Researcher illustrates animal behaviour in wildfire-burned forest
CBC
On Russell Lake near Behchokǫ̀, N.W.T, Glenn Blondin hunted two moose about a week apart — harvesting the animals near burned area from this summer's wildfire that caused the community's evacuation in July and later Yellowknife's evacuation in August.
Blondin said animals also seem to be congregating in a burned area between Whatı̀ and Behchokǫ̀ from a wildfire years ago.
"Maybe they like the fresh little vegetation growing back, I'm not sure what it is," Blondin said.
Geneviève Degré-Timmons, a PhD candidate with the University of Laval, is studying how and why wildlife use burned lands. She lives in Chibougamau, Que., but travels to the Northwest Territories for her work.
Degré-Timmons said there's evidence to support Blondin's observations.
Her research isn't conclusive, but so far indicates that for the first ten years after a fire, there's an emergence of vascular plants that are rich in protein and other nutrients. Her research focuses on caribou, but she said those plants can attract moose too.
While that sounds like good news for wildlife, Degré-Timmons said caribou seem to use the burned areas during the summer and birthing and calving season. The rest of the year, caribou rely on mature forest, which is becoming more difficult for them to find as fires curb regeneration. Forests are also sometimes growing back with deciduous trees that have entirely different ecologic properties. Degré-Timmons also added predators' use of the burned areas add another factor for the caribou's use.
"There's a lot at play here," Degré-Timmons said.
While Degré-Timmons is still in the midst of her PhD, she's made, with the help of an artist friend, a painting as a visual representation of her work so far.
She said the painting shows a cycle of the boreal forest before and after a wildfire.
On the left side, there's a mature forest with large trees and a carpet of lichen. Then the fire comes in. After that, the painting shows the regeneration process when the trees start to get denser. The painting shows a caribou's silhouette in each phase of the cycle and depicts a darkened silhouette after the burn to show caribou's use of the burned area.
Degré-Timmons has spent time in Behchokǫ̀, Hay River, Yellowknife and Fort Providence but she's spent the most time in Kakisa, participating in on-the-land camps and workshops with community members.
"On the right side of the painting, the sky is actually from a picture from Kakisa," she said.
A copy of the painting is in the Ka'a'gee Tu First Nation band office. Once the original has its final glaze, she said she plans to bring that to the band too. Degré-Timmons has also submitted her art to the Northern-based Xàgots'eèhk'ǫ̀ journal.
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