Prior to the European colonization of the Americas, indigenous peoples used fire to modify the landscape. [1] This influence over the fire regime was part of the environmental cycles and maintenance of wildlife habitats that sustained the cultures and economies of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. [2] What was initially perceived by colonists as "untouched, pristine" wilderness in North America was the cumulative result of the Indigenous use of fire, creating an mosaic of grasslands and forests across North America, sustained and managed by the peoples indigenous to the landscape. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
Radical disruption of Indigenous burning practices occurred with European colonization and the forced relocation of those who had historically maintained the landscape. [8] Some colonists understood the traditional use and benefits of low-intensity broadcast burns ("Indian-type" fires), but others feared and suppressed them. [8] By the 1880s, the impacts of colonization had devastated indigenous populations, and fire exclusion had become more widespread. By the early 20th century, fire suppression had become the official US federal policy. [9]
Understanding pre-colonization land management and the traditional knowledge held by the Indigenous peoples who practice it provides an important basis for current re-engagement with the landscape and is critical for the correct interpretation of the ecological basis for vegetation distribution. [10] [11] [12] [13]
Prior to the arrival of Europeans, Native Americans played a major role in determining the diversity of their ecosystems. [14] [15]
The most significant type of environmental change brought about by Precolumbian human activity was the modification of vegetation. [...] Vegetation was primarily altered by the clearing of forest and by intentional burning. Natural fires certainly occurred but varied in frequency and strength in different habitats. Anthropogenic fires, for which there is ample documentation, tended to be more frequent but weaker, with a different seasonality than natural fires, and thus had a different type of influence on vegetation. The result of clearing and burning was, in many regions, the conversion of forest to grassland, savanna, scrub, open woodland, and forest with grassy openings. (William M. Denevan) [16]
Fire was used to keep large areas of forest and mountains free of undergrowth for hunting or travel, or to create berry patches. [17] [14] [18]
Authors such as William Henry Hudson, Longfellow, Francis Parkman, and Thoreau contributed to the widespread myth [15] that pre-Columbian North America was a pristine, natural wilderness, "a world of barely perceptible human disturbance.” [19] At the time of these writings, however, enormous tracts of land had already been allowed to succeed to climax due to the reduction in anthropogenic fires after the depopulation of Native peoples from epidemics of diseases introduced by Europeans in the 16th century, forced relocation, and warfare.
When first encountered by Europeans, many ecosystems were the result of repeated fires every one to three years, resulting in the replacement of forests with grassland or savanna, or opening up the forest by removing undergrowth. [20] Terra preta soils, created by slow burning, are found mainly in the Amazon basin, where estimates of the area covered range from 0.1 to 0.3%, or 6,300 to 18,900 km2 of low forested Amazonia to 1.0% or more. [21] [22] [23]
In the Klamath Valley region of northern California, the frequent and low-intensity fire of cultural burns are key to keeping grasslands open that otherwise would be invaded by conifers, which are less fire tolerant than the native oak. In the Pacific Northwest, the implementation of cultural burning led by tribal practitioners has been found to facilitate the growth of culturally important plants such as camas, yampa, and tarweed. [24] Camas, yampa, and tarweed are all plants that have been part to several tribes' diets. The Blackfoot, Cree, and Nez Perce tribes would eat the bulbs of the Common Camas (Camassia quamash), which could be steamed or dried to make flour. [25] Yampa, part of the genus Perideridia and also known as wild carrots, are harvested by the Yokut tribe of the San Joaquin Valley, California. [26] [27] The seeds are tarweed are also edible, described as "rich as butter." [27] Burning to keep grasslands open can provide space for diverse flora that grow in very few places, found in the diversity of prairies, like the western lily and Howell's triteleia. [24]
There is some argument about the effect of human-caused burning when compared to lightning in western North America. Eyewitness accounts of extensive pre-settlement prairie in the 1600s, and the rapid conversion of extensive prairie areas to woodland on settlement, combined with accounts of the efforts made to make indigenous prairie burning practices illegal in Canada and the US, all point to widespread pre-settlement control of fire with the intent to maintain and expand prairie areas. [20] As Emily Russell (1983) has pointed out, “There is no strong evidence that Indians purposely burned large areas....The presence of Indians did, however, undoubtedly increase the frequency of fires above the low numbers caused by lightning.” As might be expected, Indian fire use had its greatest impact “in local areas near Indian habitations.” [28] [29]
Reasons given for intentional burns in pre-contact ecosystems are numerous. They include:
By the time that European explorers first arrived in North America, millions of acres of "natural" landscapes were already manipulated and maintained for human use. [3] [4] [5] Fires indicated the presence of humans to many European explorers and settlers arriving on ship. In San Pedro Bay in 1542, chaparral fires provided that signal to Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, and later to others across all of what would be named California. [40]
In the American west, it is estimated that 456,500 acres (184,737 ha) burned annually pre-settlement in what is now Oregon and Washington. [41]
By the 17th century, native populations were greatly affected by the genocidal structure of settler colonialism. [42] [43] Many colonists often either deliberately set wildfires and/or allowed out of control fires to "run free." Also, sheep and cattle owners, as well as shepherds and cowboys, often set the alpine meadows and prairies on fire at the end of the grazing season to burn the dried grasses, reduce brush, and kill young trees, as well as encourage the growth of new grasses for the following summer and fall grazing season. [14] Native people were forced off their traditional landbases or killed, and traditional land management practices were eventually made illegal by settler governance. [44]
By the 19th century, many Indigenous nations had been forced to sign treaties with the federal government and relocate to reservations, [45] which were sometimes hundreds of miles away from their ancestral homelands. [14] In addition to violent and forced removal, fire suppression would become part of colonial methods of removal and genocide. As sociologist Kari Norgaard has shown, "Fire suppression was mandated by the very first session of the California Legislature in 1850 during the apex of genocide in the northern part of the state." [46] For example, the Karuk peoples of Northern California "burn [the forest] to enhance the quality of forest food species like elk, deer, acorns, mushrooms, and lilies, as well as basketry materials such as hazel and willow, but also keep travel routes open.” [39] When such relationships to their environment were made illegal through fire suppression, it would have dramatic consequences on their methods of relating to one another, their environment, their food sources, and their educational practices. [46] [47] [48] Thus, many scholars have argued that fire suppression can be seen as a form of "Colonial Ecological Violence," "which results in particular risks and harms experienced by Native peoples and communities." [49]
Through the turn of the 20th century, settlers continued to use fire to clear the land of brush and trees in order to make new farm land for crops and new pastures for grazing animals – the North American variation of slash and burn technology – while others deliberately burned to reduce the threat of major fires – the so‑called "light burning" technique. Light burning is also been called "Paiute forestry," a direct but derogatory reference to southwestern tribal burning habits. [50] The ecological impacts of settler fires were vastly different than those of their Native American predecessors. Cultural burning practices were functionally made illegal with the passage of the Weeks Act in 1911. [51]
Removal of indigenous populations and their controlled burning practices have resulted in major ecological changes, including increased severity of wild fires, especially in combination with Climate change. [45] [52] Attitudes towards Native American-type burning have shifted in recent times, and Tribal agencies and organizations, now with fewer restrictions placed on them, have resumed their traditional use of fire practices in a modern context by reintroducing fire to fire-adapted ecosystems, on and adjacent to, tribal lands. [2] [53] [45] [54] Many foresters and ecologists have also recognized the importance of Native fire practices. They are now learning from traditional fire practitioners and using controlled burns to reduce fuel accumulations, change species composition, and manage vegetation structure and density for healthier forests and rangelands. [45] [55] [56]
A study of the anthropological use of fire in the Jemez Mountain was conducted using charcoal samples in the soil and fire scars in tree rings. The study found that increases in low severity ecological fires were positively correlated with population changes, rather than climate changes. The study also found, from fungal evidence, that there were more herbivores present at times of increased burning and that the fires that occurred during the period of ancient settlement were less severe than modern wildfires in the region. [34]
A study of sites in Massachusetts that were inhabited from 3000 BCE to 1000 CE found that the precedence of low severity landscape fires was correlated with periods of habitation by looking at charcoal sentiment samples. The research also found that periods of intense burning were correlated with increases in chestnut trees through looking at fossilized pollen samples. The study did not find any archaeological evidence that the fires were intentionally set, but a combination of historic accounts from the region, the correlation with habitation, and the incentive for burning to increase nut producing trees, it is likely that these were anthropogenic fires. [57]
A study of charcoal and pollen deposits in Tennessee found regular anthropological fires were occurring from 3000 years ago to 200 years ago. However, the study found no evidence that the fires changed the overall vegetation that was present in the region. [58]
Research conducted by Paul Delcort in Kentucky pioneered the study of anthropogenic fires in the United States using archaeological techniques. These studies looked at pollen and charcoal sediment samples from sites in Kentucky to chart fires over time due to climate changes and human activity. The study found that between 1000 BCE and 1800 CE there was increased charcoal concentrations, suggesting frequent low severity fires. During this same period there was an increase in pollen from fire adapted tree species such as oak, chestnut, and hickory. There was also an increase in pollen from sunflowers and goose foot in forest areas which may suggest that there was food production in burned ecosystems. The studies found that fires which coincided with human habitation prior to fire suppression resulted in a diverse patchwork ecosystem with many plants that could be used by humans. [30]
A Paleoarchealogical study of the Ohio River Valley in West Virginia found that ecosystems experienced coevolution with humans due to land management practices. The study concluded that these practices included burning and land clearing. They found that these practices altered soil carbon cycling and the diversity of plant species. They found that the use of fire decreased biomass, increased charcoal abundance, and potentially led to more usable vegetation. [59]
Chaparral is a shrubland plant community found primarily in California, in southern Oregon and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean climate and infrequent, high-intensity crown fires.
A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica and are found in most ecoregions of the Earth. Furthermore, grasslands are one of the largest biomes on Earth and dominate the landscape worldwide. There are different types of grasslands: natural grasslands, semi-natural grasslands, and agricultural grasslands. They cover 31–69% of the Earth's land area.
A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to support an unbroken herbaceous layer consisting primarily of grasses. According to Britannica, there exists four savanna forms; savanna woodland where trees and shrubs form a light canopy, tree savanna with scattered trees and shrubs, shrub savanna with distributed shrubs, and grass savanna where trees and shrubs are mostly nonexistent.
A controlled or prescribed (Rx) burn, which can include hazard reduction burning, backfire, swailing or a burn-off, is a fire set intentionally for purposes of forest management, fire suppression, farming, prairie restoration or greenhouse gas abatement. A controlled burn may also refer to the intentional burning of slash and fuels through burn piles. Fire is a natural part of both forest and grassland ecology and has been used by indigenous people across the world for millennia to promote biodiversity and cultivate wild crops.
Ecological restoration is the process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged, or destroyed. It is distinct from conservation in that it attempts to retroactively repair already damaged ecosystems rather than take preventative measures. Ecological restoration can reverse biodiversity loss, combat climate change, and support local economies. The United Nations named 2021-2030 the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.
Historical ecology is a research program that focuses on the interactions between humans and their environment over long-term periods of time, typically over the course of centuries. In order to carry out this work, historical ecologists synthesize long-series data collected by practitioners in diverse fields. Rather than concentrating on one specific event, historical ecology aims to study and understand this interaction across both time and space in order to gain a full understanding of its cumulative effects. Through this interplay, humans adapt to and shape the environment, continuously contributing to landscape transformation. Historical ecologists recognize that humans have had world-wide influences, impact landscape in dissimilar ways which increase or decrease species diversity, and that a holistic perspective is critical to be able to understand that system.
Fire ecology is a scientific discipline concerned with the effects of fire on natural ecosystems. Many ecosystems, particularly prairie, savanna, chaparral and coniferous forests, have evolved with fire as an essential contributor to habitat vitality and renewal. Many plant species in fire-affected environments use fire to germinate, establish, or to reproduce. Wildfire suppression not only endangers these species, but also the animals that depend upon them.
Fire-stick farming, also known as cultural burning and cool burning, is the practice of Aboriginal Australians regularly using fire to burn vegetation, which has been practised for thousands of years. There are a number of purposes for doing this special type of controlled burning, including to facilitate hunting, to change the composition of plant and animal species in an area, weed control, hazard reduction, and increase of biodiversity.
Prairie restoration is a conservation effort to restore prairie lands that were destroyed due to industrial, agricultural, commercial, or residential development. The primary aim is to return areas and ecosystems to their previous state before their depletion.
Wildfire suppression is a range of firefighting tactics used to suppress wildfires. Firefighting efforts depend on many factors such as the available fuel, the local atmospheric conditions, the features of the terrain, and the size of the wildfire. Because of this wildfire suppression in wild land areas usually requires different techniques, equipment, and training from the more familiar structure fire fighting found in populated areas. Working in conjunction with specially designed aerial firefighting aircraft, fire engines, tools, firefighting foams, fire retardants, and using various firefighting techniques, wildfire-trained crews work to suppress flames, construct fire lines, and extinguish flames and areas of heat in order to protect resources and natural wilderness. Wildfire suppression also addresses the issues of the wildland–urban interface, where populated areas border with wild land areas.
The eastern woodlands of the United States covered large portions of the southeast side of the continent until the early 20th century. These were in a fire ecology of open grassland and forests with low ground cover of herbs and grasses.
Pre-Columbian woodlands of North America, consisting of a mixed woodland-grassland ecosystem, were maintained by both natural lightning fires and by Native Americans before the significant arrival of Europeans. Although decimated by widespread epidemic disease, Native Americans in the 16th century continued using fire to clear woodlands until European colonists began colonizing the eastern seaboard. Many colonists continued the practice of burning to clear underbrush, reinforced by their similar experience in Europe, but some land reverted to forest.
Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) describes indigenous and other traditional knowledge of local resources. As a field of study in Northern American anthropology, TEK refers to "a cumulative body of knowledge, belief, and practice, evolving by accumulation of TEK and handed down through generations through traditional songs, stories and beliefs. It is concerned with the relationship of living beings with their traditional groups and with their environment." Indigenous knowledge is not a universal concept among various societies, but is referred to a system of knowledge traditions or practices that are heavily dependent on "place". Such knowledge is used in natural resource management as a substitute for baseline environmental data in cases where there is little recorded scientific data, or may complement Western scientific methods of ecological management.
A fire regime is the pattern, frequency, and intensity of the bushfires and wildfires that prevail in an area over long periods of time. It is an integral part of fire ecology, and renewal for certain types of ecosystems. A fire regime describes the spatial and temporal patterns and ecosystem impacts of fire on the landscape, and provides an integrative approach to identifying the impacts of fire at an ecosystem or landscape level. If fires are too frequent, plants may be killed before they have matured, or before they have set sufficient seed to ensure population recovery. If fires are too infrequent, plants may mature, senesce, and die without ever releasing their seed.
Ecosystem management is an approach to natural resource management that aims to ensure the long-term sustainability and persistence of an ecosystem's function and services while meeting socioeconomic, political, and cultural needs. Although indigenous communities have employed sustainable ecosystem management approaches implicitly for millennia, ecosystem management emerged explicitly as a formal concept in the 1990s from a growing appreciation of the complexity of ecosystems and of humans' reliance and influence on natural systems.
Wildfire suppression in the United States has had a long and varied history. For most of the 20th century, any form of wildland fire, whether it was naturally caused or otherwise, was quickly suppressed for fear of uncontrollable and destructive conflagrations such as the Peshtigo Fire in 1871 and the Great Fire of 1910. In the 1960s, policies governing wildfire suppression changed due to ecological studies that recognized fire as a natural process necessary for new growth. Today, policies advocating complete fire suppression have been exchanged for those who encourage wildland fire use, or the allowing of fire to act as a tool, such as the case with controlled burns.
Woody plant encroachment is a natural phenomenon characterised by the increase in density of woody plants, bushes and shrubs, at the expense of the herbaceous layer, grasses and forbs. It predominantly occurs in grasslands, savannas and woodlands and can cause biome shifts from open grasslands and savannas to closed woodlands. The term bush encroachment refers to the expansion of native plants and not the spread of alien invasive species. It is thus defined by plant density, not species. Bush encroachment is often considered an ecological regime shift and can be a symptom of land degradation. The phenomenon is observed across different ecosystems and with different characteristics and intensities globally.
Wildfires can happen in many places in the United States, especially during droughts, but are most common in the Western United States and Florida. They may be triggered naturally, most commonly by lightning, or by human activity like unextinguished smoking materials, faulty electrical equipment, overheating automobiles, or arson.
The relationships between fire, vegetation, and climate create what is known as a fire regime. Within a fire regime, fire ecologists study the relationship between diverse ecosystems and fire; not only how fire affects vegetation, but also how vegetation affects the behavior of fire. The study of neighboring vegetation types that may be highly flammable and less flammable has provided insight into how these vegetation types can exist side by side, and are maintained by the presence or absence of fire events. Ecologists have studied these boundaries between different vegetation types, such as a closed canopy forest and a grassland, and hypothesized about how climate and soil fertility create these boundaries in vegetation types. Research in the field of pyrogeography shows how fire also plays an important role in the maintenance of dominant vegetation types, and how different vegetation types with distinct relationships to fire can exist side by side in the same climate conditions. These relationships can be described in conceptual models called fire–vegetation feedbacks, and alternative stable states.
Cultural burning is the process of using prescribed burns to manage landscapes, a process used primarily by the first peoples. More specifically the Indigenous people of Australia and the Western parts of North America have been found to use this method extensively. This practice created a relationship between the land and the people so strong that the local flora became dependent on patterned burnings. The practice then elevated the Indigenous peoples of their respected environments to a keystone species status as the interspecies connections strengthened over time. Which is partially why Indigenous people still manage 40-60% of all ecological reserves.
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Land improvement by the natives of the New World involved whole ecosystem manipulation to produce the "fruited plains."
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: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) “Discovery and awareness of anthropogenic amazonian dark earths (terra preta)”, by William M. Denevan, University of Wisconsin–Madison, and William I. Woods, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 20, 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-01.{{cite web}}
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: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of January 2024 (link)This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Department of Agriculture .