The effects Of Forest Fires on Wetland Areas

1
The effects Of Forest Fires on Wetland Areas

• ByJessica Pierce October 30, 2003

2
Fire is a powerful force that can pose serious
threats to wildlife, property, our riparian
areas, and wetlands.

• They have effects not only on the forest they
  burn but on wildlife and ecosystems downstream.

3
Sabino Canyon National Park

• . Though fires can be beneficial by returning
  valuable nutrients to the soil fire also wreaks
  havoc on native fishes and plants. They cause a
  drastic sediment flux in small mountain streams
  by filling them with much charred debris.

4
Indicator Species, Such as Frogs can be affected.

• Amphibians are major parts of wetland ecosystems,
  and many species are sensitive to habitat
  changes, including those that occur after a
  forest fire. Soil erosion increases after a fire.
  Sediment collects in streams filling in the area
  between rocks and stones so stream amphibians can
  no longer lay their eggs, forage and hide in
  these areas.

5
Native Fishes May Disappear

• Fires often cause heavy metals such as arsenic,
  zinc and cyanide in runoff
• Fish May Disappear from an area completely but
  usually replenish from tributaries and
  conservationists after the event.

6
The Soot Filled Water Can also Be bad News For
Local Animals
7
Fires In Peat-Lands Are Devastating

• They create many times more smoke per hectare
  than other forest types, and they are almost
  impossible to extinguish without restoring the
  naturally high water levels in these swamps. The
  fires go deep underground and can burn
  uncontrolled and unseen in the peat deposits for
  several months

8
Fires In Southeast Asian Tropical Peat-lands.
October 1997

• Apparently seven different countries were
  blanketed in thick black smoke.
• A whole range of industries from tourism to
  electronics and palm oil production also suffered
  because of the decrease in forest productivity.

9
Long Term Affects

• Experts predict that the long-term impacts of
  this incident, which was billed as "one of the
  world's greatest man-made environmental
  catastrophes", are potentially more threatening
  than the Gulf War oil fires in Kuwait
• These fires affected a wealth of ecological
  resources and the economic structure of
  settlements in the region.

10
Global Impact

• Peat fires may affect the whole world because the
  contribution of tropical peat-lands to the global
  carbon cycle is higher than those of most of the
  temperate zones. 15 of the global peat-land
  carbon may reside in tropical peat-lands. These
  prolonged peat fires are releasing a massive
  amount of carbon dioxide and particle matter that
  might contribute to global warming and have
  long-term effects on the climate.

11
Bibliography

• Beaty, K.G. 1994 Sediment Transport in a small
  stream following two successive forest fire. Can.
  J. Fish. Aquat. Sci
• Berkman, H.E. and C.F. Rabeni. 1987. Effect of
  siltation on stream fish communities.
• Bury, Bruce. Robert Gresswell.21 June, 2003.
  Frogs, Fish, and Fires A New Look at Fire and
  Fuels Reduction Effects . U.S. Department of the
  Interior, U.S. Geological Survey
• Innes, Stephanie. 24 July, 2003. Aspen Fire ash
  dirties rain runoff in Sabino. Arizona Daily Star
• Magnan, Pierre, Isabell St-Onge. September 2000.
  Impact of logging and natural fires on fish
  communities of Canadian Shield lakes. University
  of Quebec in Trois-Rivieres
• Standing Committee of the Ramsar Convention on
  Wetlands (2 October 1997, Gland, Switzerland)
  Wetlands On Fire. Ramsar Archives