“Human-induced fires sow the seeds of the future”

Michael Chelkowski

The article, “Human-induced fires sow the seeds of the future” by Mark Kinver creates an awareness that human-made fires are “influencing the evolutionary process of some plant species.” To further this idea, a survey was conducted in Chile where natural fires were very rare to analyze the impact of human activity. Because evidence supported that human-induced fires have been common due to Spanish colonization, researchers were allowed to have a closer look at the effect it has on Helenium Aromaticum, a native annual herb. It was hypothesized that fires have exerted a “selective pressure on seed traits” so that plants located in habitats with high fire frequency would have “smaller, more rounded and “pubescent seed with thicker coverings” compared with plants with low fire frequency. The results indicated that that human-induced fires do shape seed traits more than environmental factors. Overall, the experiment showed that seed pubescence, seed shape and outer layers thickness have an “adaptive value.”
This can be related to our discussion in earth science with furthering the idea of the evolution of plants. Earth Science is about the way things adapt to the environment. When referring back to the article, the plants had to adapt to the change in conditions. Also one could argue that the human-induced fires are affecting the availability of nutrients in the soil which is needed by the plants through the evolutionary process. You would lose that finer-textured soil that is more fertile and is able to retain more moisture and nutrients. Lastly, when dealing with human-induced fires, the importance of water scarcity comes into factor. The pollution from the fires might in affect create water scarcity which is something that is a major issue across the world. Over the years it has become a major problem in areas, such as the Middle East and Africa, where the number of people is greater than the availability of water. Right now, Latin America is not considered a problem area for water scarcity, yet between deforestation with the Amazon rain forest and human induced fires, it could become a greater problem. The world is growing increasingly dependent on each other so what happens in one part of the world has a quicker effect on other parts of the world.



http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15674495