Research overview: fire-regime shifts and long-term habitat transformation

Climate change can alter fire regimes, frequency, intensity, seasonality, and extent, pushing ecosystems toward new states that differ from historical conditions. This overview surveys how shifting fire regimes can transform forests into shrublands or grasslands, prevent regeneration, and permanently change habitat for cats and their prey. It reviews the concept of fire-driven regime shifts and how repeated fires can lock landscapes into altered states. The synthesis frames fire-regime change as a driver of lasting habitat transformation rather than temporary disturbance, explaining why more frequent or severe fire under climate change can reshape the vegetation that defines felid habitat for decades, with consequences that outlast any single burn and may not reverse.