forest fire

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ecological succession

Smoke from Central American forest fires drifting over North America, as measured by the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) on May 22, 1998.NASA's Earth Probe Mission satellite can detect smoke in the atmosphere and is thus able to monitor large fires from space. Aboard the satellite, TOMS measures aerosols, enabling scientists to create maps of the smoke's density.

Smoke over Indonesia on September 24, 1997.Hundreds of fires set by loggers, farmers, and plantation owners burned on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo. Smoke from fires set on the island of New Guinea is also visible.

Smoke over South America on March 27, 1998.In South America fires burned out of control in the state of Roraima, Brazil, as well as in Colombia and Venezuela.

How does a forest recover after a wildfire?

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forest fire: Media

Videos

How does a forest recover after a wildfire?

How does a forest recover after a wildfire?

The process of ecological succession that follows a disturbance.

Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Images

forest fire

forest fire

The Rim Fire in the Stanislaus National Forest, in the Sierra Nevada mountains of...

USDA Forest Service

ecological succession

ecological succession

Saplings in Wyoming in 1998, born in the fires of 1988 in Yellowstone National Park,...

U.S. National Park Service; photograph, Jim Peaco

forest fire

forest fire

The Zaca wildfire in Santa Barbara county, southwestern California, 2007.

John Newman/U.S. Forest Service

Smoke from Central American forest fires drifting over North America, as measured by the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) on May 22, 1998.NASA's Earth Probe Mission satellite can detect smoke in the atmosphere and is thus able to monitor large fires from space. Aboard the satellite, TOMS measures aerosols, enabling scientists to create maps of the smoke's density.

Smoke from Central American forest fires drifting...

Goddard Space Flight Center/NASA

Smoke over Indonesia on September 24, 1997.Hundreds of fires set by loggers, farmers, and plantation owners burned on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo. Smoke from fires set on the island of New Guinea is also visible.

Smoke over Indonesia on September 24, 1997.Hundreds...

Goddard Space Flight Center/NASA

Smoke over South America on March 27, 1998.In South America fires burned out of control in the state of Roraima, Brazil, as well as in Colombia and Venezuela.

Smoke over South America on March 27, 1998.In...

Goddard Space Flight Center/NASA