Abstract
Megafires are landscape-scale fires most often >50,000ha (but sometimes much larger) and occur infrequently in any given region. They consist of varying fire-patch severities, including large (>1000ha) high-severity patches of complex early seral habitat for pyrophilous (fire-seeking) species. Megafires produce high levels of beta diversity (species turnover across gradients) via landscape heterogeneity and high alpha (site-level) diversity via a pulse of keystone structures, such as large snags and downed logs and native shrub patches. Longer time lines are needed to fully understand megafire effects, particularly in a changing climate that in some places may begin to close overall fire deficits. New policies are needed to place high-quality postfire landscapes created by megafires on par with other biodiverse areas. Regional conservation planning should view megafires as a restorative agent for at-risk fire-dependent communities rather than ecologically destructive.
Published Version
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