Going up in smoke: Hazardous ecological consequences of wildfire emissions

Abstract

Wildfire smoke may trigger major adverse changes in global ecosystems, affecting the planet’s life support systems. However, while fire has been identified as an important global change driver, and the impacts of wildfire smoke on public health are increasingly documented, the ecological impacts of this haze have been hitherto largely neglected. Here, we help address this imbalance by outlining the multiple direct, indirect and cascading effects of wildfire smoke on organisms and ecosystems. These range from immediate adverse health impacts on air-breathing animals to long-term changes in carbon budgets of forests, and substantial changes in phytoplankton communities and coral mortality. As human health and natural systems are linked, such ecological changes are ultimately expected to have detrimental impacts on local public health, economy and wellbeing. We thus consider wildfire smoke to be a driver of global change, with the current limited literature likely capturing only a small fraction of the myriad impacts from wildfire smoke pollution. We therefore urge further research on this topic, plus actions to effectively steward fire regimes and enhance ecosystem resilience to help mitigate this threat.