Ecologists, biogeographers, and paleobotanists have long thought that climate and soils controlled the distribution of ecosystems, with the role of fire getting only limited appreciation. Here we review evidence from different disciplines demonstrating that wildfire appeared concomitant with the origin of terrestrial plants and played an important role throughout the history of life. The importance of fire has waxed and waned in association with changes in climate and paleoatmospheric conditions. Well before the emergence of humans on Earth, fire played a key role in the origins of plant adaptations as well as in the distribution of ecosystems. Humans initiated a new stage in ecosystem fire, using it to make the Earth more suited to their lifestyle. However, as human populations have expanded their use of fire, their actions have come to dominate some ecosystems and change natural processes in ways that threaten the sustainability of some landscapes.

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A burning story: The role of fire in the history of life

The Pre-Quaternary history of fire

Part I. Introduction: 1. Mediterranean-type climate (MTC) ecosystems and fire 2. Fire and the fire regime framework 3. Fire related plant traits Part II. Regional Patterns: 4. Fire in the Mediterranean basin 5. Fire in California 6. Fire in Chile 7. Fire in the Cape region of South Africa 8. Fire in southern Australia Part III. Comparative Ecology, Evolution and Management: 9. Fire-adaptive trait evolution 10. Fire and the origins of Mediterranean-type vegetation 11. Plant diversity and fire 12. Alien species and fire 13. Fire management of Mediterranean landscapes 14. Climate, fire and geology in the convergence of Mediterranean-type climate ecosystems References Index.

/pdf/fire-in-mediterranean-ecosystems-ecology-evolution-and-2wv8dufrqn.pdf

Fire in Mediterranean Ecosystems: Ecology, Evolution and Management

Early Cretaceous life, climate and anoxia

& Introduction Pinus is a diverse genus of trees widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere. Understanding pine life history is critical to both conservation and fire management. & Objectives Here I lay out the different pathways of pine life history adaptation and a brief overview of pine evolution and the very significant role that fire has played. & Results Pinus originated ~150 Ma in the mid-Mesozoic Era and radiated across the northern continent of Laurasia during the Cretaceous Period. Pines have followed two evolutionary strategies interpreted as responses to competition by the newly emergingangiosperms.TheStrobuslineage mostly hasradiated into stressful sites of low nutrie nt soils and extremes in cold or heat. The Pinus (subgenus) lineage has radiated into fire-prone landscapes with diverse fire regimes. Examination of life history traits illustrates syndromes associated with fire-avoider, fire-tolerater, fire-embracer ,a ndfire-refuge strategies. & Conclusion Understanding the current pattern of pine distribution requires interpreting their evolution in terms of climate, geology, and fire. All three of these factors have played a role since the Mesozoic origin of the genus. All are important to the appropriate management of these resources.

/pdf/ecology-and-evolution-of-pine-life-histories-2w3fg09eh4.pdf

Ecology and evolution of pine life histories

A multidisciplinary colligation including new data and analysis of the evidence for the climates of southern Britain during c. 140 Ma. to c. 120 Ma BP (Berriasian-Barremian — ? earliest Aptian). The climate was at first hot, semi-arid and ‘Mediterranean’ (rather than ‘monsoonal’) in type, probably with seasonally opposed winds (E/W). An irregular long-term trend of increasing rainfall in the moister seasons is evident. This was probably associated with establishment of predominant westerlies during the Jurassic-Cretaceous transition and slightly lower average annual temperatures thereafter until Barremian times. Causes proposed are frequent changes in the regional climatic system due to technically induced adjustments of relief under the special conditions of the semi-enclosed Purbeck–Wealden archipelago and increasing proximity of the widening Protoatlantic sea.

G.A. Patterson

Papers

Purbeck–Wealden (early Cretaceous) climates