Wildfires and the Need for Revegetation

Raging wildfires are sometimes necessary, sometimes controllable and sometimes potentially devastating to humans. While the causes of wildfires are as plentiful as the types of fires themselves, it's the end result that important. When a controlled burn is deemed necessary by the fire department or forestry department, it's generally to thin out the underbrush that can create terrible problems if a wildfire strikes. Most likely controlled burns around done around towns or homes to give them clearance. Throughout history, nature has managed to adapt to wildfires very well and there are certain plant species that actually need a fire before they will release their seeds. For the most part, animals are able to scramble to safety, only occasionally getting caught when the fire is completely out of control and surrounds them.

As people push further into the wilderness, there is more of a need to prevent and control wildfires than ever before. Especially worrying is the scorched bare earth that's left behind. This is because bare soil is stripped of the plants and root systems that gave it a cohesiveness and prevented erosion and mudslides. But when the land has been cleared and rain falls, the soil is easily washed away. There are several bad things about this, one of which is heavy sedimentation to rivers, creeks or streams. If the hill slopes around waterbodies have been burned and then rain falls, the soil will slough off the slopes and run directly into the stream below. Sedimentation like this could be severe enough to clog the gills of fish and interfere with the breathing of invertebrates. Mud could also slide down the slopes on top of homes below or onto roads, causing closure or worse, sweeping cars off the road.

Therefore, as soon as a fire has been put out, it's important to begin a revegetation project to get plants back into the soil. It's also vital to seed with native plant mixes or saplings to prevent invasive weeds from taking hold and choking out the native plants that might move into the area later on. Most invasive weeds provide little nutritional benefit to animal species and so it is best to use native plants for revegetation. There are also a lot of native plants that will survive the fire and will re-emerge relatively quickly. Sometimes, if the burned area isn't near water or homes, and there is little chance of invasive weeds from infiltrating the area, it might be best to just leave the burned area alone and allow the native plants to naturally emerge or move back in. Each fire is as different as the ecosystem it burns, so professional fire management teams and biologists should be consulted immediately to make the correct determination.