Fire, Disturbance, and Aquatic Conservation -the Big Picture

Wildfire is a major natural disturbance in the western U.S. and its frequency and magnitude is expected to increase.  It is commonly viewed to have negative consequences to native fish and the ecosystems on which they depend but this perspective is being challenged as a result of new studies.  Wildfire may kill trees in riparian zones that in turn leads to elevated water temperatures, generally for a short duration.  However, the amount of wood in the channel can increase which has longer term positive consequences.  Additionally, erosional events that follow wildfire, such as debris flows and gullying, can add sediments to the channel which aggrades the channel and raises the adjacent water table. Native fish are often well adapted to such dynamic environments, although habitat fragmentation can off-set this in some cases.  Non-native fish by contrast are not as well adapted.  Thus, wildfire can help restore degraded habitats over the long-term and can potentially aid in the conservation of native fish. This perspective is not widely held by many fish professionals, the public, and policy and decision makers so a concerted effort will be necessary to be able to consider wildfire as an aid rather than an impediment to native fish conservation