It could take more than a century for the freshly burned forest in Jasper National Park to regenerate into its previous postcard-perfect form, a wildfire expert says.
The dense forestB次元官网网址檚 regrowth could be affected by how deep the fire burned into the ground and how many pine cones hatched like popcorn in the intense heat and released seeds B次元官网网址� not to mention climate change more generally, said Jen Beverly, an associate professor with the University of AlbertaB次元官网网址檚 Department of Renewable Resources.
B次元官网网址淭his is not a catastrophe from an ecological perspective, but we do know thereB次元官网网址檚 a lot of uncertainty into the future,B次元官网网址� said Beverly, who has been studying wildfires for more than 25 years.
B次元官网网址淓cosystems are going to evolve and that might span decades to centuries where an open area becomes forested, then thereB次元官网网址檚 a disturbance, and now itB次元官网网址檚 open again. We canB次元官网网址檛 keep them like a postcard that doesnB次元官网网址檛 ever change.B次元官网网址�
On July 22, wildfires cut road access through the park and forced the Jasper townsiteB次元官网网址檚 5,000 residents, along with about 20,000 park visitors, to flee through smoke and ash. Two days later, the fire overwhelmed crews and hit the town, destroying one-third of its buildings.
Residents were allowed back Friday, but have been warned they may have to leave again with one hourB次元官网网址檚 notice as the out-of-control fire continues to burn within the park.
Those returning were greeted by a changed landscape of blackened trees reduced to skeletons.
Beverly said some clues on how rapidly JasperB次元官网网址檚 landscape could regenerate are scattered elsewhere in the park where previous wildfires have struck.
Some of those clues can be found a 30-minute drive north of JasperB次元官网网址檚 townsite and a few valleys away in the Syncline Ridge area.
In 2003, SynclineB次元官网网址檚 more than century-old spruce and pine trees overlooking a valley were burned all the way to the nearby highway, Beverly said.
SynclineB次元官网网址檚 landscape was similar to the forest area south of JasperB次元官网网址檚 townsite before it, too, burned, she said. Both were affected by wildfires recorded in the early 1900s and had been referred to as B次元官网网址渓ong unburnedB次元官网网址� forest.
B次元官网网址淣ow, Syncline is still classified as grass and itB次元官网网址檚 been 20 years since that fire,B次元官网网址� she said.
B次元官网网址淎nd that can change over time as forests establish. (The previous forest) took decades and decades for it to reach that stage of mature forests. So overall, anyone visiting the park who frequents it in the decades ahead are much more likely to see open landscape for quite a while.B次元官网网址�
Beverly said after a fire has travelled through a forest, it has typically left behind a healthy environment for regrowth.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 actually a really great process where the fire is killing the fuel trees, opening the pine cones, setting the stage for this beautiful seedbed,B次元官网网址� she said.
B次元官网网址淭his is a natural event and these ecosystems have evolved with fire.B次元官网网址�
Climate change is a player in the recovery, too.
B次元官网网址淲e know climate could have an impact on the way the ecosystem responds in the years ahead, or other things like continued drought,B次元官网网址� she said.
Evolving conservation efforts could also change how seeds sprout into new forests, Beverly added.
B次元官网网址淲e have to kind of accept management actions taken by people B次元官网网址� Prescribed burning, removing fuels proactively to mitigate the area can all alter what those valleys look like,B次元官网网址� she said.
B次元官网网址淎nd that could be quite interesting to watch in the years ahead as we see what comes back and how it looks over the next 10, 20, 50 years.B次元官网网址�
Fakiha Baig, The Canadian Press
