how society sustains biodiversity in a time of changing fire activity.
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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Format: | artículo de revisión biblioteca |
Published: |
American Association for the Advancement of Science
2020-11-20
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Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10261/233131 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100003329 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001782 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000780 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000923 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100010801 |
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Summary: | Fire has been a source of global biodiversity for millions of years. However, interactions with anthropogenic drivers such as climate change, land use, and invasive species are changing the nature of fire activity and its impacts. We review how such changes are threatening species with extinction and transforming terrestrial ecosystems. Conservation of Earth’s biological diversity will be achieved only by recognizing and responding to the critical role of fire. In the Anthropocene, this requires that conservation planning explicitly includes the combined effects of human activities and fire regimes. Improved forecasts for biodiversity must also integrate the connections among people, fire, and ecosystems. Such integration provides an opportunity for new actions that could revolutionize how society sustains biodiversity in a time of changing fire activity. |
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