Editing Controlled burn (section)

==Uses==
[[File:Wildwood Prescribed Pile Burning (51082380636).jpg|thumb|Pile burn]]

=== Forestry ===
Controlled burning reduces [[fuel]]s, improves [[wildlife]] [[habitat (ecology)|habitat]],<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.treesearch.fs.fed.us/pubs/443 |title=Whither wildlife without fire? |journal=Transactions of the 63rd North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference; 1998 March 20–25; Orlando, Fl. Washington, DC: Wildlife Management Institute: 402–414 |publisher=Treesearch.fs.fed.us |date=2011-06-16 |access-date=2011-06-25 |last1=Palmer |first1=W. E. |last2=Engstrom |first2=R. T. |last3=Brennan |first3=L. A. |archive-date=2012-03-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120325053444/http://www.treesearch.fs.fed.us/pubs/443 |url-status=dead }}</ref> controls competing vegetation,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Franklin |first1=Caroline M.A. |last2=Nielsen |first2=Scott E. |last3=Macdonald |first3=S. Ellen |date=September 2019 |title=Understory vascular plant responses to retention harvesting with and without prescribed fire |journal=Canadian Journal of Forest Research |language=en |volume=49 |issue=9 |pages=1087–1100 |doi=10.1139/cjfr-2018-0288 |issn=0045-5067|doi-access=free }}</ref> helps control tree [[disease]] and [[Pest (organism)|pests]],<ref name="pubs.cif-ifc.org">{{Cite journal |last1=Weber |first1=M. G. |last2=Taylor |first2=S. W. |date=1992-06-01 |title=The use of prescribed fire in the management of Canada's forested lands |url=http://pubs.cif-ifc.org/doi/10.5558/tfc68324-3 |journal=The Forestry Chronicle |language=en |volume=68 |issue=3 |pages=324–334 |doi=10.5558/tfc68324-3 |issn=0015-7546}}</ref> perpetuates fire-dependent species<ref name=":7">{{cite web |url=http://www.bugwood.org/pfire/reasons.html |title=Reasons For Prescribed Fire In Forest Resource Management - A Guide for Prescribed Fire in Southern Forests |publisher=Bugwood.org |date=2003-03-24 |access-date=2011-06-25 |archive-date=2011-07-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110705084715/http://www.bugwood.org/pfire/reasons.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Louisiana Pine Snake: (Pituophis ruthveni) |url=http://www.fws.gov/southwest/clearlakees/PDF/PINESNAKE.pdf |archive-date=13 May 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060513080316/http://www.fws.gov/southwest/clearlakees/PDF/PINESNAKE.pdf |url-status=dead |access-date=15 March 2022 |quote=The suppression of natural fire events may represent the greatest threat to the Louisiana pine snake in recent years, decreasing both the quantity and quality of habitat available to pine snakes. The longleaf-pine savannah forest evolved as a fire-climax community, adapted to the occurrence of frequent, but low-intensity, ground fires.}}</ref> and improves accessibility{{Citation needed|date=April 2024}}. To improve the application of prescribed burns for conservation goals, which may involve mimicking historical or natural fire regimes, scientists assess the impact of variation in fire attributes.<ref>{{cite journal |last1 = Bowman |first1 = D.M. |last2 = Perry |first2 = G.L. |last3 = Higgins |first3 = S.I. |last4= Johnson |first4 = C.N. |last5 = Fuhlendorf |first5 = S.D. |last6 = Murphy |first6 = B.P. |year = 2016 |title = Pyrodiversity is the coupling of biodiversity and fire regimes in food webs |journal = Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |volume = 371 |issue = 1696 |doi=10.1098/rstb.2015.0169 |pmid = 27216526 | pmc = 4874407 |doi-access = free }}</ref> Parameters measured are fire frequency, intensity, severity, patchiness, spatial scale and phenology.<ref name="Mason">{{cite journal |last1=Mason |first1=D.S. |last2=Lashley |first2=M.A. |year=2021 |title=Spatial scale in prescribed fire regimes: an understudied aspect in conservation with examples from the southeastern United States. |journal=Fire Ecology |volume=17 |issue=1 |pages=1–14 |bibcode=2021FiEco..17a...3M |doi=10.1186/s42408-020-00087-9 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

Furthermore, controlled fire can be used for site preparation when mechanized treatments are not possible because of terrain that prevents equipment access.<ref name=":1">{{cite web |title=Guidance for the controlled burning of heather, grass and other moorland, in Scotland and other moorland, in Scotland |url=http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2004/11/20194/46113}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Bargeron |first=Charles T. |title=Reasons For Prescribed Fire In Forest Resource Management – A Guide for Prescribed Fire in Southern Forests |url=https://www.bugwood.org/pfire/reasons.html |access-date=2017-12-06 |website=bugwood.org |archive-date=2017-12-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171206145431/https://www.bugwood.org/pfire/reasons.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Species variation and competition can drastically increase a few years after fuel treatments because of the increase in soil nutrients and availability of space and sunlight.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Havrilla |first1=Caroline A. |last2=Faist |first2=Akasha M. |last3=Barger |first3=Nichole N. |year=2017 |title=Understory Plant Community Responses to Fuel-Reduction Treatments and Seeding in an Upland Piñon-Juniper Woodland |journal=Rangeland Ecology & Management |language=en |volume=70 |issue=5 |pages=609–620 |doi=10.1016/j.rama.2017.04.002 |bibcode=2017REcoM..70..609H |s2cid=90056096}}</ref>

Many trees depend on fire as a way to clear out other plant species and release their seeds. The [[giant sequoia]], among other fire-adapted conifer species, depends on fire to reproduce.<ref name=":8">{{Cite journal |last=Tianhua |first=He |date=December 2015 |title=A 350-million-year legacy of fire adaptation among conifers |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/284924537 |journal=Journal of Ecology |volume=104 |via=ResearchGate}}</ref> The cones are pyriscent so they will only open after exposed to a certain temperature. This reduces competition for the giant sequoia seedlings because the fire has cleared non-fire-adapted, competing species.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Shellhammer |first1=Howard S. |last2=Shellhammer |first2=Thomas H. |title=Giant Sequoia (Sequoiadendron Giganteum [Taxodiacea]) Seedling Survival and Growth in the First Four Decades Following Managed Fires |date=October 2006 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.3120/0024-9637(2006)53[342:gssgts]2.0.co;2 |journal=Madroño |volume=53 |issue=4 |pages=342–350 |doi=10.3120/0024-9637(2006)53[342:gssgts]2.0.co;2 |s2cid=85700856 |issn=0024-9637}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Giant Sequoia Ecology (Chapter 5) |url=https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/science/12/chap5.htm |access-date=2024-02-14 |website=www.nps.gov}}</ref> Pyriscent species benefit from moderate-intensity fires in older stands; however, [[climate change]] is causing more frequent high intensity fires in North America.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Government of Canada |first=Public Services and Procurement Canada |title=Information archivée dans le Web |url=https://publications.gc.ca/site/archivee-archived.html?url=https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2016/rncan-nrcan/Fo133-2-2015-2-eng.pdf |access-date=2024-03-05 |website=publications.gc.ca}}</ref> Controlled burns can manage the fire cycle and the intensity of regenerate fires in forests with pyriscent species like the boreal forest in Canada.

''[[Eucalyptus regnans]]'' or mountain ash of Australia also shows a unique evolution with fire, quickly replacing damaged buds or stems in the case of danger{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}. They also carry their seeds in capsules which can be deposited at any time of the year {{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}. During a wildfire, the capsules drop nearly all of their seeds and the fire consumes the eucalypt adults, but most of the seeds survive using the ash as a source of nutrients. At their rate of growth, they quickly dominate the land and a new, like-aged eucalyptus forest grows.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Waters |first1=David A. |last2=Burrows |first2=Geoffrey E. |last3=Harper |first3=John D. I. |date=April 2010 |title=Eucalyptus regnans (Myrtaceae): A fire-sensitive eucalypt with a resprouter epicormic structure |journal=American Journal of Botany |language=en |volume=97 |issue=4 |pages=545–556 |doi=10.3732/ajb.0900158|pmid=21622417 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Other tree species like poplar can easily regenerate after a fire into a like-aged stand from a vast root system that is protected from fires because it is underground.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-06-04 |title=Trees have evolved to adapt to disturbance and site condition for success in regeneration |url=https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/trees_have_evolved_to_adapt_to_disturbance_and_site_condition_for_success_i |access-date=2024-03-05 |website=MSU Extension |language=en-us}}</ref>

=== Grassland restoration ===
Native grassland species in North America and Australia are adapted to survive occasional low intensity fires.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-03-13 |title=Traditional Aboriginal fire practices can help promote plant diversity: Study |url=https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/traditional-aboriginal-fire-practices-can-help-promote-plant-diversity-study/ |access-date=2024-03-27 |website=Mongabay Environmental News |language=en-US}}</ref> Controlled burns in prairie ecosystems mimic low intensity fires that shift the composition of plants from non-native species to native species.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last1=Ditomaso |first1=Joseph M. |last2=Brooks |first2=Matthew L. |last3=Allen |first3=Edith B. |last4=Minnich |first4=Ralph |last5=Rice |first5=Peter M. |last6=Kyser |first6=Guy B. |date=June 2006 |title=Control of Invasive Weeds with Prescribed Burning |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0890037X00018637/type/journal_article |journal=Weed Technology |language=en |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=535–548 |doi=10.1614/WT-05-086R1.1 |issn=0890-037X|url-access=subscription }}</ref> These controlled burns occur during the early spring before native plants begin actively growing, when soil moisture is higher and when the fuel load on the ground is low<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Stubbendieck |first1=James |last2=Volesky |first2=Jerry |last3=Ortmann |first3=John |date=1998 |title=Grassland Management with Prescribed Fire |url=https://nfs.unl.edu/documents/fireprotection/Ext%20EC148.pdf |access-date=February 7, 2024 |website=University of Nebraska Lincoln Extension}}</ref> to ensure that the controlled burn remains low intensity.

=== Wildfire management ===
Controlled burns reduce the amount of understory fuel so when a wildfire enters the area, a controlled burn site can reduce the intensity of the fire or prevent the fire from crossing the area entirely.<ref name=":5" /> A controlled burn prior to the wildfire season can protect infrastructure and communities or mitigate risks associated with many dead standing trees such as after a pest infestation when forest fuels are high.<ref name=":6" /> [[Image:Crew member setting fire back burn.jpg|thumb|Northern California fire crews start a backfire to stop the [[Witch Fire|Poomacha fire]] from advancing westward.<ref name="budget">{{cite web |year=2009 |title=Homeland Security Budget-in-Brief Fiscal Year 2009 |url=https://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/budget_bib-fy2009.pdf |access-date=31 January 2010 |publisher=[[United States Department of Homeland Security]] |page=71}}</ref>]]

=== Agriculture ===
{{See also|Stubble burning}}

In the developing world, the use of controlled burns in agriculture is often referred to as [[slash and burn]]. In industrialized nations, it is seen as one component of [[shifting cultivation]], as a part of field preparation for planting. Often called field burning, this technique is used to clear the land of any existing crop residue as well as kill weeds and weed seeds. Field burning is less expensive than most other methods such as herbicides or tillage, but because it produces smoke and other fire-related pollutants, its use is not popular in agricultural areas bounded by residential housing.<ref>{{Cite web |title=State of Oregon: Smoke and Field Burning – Field Burning |url=https://www.oregon.gov/oda/programs/MarketAccess/SmokeBurning/Pages/FieldBurning.aspx |access-date=2023-04-27 |website=www.oregon.gov}}</ref>

Prescribed fires are broadly used in the context of [[woody plant encroachment]], with the aim of improving the balance of woody plants and grasses in shrublands and grasslands.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Trollope |first=W.S.W. |date=January 1980 |title=Controlling bush encroachment with fire in the savanna areas of South Africa |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00725560.1980.9648907 |journal=Proceedings of the Annual Congresses of the Grassland Society of Southern Africa |language=en |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=173–177 |doi=10.1080/00725560.1980.9648907 |issn=0072-5560|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Smit |first1=Izak P. J. |last2=Asner |first2=Gregory P. |last3=Govender |first3=Navashni |last4=Vaughn |first4=Nicholas R. |last5=van Wilgen |first5=Brian W. |date=October 2016 |editor-last=Kardol |editor-first=Paul |title=An examination of the potential efficacy of high-intensity fires for reversing woody encroachment in savannas |journal=Journal of Applied Ecology |language=en |volume=53 |issue=5 |pages=1623–1633 |bibcode=2016JApEc..53.1623S |doi=10.1111/1365-2664.12738 |issn=0021-8901 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Twidwell |first1=Dirac |last2=Fuhlendorf |first2=Samuel D. |last3=Taylor |first3=Charles A. |last4=Rogers |first4=William E. |date=June 2013 |editor-last=Kardol |editor-first=Paul |title=Refining thresholds in coupled fire–vegetation models to improve management of encroaching woody plants in grasslands |journal=Journal of Applied Ecology |language=en |volume=50 |issue=3 |pages=603–613 |bibcode=2013JApEc..50..603T |doi=10.1111/1365-2664.12063 |issn=0021-8901 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lohmann |first1=Dirk |last2=Tietjen |first2=Britta |last3=Blaum |first3=Niels |last4=Joubert |first4=David Francois |last5=Jeltsch |first5=Florian |date=August 2014 |title=Prescribed fire as a tool for managing shrub encroachment in semi-arid savanna rangelands |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0140196314000846 |journal=Journal of Arid Environments |language=en |volume=107 |pages=49–56 |bibcode=2014JArEn.107...49L |doi=10.1016/j.jaridenv.2014.04.003|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

In Northern-India, especially in [[Punjab, India|Punjab]], [[Haryana]], and [[Uttar Pradesh]], unregulated burning of agricultural waste is a major problem. Smoke from these fires leads to degradation in environmental quality in these states and the surrounded area.<ref>
{{cite journal |last1=Antar |first1=Mohammed |last2=Lyu |first2=Dongmei |last3=Nazari |first3=Mahtab |last4=Shah |first4=Ateeq |last5=Zhou |first5=Xiaomin |last6=Smith |first6=Donald L. |year=2021 |title=Biomass for a sustainable bioeconomy: An overview of world biomass production and utilization |journal=[[Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews]] |publisher=[[Elsevier BV]] |volume=139 |page=110691 |doi=10.1016/j.rser.2020.110691 |bibcode=2021RSERv.13910691A |issn=1364-0321 |s2cid=233526225}}

This review cites this research.

{{Cite journal |last1=Jain |first1=Niveta |last2=Bhatia |first2=Arti |last3=Pathak |first3=Himanshu |date=2014 |title=Emission of Air Pollutants from Crop Residue Burning in India |url=https://aaqr.org/articles/aaqr-13-01-oa-0031 |journal=Aerosol and Air Quality Research |language=en |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=422–430 |doi=10.4209/aaqr.2013.01.0031 |issn=2071-1409 |doi-access=free}}
</ref>

In East Africa, bird densities increased months after controlled burning had occurred.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Gregory |first1=Nathan C. |last2=Sensenig |first2=Ryan L. |last3=Wilcove |first3=David S. |date=2010-11-11 |title=Effects of Controlled Fire and Livestock Grazing on Bird Communities in East African Savannas |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2010.01533.x |journal=Conservation Biology |volume=24 |issue=6 |pages=1606–1616 |bibcode=2010ConBi..24.1606G |doi=10.1111/j.1523-1739.2010.01533.x |issn=0888-8892 |pmid=20561002 |s2cid=33746569|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

=== Greenhouse gas abatement ===
Controlled burns on Australian [[savanna]]s can result in a long-term cumulative reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. One working example is the West Arnhem Fire Management Agreement, started to bring "strategic fire management across {{convert|28000|km2|sqmi}} of Western Arnhem Land" to partially offset greenhouse gas emissions from a [[liquefied natural gas]] plant in [[Darwin, Northern Territory|Darwin]], Australia. Deliberately starting controlled burns early in the dry season results in a mosaic of burnt and unburnt country which reduces the area of stronger, late dry season fires;<ref name="savanna.cdu.edu.au/arnhem_fire_proj">{{cite web |title=West Arnhem Land Fire Abatement Project |url=http://savanna.cdu.edu.au/information/arnhem_fire_project.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121127231728/http://savanna.cdu.edu.au/information/arnhem_fire_project.html |archive-date=2012-11-27 |access-date=2007-10-08 |work=Tropical Savannas CRC, Savanna Information |publisher=Tropical Savannas Cooperative Research Centre}}</ref><ref name="Culture.ecology.economy">{{Citation |author1=Russell-Smith, Jeremy |title=Culture, ecology and economy of fire management in Northern Australia savannas : rekindling the Wurrk tradition / editors: Jeremy Russell-Smith, Peter Whitehead, Peter Cooke |year=2009 |publisher=CSIRO Publishing |language=English |author2=Whitehead, Peter J |author3=Cooke, Peter}}</ref> it is also known as "patch burning".

{{anchor|Field burning|Slash and burn}}