Transcript:
The forests of Northern Colorado are home to all sorts of animals – from birds, squirrels, and snowshoe hares to elk, bighorn sheep, and mountain lions.
But in 2020, severe wildfires raged across large areas of their habitat. And the damage still scars the landscape.
McTigue: “You’re driving along the highway and you’ll see entire mountainsides that are just burned and charred.”
Leah McTigue, a researcher at Colorado State University, says that as the climate warms, extreme wildfires are becoming more frequent.
McTigue: “So we are looking at how wildlife is responding to these megafires.”
As the forest slowly recovers and animals start to return, her team is using motion-detector cameras and audio recorders to compare wildlife activity in areas that burned and areas that did not.
They’re looking at which species are present and at their relative numbers – which can alter the long-term availability of food and habitat.
For example, if herbivores like elk return in large numbers, but only a few predators like mountain lions remain …
McTigue: “We may see overgrazing, which is going to reduce just the health of the ecosystem in general.”
So she says the data could help shape decisions about how to manage and restore habitat after extreme wildfires.
Reporting credit: Sarah Kennedy / ChavoBart Digital Media
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