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Ecosystem Benefits of Wildfire Vs. Post-Fire Logging Impacts | 5 High severity fi re patch, Sierra Nevada region, C. Hanson Ecosystem Bene ts of Wild re vs. Post-Fire Logging Impacts Dominick A. DellaSala, Ph.D., Chief Scientist Geos Institute | 84 Fourth St. Ashland, OR 97520 | Ph. 541.482.4459 | www.geosinstitute.org Using science to help people predict, reduce, and prepare for climate change Fire as Nature’s Architect Most wildfires in montane (mountainous) forests in most western montane forests as compared to and shrublands of the western United States are historical times due primarily to fire suppression ecologically beneficial and needed for the proper (Figure 1a,b). Although historical data using com- function and maintenance of fire-dependent parable tracking metrics are lacking on a subset of biota1. Unfortunately, many decision-makers view the very large fires (“mega-fires”), there has been fire as “catastrophic” and believe it to be increas- no significant upward trend in these fires detected ing beyond historical bounds. Contrary to popu- in the past 15 years, although longer timelines are lar belief, there is actually a deficit of wildfire acres needed for meaningful conclusions (Figure 1c). Figure 1 (A) Average number of fires from 1919-2009, (B) total acres burned from 1919 to 2009, and (C) cumulative acres of “mega-fires” (>120,000 acres) from 1997– 2013 (Mann-Kendall trend test z = 1.03, p = 0.30) based on National Interagency Fire Center datasets. (A) Average number of fires (1919–2009) (B) Fire acres (1919–2009) 1. This fact sheet is excerpted from “The ecological importance of mixed-severity fires: nature’s phoenix.” D.A. DellaSala and C.T. Hanson (ed). In press. Elsevier. Ecosystem Benefi ts of Wildfi re vs. Post-Fire Logging Impacts | 3 (C) Cumulative acres of “mega-fi res” (1997–2013) Mixed-severity Fires in Montane Forests Fire regimes in western montane forests are mostly large high-severity patches in complex early-seral of mixed-fi re severities, including both large and burns, but its numbers appear to be declining small patches of high-severity burns (>75% tree due to habitat loss mainly from fi re suppression crown mortality). High-severity patches are of (including thinning) and post-fi re logging4. Other greatest importance to the ecological integrity of imperiled wildlife like spotted owls prefer high a large burn area as they provide a unique pulse intensity burns for foraging (where prey are abun- of biological legacies (e.g., large dead standing and down logs, shrubs) that sustains the diver- 2. Odion, D.C., et al. 2014. Examining historical and current sity of plants and wildlife which, soon after the mixed-severity fi re regimes in ponderosa pine and mixed-conifer forests of western North America. PlosOne 2014 9:1–14. burn, rivals that of the much heralded old-growth 3. Swanson, M.E., et al. 2011. The forgotten stage of forest suc- forests. The newly created fi re habitat has been cession: early-successional ecosystems on forested sites. Frontiers recently described by scientists as “complex early Ecol. and Enviro 9:117–125 doi:10.1890/090157. DellaSala, D.A., et al. 2014. Complex early seral forests of the Sierra Nevada: what are seral” to distinguish it from low quality early seral they and how can they be managed for ecological integrity? Nat. produced by clearcuts3. Species such as the Black- Areas J. 34:310–324. backed Woodpecker depend exclusively on the 4. DellaSala, D.A., et al. 2014. ibid. Biscuit fi re 10 years later. photo: D. DellaSala 4 | GEOS Institute Mixed severity burn. photo: G. Wuerthner “ There are immense differences between even-aged silvicultural disturbances (especially clearcuts) and natural disturbances, such as windthrow, wildfi re, and volcanic eruptions.” Biscuit post-fi re “salvage” within a late-successional reserve in 2002 (top) vs. ten years later from nearly the identical place. Jerry F. Franklin et al. 2000 – Threads of Continuity Note the lack of structures and lack of conifer regeneration a decade later. photos: D. DellaSala dant) and will continue to nest in mixed-sever- mate, will become even less relevant. This is why ity patches provided territories are not “salvage” most fuels management should focus on reduc- logged following a burn5. Thinning in owl habitat ing fl ammable vegetation immediately adjacent also ostensibly has as a much bigger habitat impact to homes and other structures in the built envi- on owls than fi res based on habitat simulations ronment and in fi re-prone tree plantations, given and knowledge of prey and owl habitat selection6. escalating fi re suppression costs and the need to prioritize treatments where they are needed most. Top-down climate drivers (drought, high winds) shape the size and intensity of mixed-severity fi res Post-fi re Logging Damages along with topographic variation. Fuels are a sec- Complex Early Seral Forests ondary factor for these fi res and, in a changing cli- Post-fi re landscapes are not in need of “restora- 5. Clark, D. A., et al. 2011. Survival rates of northern spotted owls tion” because fi re itself is a restorative agent for in post-fi re landscapes of southwest Oregon. Journal of Raptor myriad fi re-dependent species that colonize Research 45:38–47. Clark, D.A., et al. 2013. Relationship between wildfi re salvage logging, and occupancy of nesting territories by shortly after large intense burns. This pulse of Northern Spotted Owls. J. Wildlife Manage. 77:672–688. Bond biological activity, and the structures it produces M.L., et al. 2009. Habitat use and selection by California Spotted Owls in a postfi re landscape. J. Wildlife Manage. 73: 1116–1124. (biological legacies), are recognized by scientists Bond, et al. 2013. Diet and home-range size of California spotted as a top conservation priority given that they are owls in a burned forest. Western Birds 44: 114–126. almost always logged immediately after fi re, espe- 6. Odion, D.C., et al. 2014. Effects of fi re and commercial thin- cially on private lands, but also often on public ning on future habitat of the northern spotted owl. Open Ecol. J. 7:37–51. lands due to policies designed to expedite logging. Ecosystem Benefits of Wildfire vs. Post-Fire Logging Impacts | 5 Douglas-Fire private lands industrial post-fire logging. photo: G. Sexton, KS Wild Public lands; however, may be the last strong- hold for maintaining ecological integrity of large burns, and managers wishing to maintain these unique habitats, first and foremost, should protect post-fire legacies as foundational for the ecologi- cal integrity of fire-mediated landscapes. Post-fire logging most often removes biological legacies (e.g., snags and native shrubs), replaces them with commercially valuable seedlings, and involves road building and road maintenance, non- native species for erosion abatement, herbicides that kill beneficial plants, and other management disturbances (e.g., livestock). Taken individually or in combination, such cumulative impacts dis- rupt post-fire successional processes and inhibit development and longevity of complex early seral forests. Post-fire logging impacts have been docu- mented across a broad range of taxa and regions and typically include soil compaction; aquatic and Biscuit burn following post-fire logging and burning of slash – note extensive soil damage – soils are irreplaceable in human lifetimes. terrestrial habitat degradation, particularly for rare photo: D. DellaSala 6 | GEOS Institute Black-backed Woodpecker. photo: R.L. Hutto Spotted owl. photo: M. Bond and imperiled species; spread of invasive species; Rim Fire (257,315 ac burn perimeter, 2013) increase in fine fuels, which serves to promote future Stanislaus National Forest – Forest Service intense re-burns; and increases in natural tree seed- reported “only” 29,210 acres would be logged ling mortality, among others7. Context and scale (11% of burn perimeter logged) but failed to matter when post-fire management actions are account for the full project impacts to all (39) planned but are often skipped over. For instance, occupied spotted owl territories logged along with managers most often underestimate post-fire log- most of the same areas were used by Black-backed ging impacts by reporting the logged area as a per- Woodpeckers and other species that depend on centage of the much larger fire perimeter, thereby similar fire-created habitat. Logging units were masking cumulative impacts to high conservation highly concentrated in complex early-seral forests. value areas disproportionately targeted for logging. Biscuit fire (~495,000 ac burn perimeter, 2002) The following post-fire projects illustrate problems Rogue-Siskiyou National Forest – 127,000 acres in scale, context, and disproportionate logging of treated (“only” 4% of burn perimeter proposed high-conservation value areas: for logging) but this included 70% of the units within late-successional reserves, 52% within 7. DellaSala, D.A. et al. In press. In the aftermath of fires: logging inventoried roadless areas, 55 watersheds con- and related activities degraded mixed and high-severity burn areas. In D.A. DellaSala and C.T. Hanson (eds.), Ecological Importance nected to Wild & Scenic rivers, plus expedited of Mixed-Severity Fires: Nature’s Phoenix. Elsevier: UK. environmental reviews. Ecosystem Benefits of Wildfire vs. Post-Fire Logging Impacts | 7 Post-fire logging, Rim Fire area. photo: npr.org Figure 2 Landscape-type conversion within the Douglas-fire complex (2014) of southwest Oregon. Google image was taken just before the fire, which burned intensely through plantations. Studies of large fires in the Klamath-Siskiyou region have shown fires burn uncharacteristically severe in landscapes dominated by plantations8. Klamath Westside “Fire Recovery” Project All these logging proposals target perhaps 95% of (183,100 ac burn perimeter, 2014) – 40,000 acres the entire burned area destined to be used by the proposed logged (“only” 22% of burn perimeter most fire-dependent bird species, as even the sim- to be logged) but logging is proposed within 6,680 plest woodpecker habitat models show.
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