The use of fire to preserve biodiversity under novel fire regimes
Novel fire regimes are emerging worldwide and pose substantial challenges to biodiversity conservation. Addressing these challenges and mitigating their impacts on biodiversity will require developing a wide range of fire management practices. In this paper, we leverage research across taxa, ecosystems and continents to highlight strategies for applying fire knowledge in biodiversity conservation. First, we define novel fire regimes and outline different fire management practices in contemporary landscapes from different parts of the world. Next, we synthesize recent research on fire use and biodiversity, and provide a decision-making framework for biodiversity conservation under novel fire regimes. We recommend that fire management strategies for preserving biodiversity should consider both social and ecological factors, iterative learning informed by effective monitoring, and developing and testing new management actions. An integrated approach to learning about fire and biodiversity will help to navigate the complexities of novel fire regimes and preserve biodiversity in a rapidly changing world.This article is part of the theme issue 'Novel fire regimes under climate changes and human influences: impacts, ecosystem responses and feedbacks'.
Authors
- Marcello Verdinelli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4320-5407)
- Adrián Cardíl (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0185-3959)
- Paulo M. Fernandes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0336-4398)
- Gian Luca Spadoni (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6083-6051)
- Luke T. Kelly (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3127-3111)
- Imma Oliveras Menor (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5345-2236)
- Maitane Erdozain (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4078-0131)
- Pere Pons (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2196-5544)
- Valentina Bacciu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2361-1416)
- Dolors Armenteras (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0922-7298)
- Michele Salis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0499-9726)
- Manoela S. Machado (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8267-2887)
- Xavier Santos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4330-4261)
- Rachel Carmenta (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8607-4147)
- Marina Palmero‐Iniesta (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4183-6483)
- Sandy P. Harrison (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5687-1903)
- Florent Mouillot (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6548-4830)
- Tristan Charles‐Dominique (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5767-0406)
- Adrián Regos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1983-936X)
- Sergio de‐Miguel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9738-0657)
- Davide Ascoli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2671-5122)
- Roger Puig-Gironès (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4692-8192)
- Christian Niel Berlinck (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9348-3942)
- Guillem Canaleta
- Quel Vilalta-Clapés
Institutions
- University of East Anglia (GB)
- University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (PT)
- Universitat de Lleida (ES)
- The University of Melbourne (AU)
- Universidade do Porto (PT)
- National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (US)
- Universitat de Girona (ES)
- Istituto Universitario di Studi Superiori di Pavia (IT)
- Universidad Nacional de Colombia (CO)
- Sorbonne Université (FR)
- University of Oxford (GB)
- Pau Costa Foundation (ES)
- Arctic Monitoring And Assessment Programme (NO)
- Forest Science and Technology Centre of Catalonia (ES)
- UMR Botanique et Modélisation de l’Architecture des Plantes et des végétations (FR)
- Technology Centre Prague (CZ)
- Centre for Research on Ecology and Forestry Applications (ES)
- Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade (BR)
- Tyndall Centre (GB)
- CECOLFES (CO)
- University of Turin (IT)
- University of Reading (GB)
- Universitat de Barcelona (ES)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences
- Published
- 2025-04-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2023.0449
- Citations
- 19
- Primary Topic
- Fire effects on ecosystems
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 21.00