Fire 2

Fire in Yellowstone

Where do you fall in terms of the benefits and negative aspects of fire on the ecosystem in Yellowstone?   #LUBlazin2

How to Follow Yellowstone Fires

To respond to the question of whether or not you believe the fires in Yellowstone either benefit or harm the ecosystem, you can post a response on Instagram (our Instagram name is @fireluynp, if you would like to follow our page!), or Twitter with the hashtag #LUBlazin2  in your post(s). Also, you can watch our blog for updates as we will continue to post as we travel to Yellowstone National Park to learn more about the environmental impact of fires on the ecosystem.

Learn More About the Fires of Yellowstone

     Yellowstone’s landscape has been shaped by naturally caused fire for 14,000 years. Fire has been an essential element in shaping the ecology of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (“Fire Management”).  Fires provide scientists with an opportunity to study the ecosystem in Yellowstone, however, there is a great debate as to whether or not these fires should be allowed to burn, or if they should be suppressed.

     There are several factors that affect the size/severity of fires in Yellowstone which includes: type of vegetation, fire origin, time since the last standing replacing fire, moisture in the dead and down logs, length of drought, temperature, humidity and wind (Gilbert, “Fire”).  Around the months of July to end of September the number and extent of the fires that occur are dependent on the efforts to suppress those fires and the environmental conditions (Gilbert, “Fire”). Yellowstone National Park operates under the 2009 Federal Wildland Fire Policy, which continues to evolve with experience and new knowledge of the fires.  For example, current guidelines allow firefighters to manage a natural fire for multiple objectives(“Fire Management”).  Originally fires were either “suppression” or “fire-use for resource benefit.”   Now, firefighters can suppress one flank of a fire to protect structures and people while allowing another flank to burn to achieve natural fire benefits.  Yellowstone park is required to protect human life as well as the approximately 2% of Yellowstone’s 2.2 million acres that are considered developed from the threat of fire-while at the same time letting fire carry out its ecological role in the landscape as much as possible(“Fire Management”).

     Fire promotes habitat diversity by removing the forest over-story, allowing different plant communities to become established and preventing trees from becoming established in grassland (Gilbert, “Fire”).  Trees that are burned from the fires are not torn down as they are part of the ecosystem, and provide a home for different wildlife.  The trees fall on their own time, and then provide nutrients to the soil.  Fire increases the rate at which nutrients become available to plants by rapidly releasing them from wood and forest litter by hastening the weathering soil minerals (Gilbert, “Fire”) . This is important because Yellowstone has a cold/dry climate where decomposition rates are slower in comparison to hot/humid areas (Gilbert, “Fire”).  Fire does not typically harm the below-ground root systems and allows plants to increase in productivity because fire rapidly releases nutrients from wood and forest litter (regrowth begins as soon as moisture is available) (Gilbert, “Fire”).  Many plants of Yellowstone have adapted to these fires, and in some cases rely on these fires in order to increase nutrient availability.  

     Most wildlife is not harmed from fires, however, in the fire of 1988 the moose population drastically declined after these 50 different fires spanned over one million acres which destroyed many animals homes/shelters (“Fire Management”).  The exact reason as to why the moose population decline is unclear, although it did occur right after Yellowstone’s greatest wildfire (some of the 50 fires that summer were naturally occurring and some were accidents from tourist bonfires, etc.,) (Hunter, “All About the Yellowstone Fires”).  Many large grazing animals are able to escape the actual fires, but are faced with a different set of problems when the meadows are burned before the onset of winter causing them to occasionally have to migrate out of the park for available food.  Although this is bad for those who need to graze, this benefits the wolves and other animals that benefit from the loss of cover available to their prey, allowing hunting them to be much easier (Hunter, “All About the Yellowstone Fires”).  The fires of Yellowstone National Park are currently allowed to burn as long as it is benefiting the ecosystem and not harming any visitors, or affecting the 2.2% of Yellowstone that is developed.  However, it is important to keep in mind the dangers of letting the fires continue to burn, as well as the benefits of the fires on the ecosystem.

Do you think fires should be allowed to burn to benefit the ecosystem, or do you think they should be suppressed? #LUBlazin2

Citations:

Hunter, Daryl L. “All About the Yellowstone Fires.” All About the Yellowstone Fires. N.p., n.d. Web.

18 May 2017.

Gilbert, David T. “Fire.” Yellowstone Issues and Resources Handbook (2016): 157-69.Fire. NPS,

2016. Web. 05 May 2017.

“Fire Management.” National Parks Service. U.S. Department of the Interior, n.d. Web. 18 May 2017

More Resources:

Website: The Value of Fires to Yellowstone National Park

http://www.yellowstonenationalparklodges.com/the-value-of-fires-to-yellowstone-national-park/

Explore the benefits of fires in Yellowstone.

Article: Ecological Consequences of Fire

https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/nature/fireconsequences.htm

Learn more about ecological consequences of fires in Yellowstone.

Audio & Website: Remembering the 1988 Yellowstone Fires

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94126845

Learn about Yellowstone’s greatest fire that covered nearly one million acres in 1988 through audio and/or website.

Article: Ecosystem and Landscape Ecology Lab

http://landscape.zoology.wisc.edu/Projects/YNP_overview.html

This article helps explain the landscape and ecosystem of Yellowstone National Park