Fire suppression restructures the whole ecosystem and reduces overall wildlife diversity

Evidence

Wholesale succession of the forest due to fire exclusion is now restructuring the entire system, and gradually eliminating the niches of many formerly abundant wildlife species. While some might find their niches expanded in such an ecosystem, for example, warblers or caribou, the removal of fire would apparently cause a significant loss of diversity and an overall decrease in wildlife. — Miron L. Heinselman, Fire in the Virgin Forests of the…, 442

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: BWCA management excluded fire despite its dominant ecological role — Miron L. Heinselman, Fire in the Virgin Forests of the…, 25; Fire is an intrinsic ecosystem component, not an unnatural disturbance, in the Canoe Area. — Miron L. Heinselman, Fire in the Virgin Forests of the…, 426; Landscape-level diversity in the BWCA depends on a fire-made mosaic of successional stages. — Miron L. Heinselman, Fire in the Virgin Forests of the…, 411 (+13 more)

Related

• BWCA management excluded fire despite its dominant ecological role (similarity 0.90)
• Suppressing disturbance makes ecosystems more vulnerable to catastrophe (similarity 0.87)
• Fire is an intrinsic ecosystem component, not an unnatural disturbance, in the Canoe Area. (similarity 0.87)
• The entire BWCA ecosystem was fire-dependent (similarity 0.86)
• Landscape-level diversity in the BWCA depends on a fire-made mosaic of successional stages. (similarity 0.85)
• Monoculture management and fire exclusion promote insect-induced vegetation mortality (similarity 0.85)
• No large BWCA burns since 1936 already eliminated early postfire communities. (similarity 0.84)
• Fire suppression created monocultural forests that mid-frequency burning heals (similarity 0.83)
• Man-controlled burning can still yield a natural ecosystem (similarity 0.83)
• Fire exclusion policies carry greater safety risk than prescribed burning (similarity 0.81)
• Conservation must protect disturbance regimes, not just taxa, to preserve biodiversity (similarity 0.80)
• Ecosystem resilience increases with species diversity against species loss (similarity 0.80)
• The landscape mosaic remains fire-created even after sixty years of suppression. (similarity 0.80)
• Timber wolf pack survival depends on fire-maintained prey habitat across large territories. (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Monoculture management and fire exclusion promote insect-induced vegetation mortality #expands (0.85) — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 1582
• Suppressing disturbance makes ecosystems more vulnerable to catastrophe #expands (0.82) — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 2073
• Fire suppression created monocultural forests that mid-frequency burning heals #expands (0.80) — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss, 303
• Conservation must protect disturbance regimes, not just taxa, to preserve biodiversity #expands (0.80) — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 1120
• Shrubland diversity arises from varied disturbance rather than a single optimum #corroborates (0.78) — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 672
• Ecosystem resilience increases with species diversity against species loss #corroborates (0.77) — Rebecca A. Martusewicz, Jeff Edmundson, and John Lupinacci, EcoJustice Education, 314
• Man-controlled burning can still yield a natural ecosystem #qualifies (0.72) — Miron L. Heinselman, Fire in the Virgin Forests of the…, 477