Distinguishing disturbance from perturbations in fire-prone ecosystems

Jon Keeley; Juli G. Pausas

doi:10.1071/wf18203

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Distinguishing disturbance from perturbations in fire-prone ecosystems

Jon Keeley·Juli G. Pausas

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Abstract

Fire is a necessary ecosystem process in many biomes and is best viewed as a natural disturbance that is beneficial to ecosystem functioning. However, increasingly we are seeing human interference in fire regimes that alter the historical range of variability for most fire parameters and result in vegetation shifts. Such perturbations can affect all fire regime parameters. Here we provide a brief overview of examples where anthropogenically driven changes in fire frequency, fire pattern, fuels consumed and fire intensity constitute perturbations that greatly disrupt natural disturbance cycles. These changes are not due to fire per se but rather anthropogenic perturbations in the natural disturbance regime.

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International Journal of Wildland Fire Article

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Jon Keeley, Juli G. Pausas. 2019. Distinguishing disturbance from perturbations in fire-prone ecosystems. https://doi.org/10.1071/wf18203

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