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Climate change: how are animals adapting to megafires?

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US researchers have examined how wildlife adapt and protect themselves in the face of fires, which are increasing because of global warming.

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Some animals are deploying surprising strategies to adapt and protect themselves from fires exacerbated by global warming. (AFP pic)

From infrared detection to laying eggs the same colour as burnt ground or sheltering in trees, some animals are deploying astonishing strategies to adapt and protect themselves from fires exacerbated by global warming.

From Greece to Sicily, Croatia and Algeria, summer 2023 is beating some grim records when it comes to megafires. But how do animals protect themselves from these risks?

To find out, a team of researchers working for the USDA Forest Service examined nearly 100 scientific articles to identify examples of how animals adapt and protect themselves in the face of fires, which have been intensifying over the years as a result of climate change.

“There is such an incredibly wide range of animal adaptations to fire. Evolution is happening, and will continue to happen, right in front of our eyes,” says lead author Gavin Jones, an ecologist for the USDA Forest Service.

Habitats are changing and species are facing “large-scale mortality and dispersal events”, write the authors of the study, published in the journal “Trends in Ecology & Evolution”.

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The Temminck’s courser bird blends into the ‘post-fire’ landscape and lays eggs the same colour as its surroundings. (Wikipedia pic)

“Innovative research has demonstrated genetic evolution by animals in response to fire and fire regimes, and suggests that evolution in wild populations can occur more quickly than was previously thought,” the study states.

The Australian frilled lizard, for example, hides in trees to escape forest fires, while Melanophila beetles (also known as fire beetles), have developed infrared sensors that enable them to detect forest fires and reproduce while ensuring their own safety.

Even more surprising is the observation that some species appear to capitalise on ecosystems that have been ravaged by fire.

This is particularly true of the Temminck’s courser bird (“Cursorius temminckii”), which blends into the “post-fire” landscape and lays eggs in the same colour as the recently burnt substrate, keeping predators away from their nests.

The aim of the study conducted by the USDA Forest Service is to gain a better understanding of the issues at stake, as well as the resilience of animals evolving in the Pyrocene era, in order to positively influence the strategies implemented to preserve biodiversity.

Conceptualised last year by US historian Stephen Pyne and French philosopher Joëlle Zask, the Pyrocene refers to the age of megafires amplified by global warming, itself caused by human activity.

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The Australian frilled lizard hides in trees to escape forest fires. (Wikipedia pic)

It is closely linked to the Anthropocene, the geological era during which humans started to have a significant impact on the climate and ecosystems (and which scientists are trying to have officially recognised).

“We must acknowledge that fire is not just a process that influenced evolution long ago, and it is not simply an external force that periodically disrupts contemporary population dynamics,” the authors pointed out.

“Instead, changing fire regimes are influencing animal evolution in front of our eyes… Our approaches for research in fire-prone environments must recognise this changing view.”

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