AFTER THE FIRE

By Shane Kiefer, Senior Wildlife Biologist, Plateau Land & Wildlife Management

Immediately after the fire. A Plateau team member's family property in Scurry County, April 2011.

The recent wildfires have wreaked havoc, claiming lives and property. Natural disasters such as this bring into stark contrast the sometimes competing interests of people and the world we inhabit. Chances are you have already seen stories about the benefits that the fires will have for wildlife: renewed vigor of plants, reduction of invasive plant species, and (when the rains come) an explosion of new growth providing food and cover for wildlife and livestock. After mentioning these benefits to a friend, she asked if any other natural disasters come with similar silver linings for wildlife. That's the kind of question that makes my day.

The fact is that most, if not all, natural disasters have positive aspects to them (the horrendous toll they can take on family, friends, and property, notwithstanding). The important thing to consider is that these disasters do not happen in order to create these positive outcomes. Conversely, the lesson is that plants and animals have evolved to take advantage of these disturbances. What amazes me most is that there is always some form of life waiting in the wings to take advantage of opportunities presented by these catastrophic events. Perhaps more importantly, the natural history of many species is such that they rely on these natural processes to create or restore their habitats. Not all species will benefit, but healthy lands recover more quickly because the diversity of plants and animals there know how to deal with disaster.

Flooding brings nutrient-laden sediment to floodplains. Healthy plants capture that sediment and build the floodplain up. In the massive river deltas of Louisiana, this creates the very wetlands that define the southern part of the state and provide hurricane protection. Aquatic and wetland-dependent species will have a boom year in the heavily flooded Southeastern U.S. Concentrating floodwaters into deep, levee-protected channels prevents this process from occurring, resulting in erosion and the dumping of sediments into the Gulf. On a more local level, healthy rivers and floodplains provide tremendous benefits to wildlife while protecting our lands from erosion.

Fire, wind and ice storms, and some insect infestations in forests open up pockets in the canopy, creating "edge" that allows light to reach the understory, resulting in growth of shade-intolerant grasses and shrubs that provide food and cover for many species of wildlife. This, of course, is to the detriment of forest species that rely on large, uninterrupted stands of intact canopy.

Oak wilt, which many landowners will heartily agree is a slow-moving natural disaster on their land, creates new snags (dead trees) that are habitat for insects, animals that feed on them, and cavity-nesting species like Eastern bluebirds and woodpeckers. On a recent site visit with a landowner in Kerr County, I was able to show him the abundance of low-shrub growth occurring beneath several dead oaks, which was providing excellent low food and cover for deer, quail, songbirds, and other wildlife. Healthy lands have an abundance of tree species, many of which will not be susceptible to oak wilt, and will flourish in the aftermath. If live oak is all you have, oak wilt can be devastating.

Even drought, for which it may be hard to find a silver lining, helps set the stage for fires. It can also reduce decadent plant growth, even without fire, and encourages a flush of annual forbs and other weedy species when the rains return that doves, deer, seed-eating songbirds, and many other species rely upon. Think about how many spring weeds you have in your yard following a hard summer with watering restrictions when your sod cannot get as thick and lush as you might like.

Some of these relationships and adaptations provide what are collectively termed "ecosystem services". These are benefits that accrue to us from the natural world and are often thought to be more economical than human-engineered solutions. Floodplains that reduce sediment loads and filter floodwaters give us cleaner water and reduce the need for dredging our ship channels. The same goes for healthy grasslands, woodlands, and forests in the uplands of watersheds, like those that occur on your lands. Some of these services were lost long ago (millions of Eskimo Curlews eating untold tons of crop-damaging insects on the Great Plains comes to mind), but many are still intact and functioning on your lands. Sometimes these processes must be balanced with human needs, but my hope is that at least you learn about and consider them before taking action.

Between May 2010 and April 2011, Plateau helped over 160 landowners put approximately 25,000 acres under new wildlife management plans. We also updated plans on at least that many acres. This is a fact that we as a company (and I, personally, as a biologist) take great pride in. With sound management, the lands that have joined us over the last year are healthier and better equipped to handle natural disasters, both large and small, if they come.