The Phoenix: What Rises After Everything Burns?

By Laura Vary

Smoky orange skies throughout Corvallis, Oregon. Photo by Laura Vary

  Like many in quarantine, daily exposure to the outdoors maintained some semblance of my mental health. The itchy sweater of anxiety kept me moving constantly, unable to sit down, and my morning walks helped ease the obsessive activity and calm my mind. However, shortly after moving to Oregon, my new town and entire state became swathed in smoke and touched by uncontrollable flames. In a few short days we had close to thirty fires burning in Oregon alone and far more reaching in all directions along the West Coast and towards the Midwest. These fires marked the worst situation seen in 18 years, and their cause and effects are exceptionally complicated (1). 

  The most prominent explanation for this destruction is climate change, but this generalization hides some nuance. Drought conditions, sudden spells of exceptionally dry air, sudden and strong winds, and unprecedented warm temperatures intersect and compound one another, creating the devastating, uncontrollable, and highly intense wildfires we see now. Further complicating the problem is the suppression of controlled fires which has occurred for over a century (2). Native American communities supported their local ecology by allowing fires to remove low-lying shrubs that can easily dry and act as kindling when a wildfire sweeps through a region (3). A critical principle to this practice is the idea of fire-induced succession. 

Serving as a force of disruption in ecosystems, lower-intensity fires limit the dominance of fast-growing vegetation and provide space in the environment for a diversity of plant life. This consequently supports a higher level of resources and nutrients available to larger animals and insects, eventually leading to increased biodiversity. Natural fires assist in the regulation of population sizes, ecosystem composition, organic material cycling, and preserve ecosystem functions (4). Such succession is similar in principle to processes that occur in the rocky intertidal zone. Due to disturbances like wave disruption or heat exposure, certain organisms like mussels or barnacles that would otherwise dominate the ecosystem are prevented from effectively taking over. This leads to the diverse intertidal system we love – exploration of the intertidal reveals snails, sea stars, anemones, mussels, whelks, barnacles, red algae, kelp, and so many other wonderful creatures. Similar disturbance-caused processes can be found in nearly every ecosystem.

A stand of pines on Mary's Peak, Oregon. Photo by Laura Vary

  Many types of large trees and conifers dominant in the Pacific Northwest temperate forests exhibit interesting fire-resilient traits. Such traits include exceptionally thick bark, maintenance of below-ground viable flesh that can resprout, and fire-caused seed dispersal (5). Trees like the Jack pine (Pinus banksiana) and Lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) hold their seeds in tightly closed pinecone structures until extreme heat, like a wildfire, blows through their habitat. As a result of this heat, the cones burst open to release all their densely packed seeds into the ash-covered soil below (5). Naturally occurring fire events allow the persistence of forests; the disturbance fires cause maintains forest diversity and inhibits the transformation of the region to grass or shrub-dominated systems (5). Soils also hold a seed bank in forests; in many areas, fire is the required disturbance that allows the release and germination of these stored seeds (6).  

Low-intensity fire disturbances lead to a type of ecological succession known as secondary succession because these types of fires typically leave some level of soil in the area (6, 7) . Extremely high-intensity fires like the ones we see today can sometimes lead to primary succession if all the soil is removed from the area and only bare rock is left (7). Succession, simply described, is an ecological process defined by a stepwise colonization of a disturbed area, with each step supporting larger and longer lasting organisms and moving towards a “climax community” (6). This begins either on soil or on bare rock, depending on the intensity of the disturbance. If there is soil present after a fire, remnant seeds or local seeds blown into the area generally begin regrowth in an open area first. These may be shrubs like elderberry or huckleberry, or maybe seedlings of larger trees like spruce (7). After a few decades, the forest transitions to a second-growth forest with larger conifers growing and becoming dominant (7). If the fire disturbance is severe enough to remove organic material and soil, the first stage of succession is characterized by “pioneer species” that grow quickly, like weeds or wildflowers (7). Their growth facilitates the introduction of needed nutrients to the environment, and as they die and decompose, these plants form rich soil upon which other plants can settle (7). Years to decades later, shrubs move to the area; after about half a century, larger trees have grown tall enough to characterize the area as a young forest (7). Succession continues in this way until the forest has reached some level of older growth and high biodiversity in both flora and fauna. 

While there are very clear benefits and functions of fire in ecosystems, these natural fires are known to have occurred historically with long intervals of low disruption. We are now seeing an increase in the intensity and frequency of fires and this can harm biodiversity and cause huge costs to our economy and lives. High temperatures will likely get higher, invasive grass species are increasing the fuel load, and lower levels of snowmelt create drier conditions. Wildfires are an exceptionally complicated phenomenon and the potential for high-intensity, high-frequency occurrences make it one that must be integrated to our understanding of ecological management and conservation (8). These events require a collaborative, inter-disciplinary understanding that involves traditional ecological knowledge at the forefront. Native American communities have a deep understanding of fire ecology and management, and a team-based approach with wildlife managers that incorporate non-Western expertise which is critical to the development of actionable strategies to address wildfires and their causes. Facing wildfire season is certainly terrifying and overwhelming, but with the incorporation of many perspectives and viewpoints I believe we can work towards a more controlled relationship with fire in our ecosystems.

Sunset over the Willamette Valley. Photo by Laura Vary.

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Works Cited

1 BBC News. “California and Oregon 2020 Wildfires in Maps, Graphics, and Images.” BBC News: US & Canada, 18 Sept. 2020, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-54180049. 

2 Voiland, A. “Historic Fires Devastate the U.S. Pacific Coast.” Earth Observatory, NASA, 9 Sept. 2020, https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/147277/historic-fires-devastate-the-us-pacific-coast. 

3 Sommer, L. “To Manage Wildfire, California Looks To What Tribes Have Known All Along.” National Public Radio: Environment, 24 Aug. 2020, https://www.npr.org/2020/08/24/899422710/to-manage-wildfire-california-looks-to-what-tribes-have-known-all-along. 

4 McLauchlan, K., et al. “Fire as a Fundamental Ecological Process: Research Advances and Frontiers.” Journal of Ecology, vol. 108, 2020, pp. 2047-2069. 

5 Dennis, R., et al. “Forest Fire and Biological Diversity.” Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, 2001. 

6 Zwolinski, M. J. “Fire Effects on Vegetation and Succession.” Effects of Fire in Management of Southwestern Natural Resources, Tucson, Arizona, November 14-17, 1988. 

7 Alaska’s Forests and Wildlife. “Succession – Changing Forest Habitats.” Alaska Department of Fish and Game, 2001. https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static-sf/statewide/aquatic_ed/AWC%20ACTIVITIES/FORESTS%20&%20WILDLIFE/BACKGROUND%20INFORMATION/Forests%20IV_Succession%20Facts.pdf 

8 D’Argonne, S. “The Future of Wildfires: A Cultural Struggle to Learn to Live with Fire.” Summit Daily, 14 Aug. 2020, https://www.summitdaily.com/news/the-future-of-wildfires-a-cultural-struggle-to-learn-to-live-with-fire/#:~:text=Foreshadowing%20disaster,invasive%20species%20and%20fuel%20loading.&text=Warmer%20weather%20has%20resulted%20in,wildfires%20is%20likely%20to%20continue.