Wildfires as an ecosystem service

TitleWildfires as an ecosystem service
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2019
AuthorsPausas, JG
Secondary AuthorsKeeley, JE
JournalFrontiers in Ecology and the Environment
Keywordsecosystem services, technical reports and journal articles, wildfire

Wildfires are often perceived as destructive disturbances, but we propose that when integrating evolutionary and socioecological factors, fires in most ecosystems can be understood as natural processes that provide a variety of benefits to humankind. Wildfires generate open habitats that enable the evolution of a diversity of shade‐intolerant plants and animals that have long benefited humans. There are many provisioning, regulating, and cultural services that people obtain from wildfires, and prescribed fires and wildfire management are tools for mimicking the ancestral role of wildfires in an increasingly populated world.