A Literature Review Analyzing Insect Adaptations to Fire

A Literature Review Analyzing Insect Adaptations to Fire
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A Literature Review Analyzing Insect Adaptations to Fire
Introduction
It is often argued that fire serves as an environmental filter in that it selects functional traits and species, and reduces the variability of species within the ecosystem, affecting the function of the ecosystem as well as underlying services (Moretti et al., 2010). Fire has been a common phenomenon on Earth, and it has been influential on the development of life on Earth. Both animal and plant species have adapted to survive in high temperatures through a natural selection process. Through this process, animal and plant species have been changing their shape, size, as well as their ability to survive in various environmental conditions. The implication of this is that fire has been playing an integral role in shaping various ecosystems. In this regard, Parker, Clancy and Mathiasen (2006) assert that insects and fire are integrated, natural of North America’s western forests. Indeed, many organisms have been able to develop the necessary characteristics that facilitate them to survive in either the absence or presence of fire. In this regard, it is worth noting that the extent of such adaptations varies in accordance with the type of ecosystem in question.
The disturbance that fire causes in the ecosystem is highly significant in sustaining, shaping and promoting some succession stages, and it contributes greatly to the living systems’ dynamic nature (Thom, Daniels, Kobziar & Colburn, 2015). While some ecosystems have evolved greatly in the presence of fire, other ecosystems require fire in order to survive. On the same note, some organisms require fire in order to fulfill a particular requirement in their life cycle. For instance, some insects require fire so that it can create their habitats by burning or damaging trees. Fire can be beneficial to some insects at the expense of other insects. In this case, some insects are actually attracted to fire. Generally, the impact of fire on various forms of insects could have enormous implications for the general ecosystem. Indeed, some researchers propose that both pathogen and insect outbreaks occur mainly due to fire suppression (Engstrom, 2010). This research paper seeks to critically analyze insect adaptations to fire in terms of causes and implications for the future; possible solutions; and the positive and negative impact these solutions will have on local, regional, and international level.
Impact of Fire on Insects
Engstrom (2010) recognized three major extents on which fire impacts on insects. First, fire can result in death or injury to individual organisms, fire cam motivates organisms to move into or from the burned region. Toxic impacts of smoke, high temperatures, as well as oxygen depletion can result in impairment or mortality of organisms. While the habitat near the burnt can provide water, shelter, and food for some insects, other insects find the burned habitat to be suitable for their survival as it provides favorable conditions for them. As such, these insects take advantage of the prevailing post-fire conditions. Second, despite the fact that enough, some forms of insect species may survive after the occurrence of fire in a certain habitat, the aftermath processes; including immigration, predation, and starvation within the post-fire ecosystem will determine the viability of the population (Engstrom, 2010). The third effect of fire in insects is that it can result in the modification of a certain insect species and thus creating adaptations to fire. Such three levels correspond to, one, first-order, or direct impacts that take place over a short period of time; two, indirect or second-order effects which depend on the historical fire interval and fire characteristics’ variation; and three, evolutionary impacts of fire on insects (Engstrom, 2010).
Fire attracts some forms of insect species in search of essential resources such as food. However, some insects move away from the burnt habitat as fire will result in death or injury of such insects. In this regard, the duration of time that such insects are to the fire (high temperatures), is smoke is essential; hence fire detection as well as avoidance is the necessary behavioral characteristics for the survival of such insects, especially the less mobile insects. According to Parker, Clancy and Mathiasen (2006), fire can alter the ground-dwelling anthropoids’ populations as a result of the changes that fire causes in the post-fire communities of vegetation. Additionally, fire can also alter such arthropods’ populations by forming a mosaic of habitats because of different fire intensities. Thus, the insects existing in the post-fire habitats may different compositions in the same ecosystem. As the communities of vegetation change over time after the occurrence of fire, the insect communities in the ecosystem may change as well. For instance, after a short duration of time following the occurrence of fire, fewer individuals and species of ground-dwelling insects and other arthropods may be found in burned habitats compared to unburned habitats. This is probably because the fire results in the depletion of the cover substrates required by some insect species.
However, several years after the occurrence of fire, it is possible for observer many more species in the burned habitat than in the unburned habitats. This is because of the accompanying vegetation growth that occurs in the post-fire conditions. Studies have emphasized the significance of post-fire conditions in providing suitable habitats for various surface dwelling staphylinid and carabid beetle species (Ozaki & Hefetz, 2014). Similarly, Parker, Clancy and Mathiasen (2006) asserts that more of the so-called pyrophilous insect species can be found in burned tree habitats; smaller insect species can be found in burned habitats; and low insect diversity can be observed in the burned habitats. However, fire suppression can modify the structure if forests and thus resulting in the extinction of some insect species.
The majority of studies regarding the effect of fire on the ground-dwelling insects focus on the populations of ground beetles (Engstrom, 2010). According to Verble-Pearson & Yanoviak (2014), researchers often use leaf litter arthropods as the focal taxon while studying the impact of fire on animal populations since they are prevalent within terrestrial ecosystems and they also occur in higher intensities. The impacts of fire on insects are multifaceted in degree, time, and scale of severity. Fire can be temporarily destructive on some insect species by resulting in direct mortality of the insects in its path. Additionally, fire can be indirectly destructive by causing the loss of the necessary resources needed for the survival of some insect species. Notably, fire can be beneficial for the survival of some insect species by releasing previously unavailable nutrients such as duff, litter, and dead wood. According to Thom, Daniels, Kobziar and Colburn (2015), insects as well as other arthropods are able to survive fire by moving away from the effects of fire such as heat and smoke, or by seeking refugees. Populations of insects can be augmented through the colonization of the burned habitats after the fire from the surrounding occupied and unburned areas (Willis, Chong, Wilder, Eubanks, Holway & Suarez, 2015). Both these responses are dependent on the presence of suitable unburned habitats within the proximity of some insect species.
Alterations in the frequency of fire can have substantial impact on nitrogen and carbon cycling and on primary productivity in the terrestrial ecosystems. Fire could alter the availability of certain nutrients to certain plants which in turn affects insect behavior. It can also alter both litter quality and litter quantity and thus directly influencing insect populations, especially ground-dwelling insects. According to Christie and York (2009), fire enhances nitrogen mineralization because frequent burning eventually results in long-term reduction in nitrogen availability and cycling. These effects of fire have various implications for the components of ecosystem processes and functions. Particularly, Buckingham, Murphy and Gibb (2015) points out that there is a strong correlation between insect herbivory and foliar nutrients, especially nitrogen. As such, since fire can directly alter the process of nutrient cycling, it is possible that fire can alter insect populations.
Causes and Implications for the Future
Since some insect species can survive fire and continue thriving in the burned habitat, it means that the use of prescribed fire as a method of insect control will be ineffective. In light of this, Armitage and Ober (2012) assert that the dynamics of various insect species vary greatly in accordance to the prescribed fire, demonstrating neutral, negative and positive effects which are dependent on the type of insect species under study, burn frequency, burn season, type and nature of habitat ...