As firefighters finally made progress on California's largest wildfire of the year, national park officials and ecologists are preparing for irreversible habitat losses.

“We’ve lost a huge area of native vegetation,” said Debra Hughson, deputy superintendent for the Mojave National Preserve. “A lot of pinyon [pines], junipers gone forever, and a lot of the Joshua trees, likely.”

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  • @MostlyBirds
    5•1 year ago

    Most ecosystems are not adapted to massive wildfires. We’re seeing exceptionally large and damaging fires in places that either don’t typically see them, or see them on a much smaller scale. In the places that do normally get them, they’re becoming far too intense for the ecosystems to handle, and are happening far outside of normal wildfire season.