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pyro-
(ˈpaɪrəʊ)
denoting fire, heat, or high temperature
diversity
(daɪˈvɜːsɪtɪ)
noun
the state or quality of being different or varied
To most of us, fire is fire. But for centuries, fire was employed as a tool, not a threat, Jordan Thomas, wildlands firefighter, anthropologist, and author of When It All Burns, told a rapt audience at a book festival last summer. Before the colonizers arrived in California, and, literally, outlawed fire for Native Americans, Thomas said, “fire was a fundamental part of Indigenous food systems. Taking fire away from a land that needs fire leads to land that is very sick.”
Now, after a century or more of taking a fire suppression approach, forestry organizations in the U.S. and around the world have been rethinking the role of burning in ecosystems. Fire, we know now, can generate rebirth, can create pyrodiversity.
I first heard the term while listening to Thomas. (You can watch/listen to him speak with Bluedot founder Vicki Riskin on our podcast, Imagine If). Pyrodiversity refers to the varied ways in which fire shapes ecosystems. The ecologists Robert Martin and David Sapsis, who coined the term, put it simply: “Pyrodiversity begets biodiversity.”
It seems counterintuitive, but research (and Indigenous knowledge, if we’d cared to listen) bears it out: in the year or two following a fire, ornithologists report a greater variety of bird species in the burned area; entomologists count more pollinators; and carnivores show up in greater numbers. Fire can, therefore, be a tool for ecological regeneration or recalibration. Small, relatively cool fires move through an area quickly, removing grass, leaf litter, and scrub (which can act as kindling for more intense fires). Slightly hotter fires clear out some trees, creating space for new growth. These low- to moderate-intensity fires perform a number of important functions: they reduce forest density (trees don’t have to compete for resources and are less susceptible to pests and disease), improve habitat (dead standing trees provide valuable habitat for birds and bats), increase biodiversity by encouraging fire-adapted native habitat, and reduce the risk of severe wildfires. “A range of fire types and intensities creates a healthy variety of plants and animals that, in turn, help prevent the kind of scorched-earth conflagrations that make the news every summer,” writes Carrie Arnold in Anthropocene. “This philosophy, which ecologists have come to embrace — and one that’s long been known to Indigenous peoples throughout the West — is known as pyrodiversity.”
Fire is not a panacea, of course. But understanding that it is not a solely destructive force marks a shift in how it’s viewed. In the right hands, under the right conditions, it is an important (though not risk-free) ecological tool that can help shape habitat, boost diversity, and contribute to our planet’s health.
