Fire of Life

Though well-meaning and worthwhile, propaganda efforts to reduce the careless setting of forest fires have had another effect that is perhaps not as commendable. We have come to fear forest fires and to think of them as devastators of all life in their paths. In interior Alaska the opposite may be true, for without fire the forests evolve to plant communities that are relatively unproductive.

A burned area rapidly grows many new plants, and animals soon move in to feed on them. As soon as the fire cools new shoots of trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants spring forth. Within 4 to 5 years, a lush growth forms, perhaps some vegetation being already 10 or 20 feet tall.

Why the rapid recovery?

In interior Alaska only black and white spruce must depend upon seeds for new growth after burning. Other plants immediately grow from vegetative parts of plants not destroyed in the fire, unburned stumps and the roots and root-like stems (rhizomes) that have been protected by the moss and soil layers. These parts usually contain buds that remain dormant due to lack of light, low temperature or to growth-inhibiting substances produced by the parent plant. Once the parent plant is killed by fire and conditions are right, the dormant buds burst forth in vigorous new life.