Natural Fire

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Some ecosystems depend on periodic fires to maintain the habitats which make up the ecosystem. In these fire adapted areas, fire promotes plant and wildlife diversity and burns away accumulations of live and dead plant material (leaves, branches, trees).

FIRE DEPENDENT ECOSYSTEM MAP

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	•	Common in the southwestern mountains as far north as Washington and Oregon, and east to the Dakotas.
	•	Natural Fires in this ecosystem usually occur every five to 25 years.
	•	These fires tend to be low intensity ground fires that remove woody shrubs and favor grasses, creating open, park-like ponderosa stands.
	•	The life history of ponderosa pine is well-adapted to high frequency, low intensity fires. These fires burn litter and release soil nutrients, thus providing a good seedbed for ponderosa pine seeds.
	•	Ponderosa needles on the ground facilitate the spread of low intensity ground fires, and minimize the dander of crown fires, which can kill ponderosa.
	•	In ponderosa pine stands, fire is generally prescribed on five- to ten-year intervals to reduce fuel loads. Shorter burn intervals have insufficient fuel built up to maintain the fire, and longer periods may run the risk of causing tree-killing crown fires. Prescribed fires usually result in maintenance of stand composition.

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Fire is Nature's Housekeeper

Fires have burned regularly, consuming vegetation, accumulations of insects and diseases, and triggering a rebirth of forests.

Many plants have evolved adaptations that protect them as a species against the effects of wildland fire, and some are even strengthened by it.

Nearly every region in the country has some kind of fire dependent plant or tree.

Some ecosystems such as deserts are not fire dependent and fire needs to be put out quickly to reduce damage.