Silenced by Suppression: The Role of Fire in Amphibian and Reptile Protection
Fire once spoke the language of renewal in ecosystems throughout the US, but decades of suppression have silenced its voice. Without naturally occurring seasonal fires reverberating across the country’s landscapes, these places have drastically changed. As a result, quite often, these habitats no longer provide the specialized conditions many native amphibians, reptiles, and other wildlife need.
Case in point, longleaf pine ecosystems rely on frequent, low-intensity fires. With the loss of those frequent fires, less than three percent of these forests remain, although they once blanketed the Southeast from North Carolina to East Texas.
The Role of Fire in Shaping Ecosystems
Without fire, hardwood trees and shrubs take over, shading and crowding out the native grasses and other plants that frosted flatwoods salamanders, gopher frogs, gopher tortoises, southern hognose snakes, northern pinesnakes, and many more imperiled species depend on. These impacts even cascade up to the red-cockaded woodpecker, which has been the focus of extensive conservation efforts in the region for decades.
The story is the same farther west in the post oak savannah of Texas. Here, Endangered Houston toads once thrived before the suppression of fire, which maintained open savannahs. Without fire, these habitats have become denser forests with thick understories dominated by woody species like yaupon holly. Yaupon holly forms near-monocultures, changing the localized temperature and moisture in these areas and outcompeting plants the toads need for cover.
The Consequences of Fire Suppression
Without regular, natural burns, forests, wetlands, and shrublands become overloaded with fuel, turning what should be small, beneficial fires into catastrophic infernos when the flames return.
This has become painfully clear in recent years, as seen with the huge wildfires in Los Angeles County, California in early 2025. These blazes, fueled by an overload of dry vegetation, ravaged canyons of shrublands and forests—and then nearby homes and businesses.
Beyond the heartbreaking losses people suffered here, the fires also resulted in immediate and long-term threats for amphibians and reptiles. Species that rely on moisture and shade, such as the California newt and California red-legged frog, now face increased risk of drying out on these fire-stripped landscapes. Streams vital for breeding have been choked with ash and sediment, potentially delaying reproduction and threatening population stability.
Plus, every year, we’re seeing more and more out-of-control wildfires in several other states, including Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, and Washington.
Restoring Fire-Adapted Landscapes
To help prevent these large, high-intensity fires, landscapes that historically evolved with frequent natural fires need more active management. Prescribed burns, mechanical thinning, and other actions reduce dense undergrowth and excess fuel, helping avert catastrophic wildfires that can overwhelm habitats.
These efforts also promote the growth of native vegetation, creating a more diverse and structurally complex environment that provides essential cover, breeding sites, foraging opportunities, and basking spots for amphibians and reptiles.
For example, in the Ouachita Mountains of western Arkansas, lizards like ground skinks and eastern fence lizards were more abundant in areas that had been mechanically thinned (Perry et al. 2009). Rochester et al. (2010) found similar results in burned areas in southern California with coast horned lizards and western fence lizards. In both cases, the more open areas created by burning or thinning provided sunny spots—patches of warmer ground that make opportune locales for lizards to regulate their body temperature.
A Future Fueled by Renewal
For these lizards, other reptiles, amphibians, and the countless other species that depend on these habitats, we’re working with partners to actively restore fire-adapted landscapes in PARCAs (Priority Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Areas) across the US.
Without fire in longleaf pine and post oak savannah ecosystems, aggressive shrubby plants take over the wetlands where frosted flatwoods salamanders reproduce and the savannahs Houston toads need for foraging. These woody plants form such a thick, dense understory that native plants can’t grow, including the grass species that the amphibians need to lay their eggs. Plus, the invasive plants absorb a great deal of water from the wetlands, even drying them up.
We remove this thick undergrowth to help native plants reestablish a foothold. In the Francis Marion PARCA in South Carolina, Ft. Stewart PARCA in Georgia, Apalachicola PARCA in Florida, and Sugar Sands PARCA in Texas, we routinely employ chainsaws, tractors, and many other tools to remove woody plants and invasive species from large swaths of forests, wetlands, and savannahs.
We also work with partners to conduct prescribed burns of these PARCAs, clearing out invasive vegetation and creating the soil conditions longleaf pine and post oak seeds need to grow. These fires also maintain the open, grassy understory that supports the amazing native biodiversity of these regions.
Fire once spoke in harmony with the land, shaping ecosystems and sustaining biodiversity. Where its voice has been silenced, we see the consequences—dense, overcrowded forests, shrinking wetlands, and declining amphibian and reptile populations. But we are working to rekindle fire’s role as a force of renewal, ensuring that its voice is once again heard across longleaf pine forests, post oak savannahs, and beyond.
By restoring these vital landscapes, we not only protect rare and imperiled species like the Houston toad and frosted flatwoods salamander—but also create healthier, more resilient ecosystems that benefit all life—humans included. Fire’s voice, when allowed to echo naturally, tells a story of renewal. It’s up to us to listen, learn, and act.
References
Perry, R. W., Rudolph, D. C., and Thill, R. E. (2009). Reptile and Amphibian Responses to Restoration of Fire-Maintained Pine Woodlands. Restoration Ecology, 17(6), 917-927. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1526-100X.2009.00521.x
Rochester, C. J., Brehme, C. S., Clark, D. R., Stokes, D. C. Hathaway, S. A., and Fisher, R. N. (2010). Reptile and Amphibian Responses to Large-Scale Wildfires in Southern California. Journal of Herpetology, 44(3), 333-335. https://doi.org/10.1670/08-143.1