Submitted to: Ma’am Houda Javed

Submitted by: Mahnoor khan

Roll no: 1925117038

Department: Environmental Sciences
Subject: Natural Resources Management
Session: 2019-23
Topic: Fire Ecology
FIRE ECOLOGY

 INTRODUCTION
Fire ecology is a branch of ecology that focuses on the origins of wildland fire and it’s
relationship to the environment that surrounds it, both living and non-living. A wildland fire is
defined as any fire that is burning in a natural environment. Fire ecologists recognize that fire is a
natural process, and that it often operates as an integral part of the ecosystem in which it occurs.
 FIRE DEPENDENCE
In the 1930’s, researchers in the southern United States argued against the negative perspective
that has surrounded fire, with the belief that all fire is bad. It was realized that the devastating
picture painted by huge-scale fires produced fear in the minds of the public (and in politicians
and scientists alike), and that this generated detrimental results in response to any wildland fires.
These researchers recognized that there are species of plants that rely upon the effects of fire to
make the environment more hospitable for regeneration and growth. Fire in these environments
prepares the soil for seeding by creating an open seedbed, making nutrients more available for
uptake and often killing plants that are invading into the habitat and competing with native
species.
 FIRE HISTORY
Fire history deals with how often fires have occurred in a given geographical area. Through
recorded history, we can see into the recent past, but trees are our source of information on fires
in the distant past. Trees record their history through a system of growth rings that develop on
the trees each year. When a fire goes through an area, the growth rings of that particular tree may
be scarred. On live trees this is called a fire scar. Fire scars can also be seen on dead trees. Tree
origin dates (calculated from the total number of rings) can also tell when fires occurred, in that
fires gave way for these new trees to develop. The study of growth rings is called
dendrochronology. Utilizing dendrochronology, we can determine when fires have occurred in
the past, and sometimes determine their intensity and direction as well as other information about
the weather patterns in that era.
 FIRE REGIME
Fire regime refers to the patterns of fire that occur over long periods of time, and the immediate
effects of fire in the ecosystem in which it occurs. There are many ways to define a fire regime.
Fire regime is a function of the frequency of fire occurrence, fire intensity and the amount of fuel
consumed. The frequency is determined largely by the ecosystem characteristics, the duration
and character of the weather (whether the season is drier or wetter than normal, etc.) and ignition
sources. The intensity of a fire is determined by the quantity of fuel available, the fuel’s
combustion rates and existing weather conditions. Interactions between frequency and intensity
are influenced by wind, topography and fire history. There are many other factors that can come
into play when talking of fire regimes, though this simple definition will work for most cases.
  WILDFIRE CAUSES
For a wildfire to ignite and burn sufficient of the following three elements need to be present in
combination:
 Fuel in the form of live or dead trees, vegetation and other organic matter;
 Oxygen in the air around us;
 Heat to ignite and burn, from lightning or human sources.
The cause of a wildfire depends on the source of the heat that ignited a fuel source.
♦ Natural wildfires
The vast majority of naturally-caused wildfires are ignited by lightning. When lightning strikes,
it can create enough heat to ignite a tree or other fuel source. Lightning strikes cause
approximately 60% of wildfires in the Province in an average year. While lightning-caused
wildfires cannot be prevented, the severity of wildfires may be reduced through land
management activities such as fuels management, prescribed burning and landscape fire
management planning.
Theoretically, there are other causes that could fall into the natural wildfire category, including
rock fall, meteorite or volcano, but the likelihood of non-lightning caused natural wildfires is
extremely rare in British Columbia.
♦ Human-caused wildfires
There are numerous ways human activity can start wildfires, either accidentally or intentionally.
On average 40% of wildfires in British Columbia are person-caused by activities such as open
burning, the use of engines or vehicles, dropping burning substances such as cigarettes, or any
number of other human-related activities that can create a spark or a heat source sufficient to
ignite a wildfire. The most important factor of person-caused fires is that they are preventable.
 Graziers and gatherers of various forest products starting small fires to obtain good
grazing grass as well as to facilitate gathering of minor forest produce like flowers of
Madhuca indica and leaves of Diospyros melanoxylon
 Wildfire investigations
Wildfire investigations often take time to complete and can be very complex. Investigations may
be carried out by one or more agencies, including the BC Wildfire Service, the Compliance and
Enforcement Branch, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) or other law enforcement
agencies, and some investigations may be cross-jurisdictional. More information regarding
wildfire investigations can be found
 Benefits/Disadvantages of Wildland Fire
 Benefits:
The ecological benefits of wildland fires often outweigh their negative effects. A regular
occurrence of fires can reduce the amount of fuel build-up thereby lowering the likelihood of a
potentially large wildland fire. Fires often remove alien plants that compete with native species
for nutrients and space, and remove undergrowth, which allows sunlight to reach the forest floor,
thereby supporting the growth of native species. The ashes that remain after a fire add nutrients
often locked in older vegetation to the soil for trees and other vegetation. Fires can also provide a
way for controlling insect pests by killing off the older or diseased trees and leaving the younger,
healthier trees. In addition to all of the above-mentioned benefits, burned trees provide habitat
for nesting birds, homes for mammals and a nutrient base for new plants. When these trees
decay, they return even more nutrients to the soil. Overall, fire is a catalyst for promoting
biological diversity and healthy ecosystems. It fosters new plant growth and wildlife populations
often expand as a result.
 Disadvantages:

Fire can cause soil damage, especially through combustion in the litter layer and organic material
in the soil. This organic material helps to protect the soil from erosion. When organic material is
removed by an essentially intense fire, erosion can occur. Heat from intense fires can also cause
soil particles to become hydrophobic.
♦ Rainwater then tends to run off the soil rather than to infiltrate through the soul. This can
also contribute to erosion. In actuality, the negative effects of fires on soils are often
exaggerated, and many fairly intense fires in western United States forests cause little soil
damage. There is also the potential for alien plants to become established after fire in
previously uninfested areas.

 LARGEST RECORDED FIRES

The Canadian Chinchaga fire of 1950 is the largest recorded fire in North American history.
The forest fire that incinerated northern British Columbia and Alberta grew to a final size of over
3.5 million acres.
Wildfires are dangerous and destructive. The historically large Camp Fire of 2018 caused at
least ninety deaths, destroyed more than 18,000 structures, and covered an area roughly the same
size as the Chicago metropolitan area.

 Wildfires in California
From January 1 to October 29, 2021 there were 48,366 wildfires, compared with 47,132 in the
same period in 2020, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. About 6.5 million acres
were burned through October 29, 2021 compared with 8.5 million during the same period in
2020. On October 29, 2021, four states reported six large fires including California, which had 3
fires. Washington, Oregon and Montana each had one fire burning. Record rainfall at the end of
October point to the end of the fire season for northern California, but also brought debris flows
to the area.
 Wildfire of Amazon
The 50-page report, “‘The Air is Unbearable’: Health Impacts of Deforestation-Related Fires
in the Brazilian Amazon,” uses official health and environmental data to estimate that 2,195
hospitalizations due to respiratory illness are attributable to the 2019 fires. Nearly 500
involved infants under 1 year old, and more than 1,000 involved people over age 60. These
hospitalizations represent only a fraction of the total health impact from fires, as millions of
people were exposed in 2019 to harmful levels of air pollution resulting from the
deforestation-related burning of the Amazon.
 Wildlife over Margalla hills
Alarm broke out in Islamabad as the city’s scenic Margalla hills witnessed a fire on its military
farmland.While Islamabad residents were worried to see smoke and flames in the hills, visible
from the city’s urban settlements, fires breaking out in the Margalla Hills National Park is not a
unique occurrence. According to a 2018 report, over 300 incidents of forest fires have been
reported at the park in the last 17 years damaging forests and adding to air pollution.

 CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF FORESTS OF PAKISTAN

Pakistan has very low forest cover, but these forests are very diverse in nature and of significant
importance for the livelihood security of millions of rural people who live in and around these
forests. Policies, institutions and processes form the context within which individuals and
households construct and adapt livelihood strategies, on the other hand these institutionally
shaped livelihood strategies may have an impact on the sustainability of natural resource use.
 FOREST POLICIES
The first forest policy of Pakistan was announced in 1955 followed by the forest policies of
1962, 1975, 1980, 1988 as part of the National Agricultural Policy, 1991, and the latest in 2015.
Most of the forest policies were associated with the change of government. There was much
rhetoric in some recent policies regarding the concept of “participation” and “sustainable
livelihoods” but in practice these policies are also replica of the previously top-down, autocratic
and non-participatory forest policies. Pakistan needs to develop a sustainable, workable,
research-based, and people-friendly forest policy enable to catering to the changing needs of
stakeholders including government.
In July, 2015 Pakistan unveiled its first national forest policy, which sets out plans for mass tree
planting, curbing deforestation and promoting conservation.
The policy has, however, been formulated without consulting provincial governments, the
private sector or local communities.
Experts say the federal government cannot implement the policy until provincial governments
agree to allocate funds from their annual budgets to revive forests.
Forestry has become a provincial subject since Pakistan’s federal Ministry of Environment was
devolved to provincial authorities under the 18th constitutional amendment back in 2010. The
federal government is now powerless to implement the policy without local government support.
 Pakistan’s disappearing forests

♦ The new forest policy provides an umbrella framework for coordinating forestry related
activities across the country.
♦ Pakistan has one of the lowest rates of forest cover in the world, with only 5% of the
country under cover. Pakistan is losing 27,000 hectares of forest every year, driven by a
growing population and demand for wood, as well land encroachments and the failure of
the government to clamp down on the timber mafia.
♦ Forests in the northern provinces of Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa are under
particular pressure. Deforestation is seen as one of the main reasons behind the floods
and devastation of recent years.
♦ According to official reports, Pakistan lost an average of approximately 43,000 hectares
of forests every year from 2000 to 2010. With only above 2 percent forest cover
remaining and a high deforestation rate of the country, the provincial government
launched a billion-tree plantation project named Billion Tree Tsunami in 2014 and
completed it in 2017.
♦ The project won acclaims from across the world, following which Pakistani Prime
Minister Imran Khan launched another project named 10 billion-tree tsunami for the
whole country in February thi.

Forest burning events in Pakistan year 2020

Other positive aspects include plans to establish cross border ecological corridors to protect and
regenerate forests and offer financial incentives to forest communities to reverse deforestation.
Forest burning area in Pakistan year 2020
 RECOMMENDATIONS
 REGULATIONS:
Check with local authorities for any local regulations concerning wildfire hazard. Ensure that
the project conforms to following aspects:
1) any applicable wildfire land use planning regulations
2) any applicable building regulations
3) any existing plans for warning and evacuation
4) any national laws, regulations and rules.
 DO NOT INCREASE HAZARD:
Human activities and the operation of certain machinery can increase the potential for wildfire
ignition. Policies and procedures should consider the potential for wildfire ignition, particularly
during the days where weather conditions are conducive to Wildfire spread.
 LOCATION ASSESSMENT and PROFESSIONAL GUIDANCE:
The high-level information available in this tool indicates the potential for weather that could
support wildfire spread in your project area. Before committing significant resources to this
project, a professional study of both the local fire weather potential, fire history and capacity of
the surrounding landscape to support wildfire should be considered.
 Obey local laws regarding open fires, including campfires
 Keep all flammable objects away from fire
 Have firefighting tools nearby and handy
 Carefully dispose of hot charcoal
 Drown all fires
 Carefully extinguish smoking materials.

 CONCLUSION
Through spatial analysis, it is found that most forest fires happened in less populated areas and at
a long distance from roads, but some climatic and human activities could have influenced fire
growth. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that geospatial information technique is useful for
exploring forest fire and their spatial distribution. To control the fire incidents, the forest
department has framed standard operating procedures and decided to ban fireworks, campfires
and any other activity that increases risks of forest fires
 REFERENCE
http://www.pacificbio.org/initiatives/fire/fire_ecology.html#:~:text=Fire%20ecology%20is%20a
%20branch,both%20living%20and%20non%2Dliving.&text=Fire%20ecologists%20recognize
%20that%20fire,ecosystem%20in%20which%20it%20occurs.
https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/infographic-wildfires-and-climate-change
https://time.com/5453710/california-camp-fire-deadliest-wildfires-us-history/
https://www.statista.com/statistics/553520/area-burned-of-forest-fires-canada/
https://www.iii.org/fact-statistic/facts-statistics-wildfires
https://twitter.com/govtofpakistan/status/996737036311842816
https://earthenable.wordpress.com/2019/10/09/forest-fires-in-pakistan-a-geospatial-analysis/
http://www.lead.org.pk/msd/attachment/reading_material/
Critical_Analysis_of_Forest_Policies_of_Pakistan.pdf
https://www.wwfpak.org/our_work_/forests/
https://www.dawn.com/news/1645565