Role and Management of Fire in Rangelands

Abstract

AbstractFire is a fundamental ecological process in rangeland ecosystems. Fire drives patterns in both abiotic and biotic ecosystem functions that maintain healthy rangelands, making it an essential tool for both rangeland and wildlife management. In North America, humanity’s relationship with fire has rapidly changed and shifted from an era of coexistence to one that attempts to minimize or eliminate its occurrence. Prior to Euro-American settlement, Indigenous people’s coexistence with fire led to regionally distinct fire regimes that differed in terms of their fire frequency, intensity, severity, seasonality, and spatial complexity. As the relative occurrence of prescribed fire and wildfire continue to change in North American rangelands, it is necessary for wildlife managers to understand the complex social-ecological interactions that shape modern fire regimes and their conservation outcomes. In this chapter, we discuss the fire eras of North American rangelands, introduce foundational relationships between fire and wildlife habitat, and discuss potential futures for fire in wildlife management.