I was recently in Fort Benton, Montana on the Upper Missouri River. I talked to a local Rancher who was really upset by the fact that one of his bottoms had burned. Burned bad enough to kill all the very large cottonwood trees.
How long does it take a bottom to recover from this? I realize the large trees will take many years (maybe hundreds?). What consequences for the local ecology? How long before some underbrush returns? How bad is it for the game populations? Deer and Pheasents?
How long before some underbrush returns? How bad is it for the game populations? Deer and Pheasents?
Brush will be back in the spring.
Game will follow.
Cottonwood are a pioneer species and will regenerate pretty quick. Aspen fireweed and many other important plants will also be coming up this spring. The nutritional value of his "bottom" will be increased significantly because of the fire.
but shade and cover will suck for a while....
Damn, for a minute there I thought Cottonwood had injured himself.
Will regenerate before you know it.
g
Is he sure that all of the large cottonwoods are actually dead? He might be surprised next spring.
Around here cottonwoods can get pretty big in 30-40 years and they are tough to kill off.
I live in the Boreal forest of Northwestern Ontario--it is a fire-driven ecology. I've seen some catistrophic burns that burned to bald rock. They might stay black for a few years but eventually they too green up and then get thick as a jungle. Good for fur and game. A lot of big Pine and Spruce die and then lodge in the wind over the course of years. Seems a few big pines always survive too.
I think the guy was lamenting the loss of his big cottonwoods--they're all dead. He showed me a bottom that was still black and had burned a couple of years ago. All the large cottonwood were dead and bark starting to peel--looks like they would eventually come down from the wind if not from flood first. Surely those bottoms must see floods from time to time.
Even the bottom that burned last Summer had some grass and was full of deer--both whitetails and muleys and I saw a couple of Sharptails and hundreds of pheasents.
Cottonwoods - just add water and wait awhile.
Yes, the cotton woods will return. Just don't be standing over one when the root sprouts appear.
Generally, most trees of that Genus sprout vigorously after a fire.