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Drought, Fire, and Native Vegetation
By Jacqueline Levy, Education Program Manager
Bouverie Preserve, Glen Ellen
Climate change has been on my mind. With the extreme drought, recent heat waves in the Northwest, and the wildfires of the past few years it is evident that weather patterns are changing. The cause is clear: more greenhouse gases are trapping heat in our atmosphere. In 1900 humanity was releasing 2 billion tons of CO2 into the atmosphere annually, today that number has risen to 35 billion tons a year. Here in California temperatures have increased by 2.2 degrees in 150 years, resulting in more extreme heat events, drought, and increased fire danger as the hot dry summer season extends into the fall when high winds blow through. All it takes is a spark to ignite the dry vegetation. In 2019 the Kincade fire was spread by the 93 mile per hour winds.
Wildfires have a cascading impact on local landscapes. The newly-open post-fire canopy allows for more light to reach the ground and the ash serves as fertilizer for invasive plants such as yellow star thistle. Later when we have intense rains, having fewer trees and shrubs to hold the soil in place allows landslides to occur. This all threatens biodiversity. To quote my colleague Michelle Cooper, biologist and preserve manager at Modini Preserve, “natural systems can recover given time, but we are having rapid catastrophic events with little time to recover in between.”
Diversity in our vegetation is key
Having mosaics of micro-habitats allows for resiliency. A variety of habitats gives wildlife a place to go when catastrophe strikes and may hold a diverse seed bank for native plant recovery. Our forests rely on us providing human services to ecosystems to thrive and to offer us all of their ecosystem services in return,” Dr. Sasha Berleman, director of Audubon Canyon Ranch’s Fire Forward program, stated during a climate change discussion in June. She explained that the Indigenous people of California managed the forest sustainably until their forcible removal. Now, the forests in our area are too dense, which makes them more susceptible to fire. More trees demand more water, so denser forests deplete the water supply. Denser forests also allow for the easier spread of fire.
Local ecosystems are fire adapted.
It may seem counterintuitive, but one way to fight fire is with fire—good fire. Good fire is fire that is planned on cool, moist days to move downhill with fire management professionals at the ready to keep it in check. Good fire is welcomed by plants like the knobcone pine (Pinus attenuata) that will only open its cones to release seeds when burned.
Fire Poppy
Other plants are fire followers such as the aptly named fire poppy (Papaver californicum). We can steward wildlands for both fuel management and biodiversity with good fire, targeted grazing, and other mechanical or manual means. You can read more about prescribed fire and fuels management on ACR’s Fire Forward webpage.
In addition to stewarding the landscape we can reduce both our water and carbon footprint by changing up our routines. We all know that driving less and replacing light bulbs and appliances with more efficient ones can reduce our carbon footprint. People are aware that low flow toilets, turning off the tap, shorter showers, and drip irrigation help to lower our water footprint. But did you know that another way to reduce both your carbon and water footprint is to eat less beef? It takes approximately 1,800 gallons of water to produce one pound of beef compared to 518 gallons for a pound of chicken or 216 gallons for a pound of soybeans. Cows also emit methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. Some local dairies have methane digesters that convert cow waste into power to run their facilities which helps to reduce their carbon footprint. The amount of CO2 released by the production of beef is three times that of the same amount of chicken and 10 times that of potatoes. So, the next time you get out the Bar-B-Q for a summer cookout think about throwing a turkey or veggie burger on the grill instead of beef. You will be reducing both your carbon and water footprint with each bite you take.
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