Illustrated · 2 min
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What Are Wildfires?
Wildfires occur in nature when forests, plains, or other environments undergo chemical reactions and ignite. This could be due to natural causes, like lightning strikes, or man-made causes, like campfires.
Image source: By Sarah Morgan
How Can Wildfires Be Helpful?
Natural fires are an extremely important process in parts of the world. Earth is a very flammable place with its carbon-based plant life and an oxygen-rich atmosphere. Many species have adapted to the presence of fire in their ecosystems.
In forests that are adapted to having seasonal burning, some trees only release their seeds in the extreme heat of a fire. These pyrophytic plants have specific traits that allow them to survive and thrive in wildfire conditions.
Image source: By N Chadwick CC BY-SA 2.0, via Geograph
Fires can also clear out thick underbrush on the forest floor. This underbrush normally blocks sunlight from reaching any plants below. That causes an increase in competition between plants for light.
This prevents sprouts and saplings from growing. Some plants are adapted to not start growing from a seed until after a wildfire. This way, they know that there will be sunlight for them to use when they sprout because the underbrush will have been burned away.
Another advantage of wildfires is that they release nutrients in burned plants back into the environment. Carbon from burned trees and brush can be recycled into ash and smoke. Other plants can then use those recycled nutrients to grow. It may seem counteractive at first, but fire creates opportunity for new life.
When plants grow back after a wildfire, they take part in secondary succession. Secondary succession is when plants recolonize an area after a disturbance. In this case, the fire-adapted sprouts and saplings are what move in first.
Why Are Wildfires Harmful?
Fires often happen during the "dry season" that occurs during the summer when there is low rainfall. This is when fires naturally occur, so the plants are ready for them then. However, if a fire starts outside of this season, it can hurt more organisms than it helps.
When a wildfire burns more strongly than an environment is used to, it can also cause long-lasting damage. Instead of promoting growth, the blaze could destroy even fire-resistant plants and seeds.
Image source: By Jeff Turner CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
If an open fire spreads into an area that does not usually experience wildfires, it could cause a lot of damage to the ecosystem. Wildfires can also cause pollution through smoke and smog. They can cause economic damage by destroying lumber, crops, and houses.
As the global climate changes and areas become more likely to experience droughts, uncontrolled wildfires will become a major problem.
