Fire and water are two things that completely oppose each
other and we never think to connect them within an ecosystem. However, in reality
these two things have more in common than we tend to imagine possible. I have
challenged myself to look into this relationship through an independent study
course. Through this course I have begun to explore the interconnectedness of aquatic
systems and the surrounding environment. Many of my sources suggest that this relationship
is bound by one crucial thing, soil. Soil acts as a funnel, transporting things
from the landscape into streams, lakes and other bodies of water. Soil can work
as a filter and clean out impurities before they are able to pollute streams,
and they can also work as a form of transportation and channel those harmful
entities downhill straight into the steams. Generally, forests and valleys work
to support their streams and they work well in harmony together until of
course, an event occurs like a wildfire. Fires have a way of destroying and
throwing off the balance of an entire ecosystem. This balance is so delicate that
sometimes it doesn’t take much to throw it off and create chaos. Some results
happen from something that cannot even be detected by humans because the concentrations
are so minute that we have no way to measure them, yet they can change an entire
form of life. While fires have been used since the beginning of mankind to
sustain life, they are an uncontrollable force of nature that claims much in
its path.
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