FIRE EFFECTS AND USE
WILDLIFE SPECIES: Alces alces | Moose 



DIRECT FIRE EFFECTS ON ANIMALS : 
Occasionally moose are trapped and killed by fire [20].


HABITAT RELATED FIRE EFFECTS : 
An extensive review of the literature indicates that fire generally
enhances moose habitat by creating and maintaining seral communities,
and is considered beneficial to moose populations [14,49,50].  The
beneficial effects of fire on habitat were estimated to last less than
50 years, with moose density peaking 20 to 25 years following fire [50].

Much research has been conducted on fire-moose relationships in Alaska.
Bishop and Rausch [5] stated that fire-created seral communities have
been the major influence on increasing moose numbers.  A study conducted
by Gasaway and DuBois [20] showed that moose were not displaced from
their summer home range when a portion of it was burned.  Moose used
unburned vegetation both within and outside the burned area.  The fire
burned in spring, allowing vegetation to resprout for use during the
summer.  However, extremely large, hot, and fast-moving wildfires can
force moose to temporarily abandon their home ranges.  MacCracken and
Viereck [49] reported that following a spring fire browse for moose was
abundant within 2 months.  Aspen, birch, and willow sprouted from roots
and stumps, and this response was closely related to the prefire stand
age.  Young (70-year-old) aspen-white spruce-black spruce stands produce
10 times more forage than older stands (130 to 180-year-old).

Krefting [46] discussed the importance of fire to the Isle Royale moose
population.  He stated that fire is the primary agent responsible for
maintaining the secondary successional vegetation that moose prefer.
Hansen and others [48] reported that the moose population of Isle Royale
quadrupled in the decade following a 1936 fire that burned 26,000 acres
(10,526 ha).  At this time there were no predators on the island.  

Wolf and Zasada [45] reported that aspen provided the most browse 1 to 5
years after fire, while birch and willow provided the most browse 10 to
16 years after fire.  Others reported similar findings and noted a
decrease in browse production after 20 years [31,44,45].  However, fires
do not always stimulate aspen-birch-willow communities [9].  Following
fire in the boreal forest there is usually a period of 5 to 20 years and
occasionally 60 to 70 years when moose foraging conditions are
favorable.  Duration of browse growth and volume produced is variable,
however.  In Alaska a single, well-timed reburn could increase browse by
reducing white spruce [40].

Five years after a 40-acre (16 ha) fire in the Gallatin National Forest,
Montana, aspen increased from a few hundred stems per acre to over
30,000 stems per acre (74,100/ha).  Shrubs sprouted vigorously from
rootstocks, with willow producing a greater canopy and crown volume than
prefire conditions allowed [22].

Frequent fires can destroy most of the humus layer and reduce the
regeneration of quaking aspen.  Fires at 2- to 3-year intervals during
the regeneration stage may entirely destroy the suckering capability of
aspen.  In older aspen stands fire seldom harms root systems enough to
destroy suckering [7].

A study in Idaho showed that burning Rocky Mountain maple increased the
crude fiber content, resulting in decreased digestibility.  Moisture and
crude protein in willow and serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia)
increased significantly during postfire year 1 but began to decrease by
postfire years 2 and 3 [2].

Bangs and Bailey [3] stated that hot fires in hot weather probably would
not produce much beneficial edge habitat.  They also concluded that calf
recruitment could be low in springs following fires that reduce
vegetation on wintering grounds.


FIRE USE : 
In willow-birch-aspen forest types, burning every 15 to 20 years will
increase forage production for moose and maintain a vegetation height of
about 9 feet (3 m), which is within foraging reach of moose [31].
Spring or early summer burning allows for some forage regrowth in the
same year.  Late summer or fall burning in northern latitudes will delay
forage regrowth until the following spring, reducing winter food
[20,49].  Areas where forage species are killed by fire must be seeded,
which delays browse production by 3 to 5 years [45].  Fires can be used
to intersperse new and old growth cover, and increase the edge effect.

To create a mosaic of stand age classes, burning should be
discontinuous.  This allows moose to remain in immediate areas during a
burn.  Also a variety of plant communities should be burned to provide
immediate and long-term browse, as well as a diversity of forage species
[49].  Dense coniferous forests must always be maintained adjacent to
more open areas with high forage production.  Openings should be no
larger than 40 to 50 acres (16-20 ha) in areas of dense cover and less
in more open habitats [14,22].  Pierce and Peek [37] concluded that
piling and burning is better than broadcast burning in selection-cut
grand fir-yew stands in order to maintain the essential yew browse
understory.  However, caution must be taken when burning these areas
because of Pacific yew's sensitivity to fire.  Fire can be used to
maintain aspen communities and keep out balsam fir and white spruce
where these types succeed aspen [46].


REFERENCES : 
NO-ENTRY

Related categories for Wildlife Species: Alces alces | Moose