Recovering after a fire has become a very frequent part of life in California. Though fire is an intrinsic part of the California landscape, the fires in recent years feel different. Climate scientists agree that these fires, in frequency as well as severity, are indeed intensifying, an effect of human-caused climate change.

As of this writing, over 23,000 acres in and around our sister landscape, the Santa Monica Mountain National Recreation Area in Southern California, have been burned in the Palisades fire. Watching updates about the blaze in the southern part of our state has many of us remembering times when fires were closer to home, here in the Berryessa Snow Mountain region.

According to Solano County records, the 2020 LNU Lightning Complex fires burned 363,220 acres across Colusa, Lake, Napa, Solano, Sonoma and Yolo counties. Over the course of the fire, which lasted from Aug. 17 to Oct. 2, there were 1,491 structures destroyed, another 232 were damaged and tragically the fire took six human lives. It was the 7th largest wildfire in recorded California history.

Our beloved natural landscape and wildlife in the Berryessa Snow Mountain region was severely impacted. It is easy to recall the burnt hills, the charred trees, as well as the smokey skies that lasted all summer in 2020. Almost five years later, I find myself continuing to look to nature for wisdom about recovery after such significant losses.

Ecological succession is the term used by scientists to describe the process by which a biological community evolves over time. Primary succession is the process of ecological growth starting from completely barren or newly exposed land, after a volcanic eruption, for instance, when there is rock but no soil for plants to grow in. “Pioneer species” in ecological terms are the first species to become established in a habitat. Seeds and spores brought in on the wind, in water, or dropped by a passing bird, bring the first species of plants to inhabit the landscape, creating a simple biological community. Over time, the plant matter decomposes and becomes soil, making way for larger plants and a more complex ecosystem.

Secondary succession occurs after a fire or other disturbance when the landscape is significantly altered, but the building blocks of soil are already present. In secondary succession, pioneer plant species like ferns and mosses are often the first to return. Ferns grow from rhizomes, horizontal root systems under the soil, which can withstand a moderate fire, allowing for ferns to appear as quickly as three weeks post-fire. Mosses can also begin to grow just two months after a fire. In the first spring post-fire, we see grasses and wildflowers taking advantage of the sunlight once shaded out by the overstory. Nature wastes no time.

California native plants have evolved to live alongside fire, and they do so in several different ways.

Some native plants like Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia) rely upon resprouting new growth from the crown of an established plant after a fire, their root ball having stored nutrients to prepare for a time like this. Many Manzanita species (Arctostaphylos manzanita) rely upon germination of seeds to replenish their populations and use “fire cues” such as heat and smoke for seed germination. Some plants have adapted to regenerate both by seed and resprouting at the crown such as California Yerba Santa (Eriodictyon californicum). Species of plants referred to as fire-followers, as the name implies, are signaled to germinate by the chemicals in charred wood and smoke after a fire. Some endemic fire followers only grow in the 1-2 years after a fire, from seeds left behind after a previous fire, these newly sprouted plants will also produce masses of seeds to be stored in the soil until the next fire. An example of a fire follower in our region is the wildflower Whispering bells (Emmenanthe penduliflora). Fascinatingly studies have shown that many fire-following plants are more nutritionally dense when growing in ash-enriched soil from a recent fire, providing more nutrients to the herbivores who graze on them.

Along with plant life, insects and small mammals are also an integral part of succession after a fire. Many insect species are attracted to the scent of smoke and ash which signals ample food in the form of charred plant material. Birds are then drawn by the increase in insects in the area. Small mammals such as rodents and rabbits are key to recovery in an area impacted by fire thanks to their ability to repopulate quickly, and their adaptability to shifts in the landscape. This boom in small mammals then brings larger mammals and birds of prey.

In the 5-10 years following a fire, we will start to see shrubs returning to the landscape, while trees can take decades to create the beginnings of an overstory. While it can take hundreds of years for a landscape to move from pioneer mosses and wildflowers to an ecosystem with mature trees, there is a lot of life happening in the years in between. Some ecosystems display more biodiversity in the years after a fire, than in the years leading up to one.

Perhaps the concept of ecological succession can help us cope with the impacts of present and future fires. In ecological succession, each plant and animal in the community does a little something to recover, and slowly there is renewal and opportunity. As individuals we can’t change everything, but we can each do a little something and together that can make all the difference.

Driving or hiking through the fire impacted areas now, almost five years later, you see the remains of charred trees that once shaded the understory, snags now providing habitat for woodpeckers and other cavity nesting birds. There are fields of Miniature Lupines, Yerba Santa, Common Woolly Sunflower and Broad Leaf Phacelia. Wildflowers and grasses enjoying the lack of competition for sunlight provide a delicious buffet for wildlife to enjoy. Among disturbed edges, you find the soft low creeping of Turkey Mullein (Croton setiger), and the familiar brilliance of California Fuschia (Epilobium canum). Our state’s most famous fire-follower, the iconic California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica) shimmers all over the hills. If you are lucky you might hear the persistent courting melodies of a Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) or the distant “Chi-ca-go!” of a California Quail (Callipepla californica). Life has continued to push on.