Fire is a Friend
Post by 2022 student Jocelyn Wood
In this first section of the course, we have worked with Dr. Hagan to explore different areas of the ranch. These different areas were split into varying characteristics; burned, unburned, thinned, and unthinned. With each plot came differences in species diversity, the density of plants, and the production of valuable resources.
We have learned that fire promotes an incredible amount of species diversity when compared to a site without a significant fire history. This is probably because of the increased nutrients found in the soil after a fire and the clearing of the midstory to allow more sun-tolerant species to thrive. In some cases, we found species that require no relationship with mycorrhizal fungi on their roots because of how much phosphorus is in the soil due to fire. This fact was incredibly amazing to me. Thinning also helps open up the midstory and promotes a lot of species diversity. In a plot that has been burned and thinned, you see shade and sun-tolerant species because of the larger trees that had been left providing shade and nutrients to the plants and wider open spaces with a lot of sun.
The plots that have a lot of diversity and density contribute to even greater things. Providing food for birds and small mammals, habitat for reptiles and cavity-nesting birds. Particularly woodpeckers will nest in holes found in dead standing trees leftover from fires. It also provides food for cattle. The many different types of grasses increase the abundance of possible grazing lands for the ranch owners. This is important since these are the stakeholders, and are directly affected by fire and management practices.
When fires come through a land, it kills the trees and threatens to destroy cattle and homes. Pat and Goz Segar love this land and seeing a fire come through and decimate their once beautiful property is emotionally damaging. Most people don’t put themselves in another perspective. Empathy for landowners can be lost when they aren’t taken into consideration when working with fire management. We spoke with the two men from the DNRC of Montana, the most impactful thing they said to us was in response to asking if there had been any land unburned for us to do our sampling on. They said “before the Bobcat fire maybe, but now, it all got burned.” It is incredible to imagine there wasn’t a single unburned area on the ranch for us to do our sampling. It is also interesting to compare the unburned and burned sites in the same region here in Montana. Between the two photos you can clearly see the difference in density with and without a fire.
The difference between a burned site here on the ranch and one in Southern Appalachia is also significant. Of course there are differences in moisture and intensity but the regrowth seen in the Appalachians is nothing like here in Montana. The burned plots here have good ground coverage and diversity of grasses, but very few woody species and only the largest trees survived the fire. In Northern Georgia where we visited a burned site with Dr. Hagan in the spring semester, I remember climbing through thicketed areas to get a fuel transect line down, there were plenty of tall midstory woody species, and considerable canopy cover.
Prescribed burns here in Montana are necessary though. Pat and Goz were discussing how everything is so open now and that allows for more grazing grounds and use out of their land. The burns provide nutrients to the soil either through combustion or by providing litter to sustain the duff. The dominating pine in this region, the Ponderosa Pine relies on fire to reproduce. The biggest prevention of destructive fires like the Bobcat fire is management. Prescribed fires and thinning all help to lower fire intensity so when one happens it doesn't get out of control. By practicing this and educating landowners people hopefully can become more successful and sustainable.
