Cris Alarcon
I was at a hub of information throughout the fire and two major long-term concerns I had were Erosion and Wildlife Movement Changes.
First, the Fire Ecology for our Bears and Lions [Erosion is another story]:
This fall expect top-tier predators like Bear and Cougar to move to un-burnt areas. But in the Spring expect the opposite!
The bears/cougars eat “Grazers” like deer. Not much grazing in the recently burned ground so deer move to unburned areas to eat, and the bear/lion move to follow them – to eat them.
Come Spring the grasses will grow GREAT in the burned areas. Local deer, as well as the 100,000s of Migratory Mule Deer passing through, some will be dinner for our natural big predators like Black Bears and Mountain Lions.
So the Bear/Lion will move [or return] into the burned areas with the great new grasses and taste tender things to Graze on.
[Grasses will be great because the effect of the fire clearing the tree canopy allowing much more sunlight to hit newly disturbed soil. “Pioneer” species of plants naturally return to burned areas and trives stabilizing the soils so larger plants grow. Nature’s way] “Once these trees begin to germinate and establish themselves, the existing grassland begins to recede. Individual trees spread above the grasses and start to shade them out.”
Academic stuff – Oak and hickory forest [Note that this study is a “Hardwood” forest whereas our is a “Mixed” forest with Oak and Pine/Cedar. The same kind of succession happens here but with a slightly different variety of “Pioneer” species.]
A classic example of secondary succession occurs in oak and hickory forests cleared by wildfire. Wildfires will burn most vegetation and kill those animals unable to flee the area. Their nutrients, however, are returned to the ground in the form of ash. Thus, even when areas are devoid of life due to severe fires, the area will soon be ready for new life to take hold. Before the fire, the vegetation was dominated by tall trees with access to the major plant energy resource: sunlight. Their height gave them access to sunlight while also shading the ground and other low-lying species. After the fire, though, these trees are no longer dominant. Thus, the first plants to grow back are usually annual plants followed within a few years by quickly growing and spreading grasses and other pioneer species. Due to, at least in part, changes in the environment brought on by the growth of the grasses and other species, over many years, shrubs will emerge along with small pine, oak, and hickory trees. These organisms are called intermediate species. Eventually, over 150 years, the forest will reach its equilibrium point where species composition is no longer changing and resembles the community before the fire. This equilibrium state is referred to as the climax community, which will remain stable until the next disturbance.
# “45.6 Community Ecology”. OpenStax CNX. Retrieved 2017-07-30.