Climate-driven natural disturbances and wildfire regimes: Enhancement of ecosystem resilience.

Authors

Christopher Mgimba, Fredrick Ojija, Marco Mng'ong'o, Gisandu K Malunguja

Published in

Science progress. Volume 109. Issue 2. Pages 368504261463345. Epub Jun 19, 2026.

Abstract

Interacting disturbances involving wildfire, drought, heat extremes, insect outbreaks and wind events are increasingly reshaping ecosystem structure, regeneration and biodiversity. This review synthesises evidence on how climate change alters disturbance regimes, how wildfire interacts with other natural disturbances, and which management responses are most likely to sustain ecosystem resilience. Literature was retrieved from major academic databases and search platforms, screened using explicit eligibility criteria, and synthesised narratively. The review was guided by the Scale for the Assessment of Narrative Review Articles (SANRA). Thirty-seven (37) core studies formed the principal evidence base, supplemented by recent comparative literature used to strengthen interpretation. Across biomes, wildfire-drought interactions emerged as the most consistently documented pathway of resilience decline, commonly reducing regeneration, accelerating vegetation stress and shifting community composition. Interactions with windthrow and insect outbreaks also amplified structural damage and altered fuel conditions, although their effects depended strongly on disturbance sequence, timing and severity. Recent work on megafires, prescribed burning and fire-flammability feedbacks further shows that management cannot rely on single-disturbance assumptions. Instead, resilience depends on maintaining structural and compositional diversity, anticipating cascading effects, and aligning interventions with future climate trajectories. Overall, interacting disturbances research indicates that climate adaptation must move beyond suppression-focused strategies toward context-specific, ecologically informed management.

PMID:
42319765
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 19 Jun 2026.

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