Cited by 1,226Fire effects on ecosystemsRangeland and Wildlife ManagementPlant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics

A Burning Story: The Role of Fire in the History of Life

Pausas, Juli G., Keeley, Jon E.·2009·BioScience

Abstract

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.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1525/bio.2009.59.7.10

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66 of 66 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • Fire has been a dominant ecological and evolutionary force on Earth since plants colonized the land about 400 Mya.

    “Fire has been a dominant ecological and evolutionary force on Earth since plants colonized the land about 400 Mya (Judson, 2017;Pausas & Keeley, 2009).”

    From Fire as a fundamental ecological process: Research advances and frontiers (2020) · cites this paper as Pausas & Keeley, 2009

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Authors
Pausas, J. G., & Keeley, J. E.
Venue
BioScience
Published
2009-07
Volume
59
Issue
7
Pages
593-601
ISSN
  • 0006-3568 (ISSN-L)
  • 1525-3244
OpenAlex
W2108403435
Cited by
1,226
References
66
Citations by year
2026: 88 · 2025: 97 · 2024: 107 · 2023: 129 · 2022: 89 · 2021: 76 · 2020: 78 · 2019: 73 · 2018: 73 · 2017: 50 · 2016: 60 · 2015: 62 · 2014: 48 · 2013: 63 · 2012: 50
FWCI
37.96
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • BioScience (publishedVersion)
  • BioOne Complete (BioOne) (submittedVersion)
  • DIGITAL.CSIC (Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Generalitat Valenciana
  • Universitat de València
  • U.S. Geological Survey
  • Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Fire effects on ecosystems
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Rangeland and Wildlife Management
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics
Keywords
fire, forest fires, history of life, ecosystem distribution, paleoclimate, paleoatmosphere, fire use, anthropogenic fire, landscape sustainability, biogeography

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