Forest Fire Ecology


	In 1985, the vice-president of Birch Brook Nordic Ski Club and his cat watched from the roof of their house in Spruce Park as ski club trails took a direct hit from a forest fire raging out of control. Spruce Park and other parts of Happy Valley - Goose Bay as well as the communities of North West River and Sheshashits were evacuated early the next morning when the fire endangered residents.

after the fire An inspection of the trails, as soon as it was safe to do so, revealed that while the chalet and lower trails survived unscathed, portions of the Games, McLean, and Chaulk's Run Trails were a disaster... a disaster in the opinion of ski club members, that is, for in the boreal forest, fire is part of a natural cycle of healthy renewal. Fire enriches the soil, reduces insect pests and diseases, and allows the germination of young spruce and other species. While skiers don't find blackened trees aesthetically appealing, wood-peckers certainly didn't complain about having more dead trees to work over!

scenes of regrowth after the fire Renewal is quite evident more than a decade after previous plant life was destroyed but regrettably, the natural succession of returning species over the past years was not recorded. Following destruction of vegetation, pioneer species of lichens and mosses may have been the first colonizers of the area. Their existence may have subtly changed soil fertility, moisture, and ground level temperatures providing growing conditions for a new community of plants. They, in turn, could have modified local growing properties and set up the requirements for the next stage. The pattern will likely continue until a climax community dominated by black spruce is once again reached. In our burn-over, stands of birch and aspen are well established among the burnt skeletons and already some of the returning spruce are well over a meter tall.

tree stumps exposed by fire A bit of detective work possibly reveals an even earlier chapter in the history of this forest. Compare the girth of decomposing tree trunks, revealed along the trail where hikers have scuffed away a layer of soil, with the skinny burnt trees still standing. Notice as well the massive rotten stumps sometimes found among the burnt trees. The old logs and stumps are comparable in size to the 80 and 100 year old trees on the lower un-burnt trails. Could this area have been ravaged by two successive forest fires which the lower trails escaped both times? In several places, Kalmia, not spruce, is establishing the dominant vegetation. Inhabitation of black spruce regeneration by kalmia following repeated disturbance by fire has been well-documented elsewhere in the province. Could it be happening in certain sites here? Is anyone looking for an interesting science project?