Abstract Much distortion about the real role of fire in different ecosystems exists, mostly because fire events attract media attention, usually focusing on the negative aspects of fire. In the perception of the general public, fire events are usually linked to disasters that affect humans in several ways, from losses of lives to negative effects on human well-being. However, while some ecosystems are fire-sensitive and fire will thus bring more negative than positive effects (e.g. in tropical rain forests), other systems are fire-prone and depend on fire in their existence and ecological characteristics (e.g. in savannas). In this paper, I show the different sides of fire, trying to elucidate its evolutionary and ecological role in fire-prone ecosystems and the consequences of wildfires in fire-sensitive ecosystems. Finally, I make a case for the need to debate how the misinterpretation of the role of fire as being always the “bad guy” can threaten fire-prone, but protect fire-sensitive vegetation.

中文翻译：

---

火总是“坏人”吗？

摘要 关于火在不同生态系统中的真实作用存在很多歪曲，主要是因为火灾事件引起了媒体的关注，通常关注火的负面影响。在公众的看法中，火灾事件通常与以多种方式影响人类的灾害有关，从生命损失到对人类福祉的负面影响。然而，虽然一些生态系统对火很敏感，因此火带来的负面影响多于积极影响（例如在热带雨林中），而其他系统则容易着火并依赖于火的存在和生态特征（例如在热带草原）。在本文中，我展示了火的不同方面，试图阐明其在易火生态系统中的进化和生态作用以及野火在火敏感生态系统中的后果。最后，