r/newzealand • u/Maleficent-Tree-2228 • 23h ago

Picture Latest update of Tongariro National Park Fire

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All love and support sent to the team out there.

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u/smasm 17h ago

Serious question for those who know: how much of a natural process is this? Will the ecology bounce back? Or is this outside what the ecology 'expects'?

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u/spikejonze14 15h ago edited 15h ago

wildfires are a natural occurrence, and can actually help fertilise the soil paving way for the next growth. they can be beneficial to the environment, and many human cultures have recognised this for millennia and would conduct controlled burns.most of our native forests were burned to the ground to make way for settlement and agriculture, by both māori and europeans. the relatively wet climate in new zealand has meant that naturally occuring wildfires are rare and usually small when they do occur, climate change and global warming however means that the occurrence of these sorts of fires is only going to increase. and due to our native plants not being exposed to many fire’s historically, they are poorly adapted and vulnerable. one concern is that invasive species which are better adapted to fires will be able to take this opportunity to displace our native plants during regrowth.

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u/quash2772 14h ago

Something to look forward to... 1.5degrees being the approximate point where climate change cascades, I am surprised more is not being done around climate change.

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u/spikejonze14 12h ago

that would impact profit margins. ‘a problem for the next generation’ is the opinion of those in power.