Fall 2002

Current Research: Exploring the Ecological Role of Fire

North Mississippi was once covered with oaks and sedgegrass. Today, however, the region features stands of sweetgum and the black jack oaks of historical accounts are largely absent.

According to Stephen Brewer, an assistant professor of biology at the University of Mississippi and the leader of an ongoing five-year study on wildfire's role in maintaining biodiversity, the difference in tree species is the result of decades of fire suppressIon.

Brewer arrived at this conclusion after conducting surveys of two university-owned hardwood forests - one containing many trees 150 years old and older and another containing stands with trees approximately 40 years old. He then compared this information with historical descriptions from as far back as the early 1800s, aerial photographs from the 1930s, and interviews with longtime residents.

The data revealed that the absence of fire has had a significant difference on the kinds of tree species present in the area.

"The presettlement landscape was a fire-maintained, open woodland, and that kind of forest is rare these days," says Brewer. Before settlers arrived, fire-tolerant oaks dominated area forests, and fire-sensitive species, such as the sweetgum, were rare.

However, returning forests to presettlement conditions is not the aim of Brewer's research.

Brewer wants to- "learn about fire's role in maintaining biodiversity in a natural system and to figure out what kind of impact humanity is having on biodiversity.

Fires were a natural part of the 1d"B"B, an scape, says rewer. ut we ve broken up the land and can no longer rely on natural fire regimes to perform their former ecological role." Zeroing in on that role is the first step of Brewer's work.

"We're generating prescribed burning regimes that simulate natural fire conditions to figure out how fire was involved in maintaining biodiversity," says Brewer. "Then the next step will be to try and restore natural fire regimes to see if they can help restore the area's biodiversity."

In the end, Brewer says his research may lead to a deepened understanding of fire's role in land management efforts.

"Fire isn't just a tool. It should also be seen as part of a natural ecological process."

For information, contact Stephen Brewer, Department of Biology, University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677; phone: (662) 915-1077; fax: (662) 915-5144; email: jbrewer@olemiss.edu.