2025/08/09 by Juli G. Pausas, Jon E. Keeley, William J. Bond · 1 voice · 11 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · Mathematics · #Astrobiology #Atmospheric and Environmental Gas Dynamics #Atmospheric chemistry and aerosols #Biology #Earth (classical element) #Earth science #Environmental science #Fire effects on ecosystems #Geology #Mathematics
paper · pdf · doi:10.1093/biosci/biaf132
published in BioScience 75(12), 1028-1041 (Oxford University Press)
openalex publication_date 2025/08/09 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Fire is a defining feature of our biosphere, having appeared when the first plants colonized the land, and it continues to occur across the planet at different frequencies and intensities. Fire has been and remains as an evolutionary force in many plant and animal lineages and contributes to explaining the variability of our biodiversity. Fire has also shaped the structure of many ecosystems and the distribution of biomes, and it is an important contributor to the global biogeochemical cycles. In addition, fire has been a key factor in human evolution, and, in turn, humans have modified fire regimes with important consequences for the biosphere. Consequently, fire is an intrinsic factor on our planet. Our challenge now is to understand and predict the role of fire in a densely populated, highly technological world that imposes significant changes on the Earth.