Ecosystems try to rebuild after widlfires die down in Arizona

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Some of Mount Lemmon's black bears might go foraging for garbage in Tucson. The Mexican spotted owls and peregrine falcons are flying to other forests. And the Gila chub fish was packed up and moved from its creek home.

The fire that roared through the vacation community of Summerhaven, 6,000 feet above Tucson on Mount Lemmon, displaced the mountain's wildlife and for a time its residents.

Animals fled, and thousands of acres of trees burned. Most are expected to recover.

"Everything in these forests has evolved to cope with and even depend on fire," said Matt Skroch, field director for the conservation group Sky Island Alliance. "But you may not recognize the forest for what it was for 300 or 400 years."

The 9,157-foot Mount Lemmon in the Santa Catalina Mountains is part of what scientists refer to as a "sky island," a forested mountain range isolated by seas of grasslands. The geography creates a phenomenon where multiple ecosystems are stacked on top of one another.

Sky islands are found in southeastern Arizona, southwestern New Mexico, and northern portions of the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Sonora.

Mount Lemmon

At the bottom of Mount Lemmon, there are prickly pear and saguaro cactuses, with the accompanying Sonoran desert wildlife, such as javelinas.

Higher up on the mountain are ponderosa pines, pinons and junipers -- the homes of owls and hawks. The wildfire began in trees such as these.

At the top, bears and deer move among shady spruce and fir trees in wet, cold forests. The fire burned there as well.

Most animals flee during wildfires. Some will die. After burned areas cool, however, wildlife can return quickly.

The Mexican spotted owls, which are listed as a threatened species, and peregrine falcons will find going home easier.

"They should be able to set up housekeeping again," said Tom Whetten, an information and education program manager for the Arizona Game and Fish Department.

Black bears will have a tougher time, especially since Mount Lemmon was hit last year by another wildfire that scorched more than 30,500 acres.

"With this after the Bullock fire, we're kind of running out of places for black bears to live," said Rick Gerhert, a spokesman for firefighters battling the current blaze.

Bears can move away from burned habitat, but often run into other territorial bears.

The Gila chub, which is being considered for protection under the Endangered Species Act, will have to be brought back.

The state game department removed roughly 950 chubs in the area to a different watershed for about a year to protect them from the ash and runoff from erosion that usually kill fish.

after wildfires.

The forest itself will also need help recovering.

"It's going to be important to spend money to do restoration and erosion control," Skroch said.

One part of recovery involves spraying soil with seeds and mulch. Hydroseeding is done on steep slopes to stabilize the soil while planting new growth, Skroch said.

But some trees will take centuries to return, and others could disappear from the area forever.

Sky islands isolate stands of different species of trees, which can genetically diverge slightly over the years, said Tom Swetnam, director of the University of Arizona's Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research. So trees on Mount Lemmon might have a slightly different genetic makeup than the same trees found on another sky island.

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On the Net:

Sky Island Alliance: http://www.skyislandalliance.org

Arizona Game and Fish Department: http://www.gf.state.az.us