California Wildfires Ecological Toll Light, Experts Say

Stefan Lovgren in Los Angeles
for National Geographic News

October 24, 2007

Wildfires still raged at several locations in southern California on Wednesday, even as easing winds gave firefighters hope that the flames could be brought under control.

Now in their fourth day, the fires have burned about 410,000 acres (1,700 square kilometers) from Santa Barbara County to the Mexican border, destroying some 1,500 homes and forcing the evacuations of more than half a million people.

The financial toll is expected to be devastating, with losses already estimated at more than a billion U.S. dollars in San Diego County alone.

The ecological costs resulting from the fires may be less severe, however, even though deer, bears, and other wildlife may have perished in the fires.

"These [ecological] systems have evolved with fire," said Eric Loft, the chief of wildlife at California's Department of Fish and Game.

"Folks will report on seeing burned animals, sometimes bears with paws burned, but the long-term effects are positive for wildlife.

"It rejuvenates the habitat," he added. "Native plants germinate anew and provide a new, lush growth for wildlife to eat."

Benefits of Fire

The blazes began on Sunday in more than a dozen locations, including coastal Malibu northwest of Los Angeles.

The fires were aided by unseasonally hot temperatures, strong Santa Ana winds, and a prolonged drought that has left much of southern California's scrubland and forests tinder-dry.

In television images, deer could be seen fleeing from the flames.

(Related: pictures: "California Fires Force Animal Evacuation [October 24, 2007].)

"Deer and rabbits may get caught in the fires, and there are big horn sheep in some of the areas and black bears around Arrowhead," Loft said.

"Burrowing animals typically go underground—we really don't know what happens to them."

One problem that affects wildlife as well as humans may be the deteriorating air quality.

"But that has an impact on individual animals rather than the entire systems," Loft said.

"The long-term prognosis for the entire ecosystem is that fire is favorable even though it has short-term negative impacts on animals," he added.

Meanwhile, in San Diego, wildfires scorched the perimeters of the large Wild Animal Park.

Park officials had to temporarily move the park's California condors and other animals to a fire-safe veterinary medical center inside the park.

One of the park's two condor-breeding facilities was destroyed by the fire.

But most of the animals remained safely inside their 60- to 80-acre (24- to 32-hectare) habitats, which are heavily irrigated and contain no flammable brush.

"We are experienced with these events, so by Sunday night when the fires started we were ready and waiting to move any animals away from areas that may be in danger of the fires," said Yadira Galindo, a spokesperson for the park.

By Wednesday, most of those animals had been moved back to their normal park habitats.

According to Alexia Retallack, spokesperson for the California Department of Fish and Game, the Rancho Jamul Ecological Reserve has been partially affected and the Otay Mountain Ecological Reserve has been fully affected by the fires.

The Witch Fire in San Diego has consumed Boden Canyon, Blue Sky, Meadowbrook, Iron Mountain, Rancho Canada, and Boulder Oaks reserves, she added.

Frequent Fire Concern

Many of the places now burning are the same ones that were scorched during 2003 blazes, however, which does concern Loft.

In many of these locations, chapparal makes up most of the vegetation growth.

Chapparal refers to a community of plants that is dominated by drought-hardy shrubs such as manzanite and chamise, and it thrives in a climate of hot and dry summers and mild winters.

While fires are a natural part of the chaparral ecosystem, too many fires may eliminate the system, replacing the chaparral with non-native grasses and weeds.

"One of the problems," Loft said, "is that if we get into a system where the native vegetation is replaced by annual grasses that are highly flammable and burn every few years, then that has a long-term detrimental effect on wildlife."

Free Email News Updates
Sign up for our Inside National Geographic newsletter. Every two weeks we'll send you our top stories and pictures (see sample).