The fossil record of fire first appears with the establishment of a land-based flora in the Middle Ordovician period, 470 million years ago,[1] permitting the accumulation of oxygen in the atmosphere as never before, as the new hordes of land plants pumped it out as a waste product. When this concentration rose above 13%, it permitted the possibility of wildfire.[2] Wildfire is first recorded in the Late Silurian fossil record, 420 million years ago, by fossils of charcoalified plants.[3][4] Apart from a controversial gap in the Late Devonian, charcoal is present ever since.[4] The level of atmospheric oxygen is closely related to the prevalence of charcoal: clearly oxygen is the key factor in the abundance of wildfire.[5] Fire also became more abundant when grasses radiated and became the dominant component of many ecosystems, around 6 to 7 million years ago;[6] this kindling provided tinder which allowed for the more rapid spread of fire.[5] These widespread fires may have initiated a positive feedback process, whereby they produced a warmer, drier climate more conducive to fire.[5]
^Wellman, C. H.; Gray, J. (2000). "The microfossil record of early land plants". Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 355 (1398): 717–31, discussion 731–2. doi:10.1098/rstb.2000.0612. PMC 1692785. PMID 10905606.
^Jones, Timothy P.; Chaloner, William G. (1991). "Fossil charcoal, its recognition and palaeoatmospheric significance". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 97 (1–2): 39–50. Bibcode:1991PPP....97...39J. doi:10.1016/0031-0182(91)90180-Y.
^Glasspool, I.J.; Edwards, D.; Axe, L. (2004). "Charcoal in the Silurian as evidence for the earliest wildfire". Geology. 32 (5): 381–383. Bibcode:2004Geo....32..381G. doi:10.1130/G20363.1.
^ abScott, AC; Glasspool, IJ (2006). "The diversification of Paleozoic fire systems and fluctuations in atmospheric oxygen concentration". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 103 (29): 10861–5. Bibcode:2006PNAS..10310861S. doi:10.1073/pnas.0604090103. PMC 1544139. PMID 16832054.
^ abcBowman, D. M. J. S.; Balch, J. K.; Artaxo, P.; Bond, W. J.; Carlson, J. M.; Cochrane, M. A.; d'Antonio, C. M.; Defries, R. S.; Doyle, J. C.; Harrison, S. P.; Johnston, F. H.; Keeley, J. E.; Krawchuk, M. A.; Kull, C. A.; Marston, J. B.; Moritz, M. A.; Prentice, I. C.; Roos, C. I.; Scott, A. C.; Swetnam, T. W.; Van Der Werf, G. R.; Pyne, S. J. (2009). "Fire in the Earth system". Science. 324 (5926): 481–4. Bibcode:2009Sci...324..481B. doi:10.1126/science.1163886. PMID 19390038. S2CID 22389421.
^Retallack, Gregory J. (1997). "Neogene expansion of the North American prairie". PALAIOS. 12 (4): 380–90. Bibcode:1997Palai..12..380R. doi:10.2307/3515337. JSTOR 3515337.
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