Effects of wildfires on flora, fauna and physico-chemical properties of soil-An overview

  • Jhariya M
  • Raj A
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Abstract

Fire is one of the most destructive threats faced by our forests. Fire is good servant but a bad master. The fire season starts in March/April continues up to June. Wildfires destroy not only flora (tree, herbs, grassland, forbs, etc.) and their diversity but also considerable long term negative impact on fauna including wild endangered species. Repeated fires can convert some shrub-lands to grass and fire exclusion converts some grassland to shrub-land and forest. Fires affect animals mainly through effects on their habitat. The extent of fire effects on animal communities generally depends on the extent of change in habitat structure and species composition caused by fire. Fire can also influence a physico-chemical property of soil including texture, color, bulk density, pH, porosity, organic matter, nutrient availability and soil biota. Drought, disease, insect infestation, overgrazing or a combination of these factors mayincrease the impact of fire on an individual plant species or communities. Common effects include plant mortality, increase flowering, seed production and numerous communal affects. Fire affected area showed reduction in species diversity both in flora and fauna. In a social context, fire directly affects people, property and infrastructure, thereby directly affecting the health and livelihood of individuals and communities.

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Jhariya, M. K., & Raj, A. (2014). Effects of wildfires on flora, fauna and physico-chemical properties of soil-An overview. Journal of Applied and Natural Science, 6(2), 887–897. https://doi.org/10.31018/jans.v6i2.550

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