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| Fires help create mosaics of burned and unburned vegetation - In the absence of fire, most forests would climax to a dense spruce/fir-type forest - Mosaic of partly burned and severely burned juniper. |
Climax? Seral? Succession? Confusing words, even for a biologist! Understanding how one plant community gives rise to another plant community (succession) is important when understanding fire ecology. Fires actually benefit grasslands and forests by “…converting accumulated dead organic material to mineral-rich ash, whose nutrients are recycled within the ecosystem” *(Bradley, et. al., 1992). In addition, soil bacteria (blue-green bacteria) which fixes nitrogen from the area increases, and fungi that cause plant diseases decreases. Some plants and animals are so fire dependent that they cease to exist altogether in the absence of fire.
In forest succession, some larger plants reach an equilibrium at which they no longer change until a disturbance, like fire, occurs (climax). As the forest changes, in a sequence of communities from grasses to shrub to forests, they go through a series (sere) and each change is called a “seral” stage. To make matters more confusing, previously “bare” sites go through “primary succession,” and disturbed sites (Sanford Fire) go through “secondary succession.”
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In the case of the Sanford Fire, different elevations and existing vegetation types will influence the succession, but these stages will follow a pattern, beginning with open canopy, grasses and forbs and climaxing with a closed-canopy, dense tree-type ecosystem.
*Bradley, A.F., Noste, N.V., William, C.F. 1992. Fire Ecology of Forests and Woodlands of Utah. U. S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, General Technical Report INT-287.
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Plant Succession Influenced by Fire
To view a short, 80 second motion video showing the flood event, you can choose from two movie file sizes;
Video Viewing Instructions
Description of video clip
Jake Schoppe, Wildlife Biologist, discusses how different plant communities experience fire return intervals. In large areas, like the Sanford, fires help create mosaics of burned and unburned vegetation, establishing different types and age classes of vegetation.
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