Lafon says tree rings can show if a fire occurred, and by taking several samples and cross-referencing them to other trees, it is possible to determine the precise year — and even the time of year — when a particular fire occurred. The trees, in turn, have adapted to fires.
“The bottom line is that fire scars can tell us a lot about ecological changes,” he notes.
“We can tell when a fire occurred and often how severe that fire was, and we can learn how forests changed as fire frequency varied over time.
The decline in fire frequency during the 20th century, for example, permitted tree species like red maple to encroach into pine and oak forests. Now the pines, oaks and other fire-associated species like the Peters Mountain mallow are declining in abundance, reducing the commercial value of the timber and diminishing the quality of wildlife habitat.
“Today, agencies like the U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service, The Nature Conservancy and private landowners use controlled burning to try to restore the fire-associated vegetation. They are applying our fire history research to guide these efforts.”
“The bottom line is that fire scars can tell us a lot about ecological changes,” he notes.
“We can tell when a fire occurred and often how severe that fire was, and we can learn how forests changed as fire frequency varied over time.
The decline in fire frequency during the 20th century, for example, permitted tree species like red maple to encroach into pine and oak forests. Now the pines, oaks and other fire-associated species like the Peters Mountain mallow are declining in abundance, reducing the commercial value of the timber and diminishing the quality of wildlife habitat.
“Today, agencies like the U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service, The Nature Conservancy and private landowners use controlled burning to try to restore the fire-associated vegetation. They are applying our fire history research to guide these efforts.”
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