California Wildlife Returns After 2018 Complex Fire: Study Finds
by : Samira Tasneem |
Published: July 28, 2023
A new study highlights the surprising resilience of California’s wildlife following the 2018 Mendocino Complex Fire, credits forest management strategies.
The Mendocino Complex Fire, California's largest recorded wildfire, comprising the Ranch and River fires, scorched over 458,900 acres in the summer of 2018. The inferno lasted five months, annihilating significant areas, including the University of California's Hopland Research and Extension Center (HREC) along the Russian River.
Describing the aftermath, Professor Justin Brashares of environmental science, policy, and management at UC Berkeley, likened the scene to a "Lord of the Rings" landscape, envisioning little survival in the scorched expanses. However, months after the devastating fire, life began to stir once more. Camera traps detected resilient wildlife, such as gray foxes, coyotes, and black-tailed jackrabbits, returning to their ravaged habitats — according to Ecowatch.
Graduate student Kendall Calhoun and fellow researchers from Brashares' lab scrutinized over half a million grid images captured pre and post-fire to understand the conflagration's effect on local fauna. The groundbreaking study, "Mammalian resistance to megafire in western U.S. woodland savannas," published in Ecosphere, provided some of the first evidence of wildlife resilience following a megafire.
The research brought particular attention to the effects on California's oak woodlands, an ecosystem occupying a significant area of the state, yet underrepresented in wildfire studies. As Brashares highlighted, these oak woodlands and grassland savannahs are not only emblematic of California's biome, but they also serve critical functions for livestock grazing and viticulture, thus demanding effective management.
Out of the eight animal species studied, six demonstrated resilience to the fire's aftermath, frequenting the scorched areas as they had before. On the contrary, black-tailed deer and western gray squirrels showed more susceptibility to the fire's impacts.
The survival strategy for many of these resilient creatures seemed to rely on small patches of remaining tree cover. Researchers hypothesized that the residual canopy offered the necessary sustenance and resources for survival. The findings underline the essential role of fire management strategies, like prescribed burning and grazing, to prevent large-scale canopy loss and thus provide refugia for vulnerable species.
Brashares' words encapsulate the findings: "We were surprised at how quickly many species were able to move into those habitat patches and then spread back out into the burned areas as they recovered." His team's research proves instrumental for forest management strategies, emphasizing the need to preserve crucial habitat fragments amidst the devastating effects of megafires.
Samira is an Electronics and Communications Engineer by profession, but deep inside, her heart is a nomad! She's a state champion debater, a public speaker, a scriptwriter, a theater actress, but most importantly — A GREEN CITIZEN! She thinks of herself as a storyteller who thrives on enjoying the life at fullest and telling everyone the tales of life.
Environment ,
California Wildlife Returns After 2018 Complex Fire: Study Finds
by : Samira Tasneem | Published: July 28, 2023
A new study highlights the surprising resilience of California’s wildlife following the 2018 Mendocino Complex Fire, credits forest management strategies.
The Mendocino Complex Fire, California's largest recorded wildfire, comprising the Ranch and River fires, scorched over 458,900 acres in the summer of 2018. The inferno lasted five months, annihilating significant areas, including the University of California's Hopland Research and Extension Center (HREC) along the Russian River.
Describing the aftermath, Professor Justin Brashares of environmental science, policy, and management at UC Berkeley, likened the scene to a "Lord of the Rings" landscape, envisioning little survival in the scorched expanses. However, months after the devastating fire, life began to stir once more. Camera traps detected resilient wildlife, such as gray foxes, coyotes, and black-tailed jackrabbits, returning to their ravaged habitats — according to Ecowatch.
Graduate student Kendall Calhoun and fellow researchers from Brashares' lab scrutinized over half a million grid images captured pre and post-fire to understand the conflagration's effect on local fauna. The groundbreaking study, "Mammalian resistance to megafire in western U.S. woodland savannas," published in Ecosphere, provided some of the first evidence of wildlife resilience following a megafire.
The research brought particular attention to the effects on California's oak woodlands, an ecosystem occupying a significant area of the state, yet underrepresented in wildfire studies. As Brashares highlighted, these oak woodlands and grassland savannahs are not only emblematic of California's biome, but they also serve critical functions for livestock grazing and viticulture, thus demanding effective management.
Out of the eight animal species studied, six demonstrated resilience to the fire's aftermath, frequenting the scorched areas as they had before. On the contrary, black-tailed deer and western gray squirrels showed more susceptibility to the fire's impacts.
The survival strategy for many of these resilient creatures seemed to rely on small patches of remaining tree cover. Researchers hypothesized that the residual canopy offered the necessary sustenance and resources for survival. The findings underline the essential role of fire management strategies, like prescribed burning and grazing, to prevent large-scale canopy loss and thus provide refugia for vulnerable species.
Brashares' words encapsulate the findings: "We were surprised at how quickly many species were able to move into those habitat patches and then spread back out into the burned areas as they recovered." His team's research proves instrumental for forest management strategies, emphasizing the need to preserve crucial habitat fragments amidst the devastating effects of megafires.
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Samira Tasneem
Samira is an Electronics and Communications Engineer by profession, but deep inside, her heart is a nomad! She's a state champion debater, a public speaker, a scriptwriter, a theater actress, but most importantly — A GREEN CITIZEN! She thinks of herself as a storyteller who thrives on enjoying the life at fullest and telling everyone the tales of life.
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