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Type: Journal Article
Author(s): Gavin M. Jones; Joshua F. Goldberg; Taylor M. Wilcox; Lauren B. Buckley; Catherine L. Parr; Ethan B. Linck; Emily D. Fountain; Michael K. Schwartz
Publication Date: 2023

Fire regimes are a major agent of evolution in terrestrial animals. Changing fire regimes and the capacity for rapid evolution in wild animal populations suggests the potential for rapid, fire-driven adaptive animal evolution in the Pyrocene. Fire drives multiple modes of evolutionary change, including stabilizing, directional, disruptive, and fluctuating selection, and can strongly influence gene flow and genetic drift. Ongoing and future research in fire-driven animal evolution will benefit from further development of generalizable hypotheses, studies conducted in highly responsive taxa, and linking fire-adapted phenotypes to their underlying genetic basis. A better understanding of evolutionary responses to fire has the potential to positively influence conservation strategies that embrace evolutionary resilience to fire in the Pyrocene.

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Citation: Jones, Gavin M.; Goldberg, Joshua F.; Wilcox, Taylor M.; Buckley, Lauren B.; Parr, Catherine L.; Linck, Ethan B.; Fountain, Emily D.; Schwartz, Michael K. 2023. Fire-driven animal evolution in the Pyrocene. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 38(11):1072-1084.

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Topics:
Regions:
Alaska    California    Eastern    Great Basin    Hawaii    Northern Rockies    Northwest    Rocky Mountain    Southern    Southwest    International    National
Keywords:
  • climate change
  • evolution
  • fire regimes
  • phenotypic plasticity
  • Pyrocene
  • selection
Record Last Modified:
Record Maintained By: FRAMES Staff (https://www.frames.gov/contact)
FRAMES Record Number: 68439