pyrodiversity

English

Etymology

From pyro- +‎ diversity.

Noun

pyrodiversity (uncountable)

(ecology) A variation in the kinds of fire, whether produced by natural conditions or controlled burning, in an environment or ecosystem.
- 2000, Michael G. Barbour, Richard A. Minnich, “Californian Upland Forests and Woodlands”, in North American Terrestrial Vegetation‎^[1], pages 180–181:
  Despite ambiguities in reconstructing presuppression fire behavior, there is wide agreement that a century of fire-suppression management has resulted in a large increase of dead and living fuel, increasing the probability of surface fires becoming crown fires of greater areal extent and intensity. That is, "pyrodiversity" has declined from a once wide spectrum over space, time, and intensity. The likely consequence is that biodiversity has declined as well (Martin and Sapsis 1992).
- 2005, Kat Anderson, Tending the Wild: Native American Knowledge and the Management of California's Natural Resources‎^[2], page 18:
  Some scientists suggest that pyrodiversity (the diversity in frequency, scale, season, and type of fire) leads to great biodiversity of plant species and vegetation types.
- 2009, Kent G. Lightfoot, California Indians and Their Environment: An Introduction‎^[3], page 70:
  Consequently, as we see later in this book, Native Californians experimented with pyrodiversity practices in an attempt to diversify plant and animal resources and to minimize the risks of serious food shortages through storage, trade, and mass harvests when resources were plentiful.
- For more quotations using this term, see Citations:pyrodiversity.