by Makhayla LaButte | Aug 16, 2021 | Conservation
*This article appeared in the Fall 2020 issue of Michigan Out-of-Doors Magazine.
By: Makhayla LaButte, MUCC Habitat Volunteer Coordinator
DESIGNED TO BURN
Although best known for towering forests and shimmering Great Lakes, much of Michigan’s natural history is intrinsically tied to wildfire and the habitats that depend on it. Once abundant, these ecosystems are now scattered and hidden in plain sight among the converted landscapes of agriculture and select forests. Much of Michigan’s native flora and fauna are adapted to fire.
Pine and oak forests and various types of grasslands are ecosystems that require fire in order to provide quality habitat for native wildlife. Although wildfires are readily prevented and suppressed today, they were once a normal part of the landscape due to natural occurrence and intentional use by Native Americans. Traditionally, people who occupied the landscapes of Michigan would use fire as a tool to manage the land for needs like agriculture. Perhaps one of the best examples of Michigan wildlife being adapted to fire-prone landscapes is the Kirtland’s warbler and its unique adaptation to jack pine habitat. Endemic to Michigan and limited locations in Wisconsin and Quebec, this ground-nesting migratory songbird only nests in young jack pine that still have their lowest branches near the ground.
Being serotinous, or covered with resin and unable to open without an environmental trigger, the cones of jack pine require the extreme heat from a fire to open. In the nutrient-rich soil created by fires, these cones produce the next generation of jack pine stands. As Michigan land management agencies became increasingly aggressive in their efforts to prevent destructive wildfires, they inadvertently starved the jack pine ecosystems of the fire necessary to regenerate.
The abrupt and maintained loss of wildfire also led to a sharp decline in the Kirtland’s warbler population. As young jack pine forests grew scarce, the Kirtland’s warblers struggled to find suitable nesting habitat. This severe habitat loss, paired with cowbird nest parasitism, led to the Kirtland’s warbler being listed as an endangered species in 1967.
Following extensive conservation efforts by state and federal land management agencies utilizing both prescribed fire and other jack pine regeneration techniques, (read full article at Michigan Out of Doors).
