Australian Wildfire Lesson for All of Us Humans

Aussie Invertebrate’s article:

Australian extensive wildfires are a nightmare this weekend (Feb.2, 2009) and a lesson to all humans around the world.
Red Bubble Australians are rightfully concerned about this weekend’s fiery holocaust that so far has killed 84 people and destroyed hundreds
of homes/towns(?) and millions of acres of green carbon-based vegetation.

Nature’s Wildfire consumes excess carbon in a temporary arid ecosystem. Even arson fires would be stopped if Nature was allowed naturally to cut down or consume an excess of the natural fuels on the ground all around us. This is a preventable aspect of global warming.

Australian friends has been asking for a way to prevent this wildfire threat that we humans all face with desertification and drought

spreading as a result of “global warming”. Traditionally, Nature simply handled this flammability issue for us and modern science is just beginning (2001) to understand this fire-proofing essential service Nature used to do for all humans routinely.

Very current American research shows Nature uses “invertebrates” to consume vast quantities of excess carbon-vegetation to prevent the need

for destructive wildfires. For example, hordes of grasshoppers consume excessive amounts of greenery before they dry out and become flammable in later summer; but humans myopically spray insecticides on them today.

Earthworms also consume tinder lying upon the ground and their collective tunnels into the soil allow water to drain into parched soils or our planet’s “living sponge”.

The moister soil allows flowering native plants, which are green during summer and cool wildfires, to thrive and reproduce; assuming pollinators (butterflies) exist to
pollinate their flowers and produce seeds of renewal.

In a nutshell, the current Aussie Wildland fires reflect what scientist have called a
“drought/desertification cycle”.

Ironically, science is just discovering this unknown or observed Nature-fact as humans are largely urbanites; and urbanites no longer feel Nature is significant in our lives collectively. We enjoy photos of Nature and that is enough for us to know?

Thus, our noble human goals to perpetuate “ecology” are more important than some lunatic political slogan. Nature and its natural resources provide us humans with plentiful and pure water and air we need daily and millions of other good things for human society to thrive upon.

Here is a glimpse into new research on our world’s range land’s significant invertebrates!

SMALL SPINELESS CREATURES ARE SIGNIFICANT?
By Dave Sandersfeld, Father Nature Consulting

By “spineless creatures”, we are talking about what biologists call “invertebrates” or less observed, small, animals and plants “without

backbones” per se that most of us never see in our daily lives.

We are talking about bacteria, fungi, protozoa, mold, insects, nematodes and arthropods!

They are the nuts and bolts; as we humans have recently found through scientific study in our world’s ecological “Web of life” upon what we

stand upon totally unaware! +“The idea of a networking web spreading out for mutual benefit dates back at least 400 million years.

MYCORRHIZAL FUNGUS, which form mutually beneficial relationships with green plants, keep trees in Pacific Northwest healthy and huge. Not

every fungus is mycorrhizal, but 95 percent of most green plants, from orchids to cedars, depend upon at least one fungus. When a forest is

cut, the fungi die with the trees. Fungi lack organs such as leaves, roots, and stems. They also lack chlorophyll and the ability to

manufacture their own food through photosynthesis. By linking up with green plants, they obtain sugars from the host in exchange for

increasing the feeding area of its green roots up to 2000 times. This allows more efficient extraction of nutrients and water from the soil;

some fungi even contribute antibiotics to protect host plants. This work is done by the fungus’ mycelium, the body of the fungus, which

consists of a network or web of threadlike filaments called hyphae. The hyphae work with smaller nitrogen bacteria in the root nodules,

adjusting resources according to need for water or nutrients. An acre of forest can yield 2 ½ tons of hyphae, dry weight. When conditions are

right (often after heavy rains), the mycelium sends up spore-bearing fruiting bodies – mushrooms. Although the hyphae modify the host roots,

they never harm the hosts.”

The John Day River geology is covered with ancient “map lichen”; which is a very old symbiotic or cooperative agreement between two simple

plant species of algae and fungus. “Crustose Lichens” decompose rock – using a localized acid mixture secreted by the fungal hyphae roots and

can etch the rock a half inch deep in search of nutrient not supplied in the air. The simple algae is green and produces food; but would dry

out on rocks – if it did not share its food with the tougher skinned fungus which protect the algae from drying out, baking in the sun or

other injury.

Frankly there is no shame not knowing this esoteric ecological fact. This interpreter has been observing nature for well over fifty years and

I didn’t know this recent discovery of science. Before that, the Great Spirit just handled this every day well beyond our visual sight.

Moreover, none of my Oregon State University Forestry Department classes in 1980s even mentioned “Invertebrates”!

Even enlightened environmental scientist and author Aldo Leopold was esoteric in his explanation of “Thinking like a mountain” in 1949 and he

tried to explain anecdotally about a lesson he learned as a young man killing wolves.

Later he explained the unseen critical roles of invertebrates in this quote subtlety:

The outstanding scientific discovery of the twentieth century is not television, or radio, but rather the complexity of the land organism.

Only those who know the most about it can appreciate how little we know about it. The last word in ignorance is the man who says of an animal

or plant: “What good is it?” If the land mechanism as a whole is good, then every part is good, whether we understand it or not. If the

biota, in the course of aeons, has built something we like but do not understand, then who but a fool would discard seemingly useless parts?

To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering.
Leopold, Aldo: Round River, Oxford University Press, New York, 1993, pp. 145-146.

Actually, recent studies of the summer of 1998 wild forest fires of Yellowstone National Park left bald spots and scientists had to

investigate why the elk & bison and plants never returned?

This story is too big to cover here; but I wanted to clue you into some interesting 2001 research that addresses “INVERTEBRATES OF THE

COLUMBIA RIVER BASIN ASSESSMENT AREA”.

Page 1:
“Invertebrates other than pests insects and disease organisms have received little consideration in most planning efforts.”
The author of INVERTEBRATES OF THE COLUMBIA RIVER BASIN ASSESSMENT AREA give us five reasons to be interested in “invertebrates’ in science

now on in the John Day River Basin or where ever you call home.

1)”Invertebrates are fond in most ecosystems worldwide….For example, in a hectare of tropical rainforests in Manaus in the Brazilian, Amazon,

there are about 1 billion invertebrates….This constitutes about 93 percent of the 200 kilograms of total dry weight biomass of all animals

present”.
Nov 14th, 1963, Surtsey Island was a bubbling volcanic rock reaching the ocean surface not far from Iceland. This was hot sterile rock; but

by 1965, (wind-driven seeds and spores) vascular plants and lichen and invertebrates started colonizing these rocks to jump start an

“ecosystem”. By 1984, flocks of birds frequented the almost cold island and their nutrient rich feces fertilized the developing soils (rock

fragments> ‘soils’) and the ecosystem really started to diversify and become more complex with many eco-tone layers.

2) “Invertebrates drive ecosystem processes. Invertebrates are vital to energy and nutrient processing and cycling in ecosystems. (page 4)
Other arthropods …consume and shred {comminute) large quantities of dead leaves and needles in forest litter and inoculate microbes into

larger detrital surface areas….Without the crushed-up plant fragments contained in arthropod frass, decomposition by bacteria and fungi would

eventually occur but at a much slower rate. The decomposition process is far more efficient if leaves are shredded first.”

3) “Invertebrates have unique value for scientific study, assessment, and monitoring. Invertebrates are ideal study organisms because there

are many species represented by large populations and diverse habitats, with short generation times and rapid population growth, and they

provide a fine-grain representation of the system….Short generation times and high reproductive potential also make Invertebrates excellent

indicator and ‘early warning’ organisms.”

4) “Invertebrates have important economic significance. Invertebrates affect human welfare both positive and negative ways by their

influence on agriculture, forestry, and industry. They are important in soil development, pollination of crops and wildland plants, and

controlling important pest species.”

5) Invertebrates profoundly affect public health.

Page 3:
‘In the past, soil has been perceived as inert and inanimate, and soil properties as distinctive but relatively unchanging. Faunal

constituents, until recently, have been largely ignored in management activities. Recent studies indicate soil functions as a community of

interacting organisms ranging from viruses and bacteria, fungi, nematodes, mollusks, and arthropods….Biologically driven properties resulting

from such complex interactions require from only a few to several hundred years to develop.
The greater the number of interactions of decomposers, their predators, and the predators of those predators, the fewer the losses of

nutrients from that system.”

Page 6 > PRODUCTIVE ECOSYSTEMS TEND TO RETAIN NUTRIENTS. Over time nutrients are metabolized to forms less available for plants and animals,

such as phytates, lignins, tannins, and humic and fulvic acids.

Page 4 mentions: “Termites and other wood-boring beetles and wasps excavate large nitrogen-rich galleries in wood in concert with N-fixing

and cellulytic gut symbionts. They increase wood aeration and the surface area exposed to decomposers, thereby facilitating decomposition and

enriching surrounding soils that are often N-impoverished.”

Further, grasshopper population’s peak in summer as the peak vegetation biomass starts to die off and grasshoppers are designed to shred old

vegetation into feces the bacteria can more readily decompose into nitrogen and carbon back into the soil sponge – before winter cold sets in

and slows decomposition. Range fires also consume mass quantities of dried vegetation; but at a more drastic and dangerous way. If

grasshoppers are eradicated by insecticides; Nature, as a back-up plan, will do the job with wild fire?

For nutrients to once again become available to plants and animals, they must be mineralized by the interaction of decomposers and their

predators. These populations and their interactions are important to ecosystem stability, including predator and prey interactions,

mutualism, and disease.”

Page 4 describes native “earthworms” in the John Day Basin today!
JODA’s northwest display box has earthworm castings in Clarno Formation’s paleo-soils- fossils from 38 million years ago, as I recall. It

appears, today, they would be classified as “ANECIC” earthworm species “that inhabit a permanent or semi-permanent deep vertical burrow and

emerge at night to consume relatively fresh plant detritus on the surface. These are the largest and longest lived earthworms….
Anecic earthworms are not known to be associated with the natural vegetation in the basin assessment area. If present, their contributions

would be the transfer of relatively fresh plant litter from the surface to deep levels of the soil and the creation of deep vertical burrows,

which assist water infiltration. Other earthworms can contribute to these processes but not directly or effectively.”
Fishermen bring in or import “Nighcrawlers” for fishing?

“ENDOGEIC species, though they are the majority, are the least known of all earthworms because their life styles are not easily observed. The

fraction of the soil organic matter on which a given species feed is known only for a few species, and for none of those present in the basin

assessment area. Factors influencing populations of native species are completely unknown. If they are comparable to other earthworms, soil

moisture, soil temperature, organic matter and quality, and soil pH are probably the most important factors….Endogeics live in the mineral

soil and consume organic matter within the soil or at the soil-litter interface. They are larger, less pigmented to unpigmented, have longer

lives, and have lower reproductive rates.

WHAT DO EARTHWORMS DO FOR ECOLOGY?

1) ORGANIC MATTER COMMINUTION – By reducing the size of organic matter particles during passage through the worm, the organic matter is made

more accessible to action by other decomposers {bacteria & fungi}.
2) NUTRIENT CYCLING – Earthworms cycle nutrients through their feces, through their urine, and in death, through their decomposing bodies.

These earthworms digest organics and thus mineralize some of the nutrients bound in them….Urine is also a source of available N {Nitrogen},…
3) SOIL STRUCTURE MODIFICATION – Burrowing and defecation creates soil structures potentially significant…to other soil biota. These soil

structures promote a more stable aggregation in the presence of soil water.
4) TRANSFER OF ORGANIC MATTER INTO THE SOIL – consumption of surface litter results in some defecation in the mineral soil, particularly if

worms retreat into the mineral soil to avoid unfavorable climatic conditions in the litter.
5) FOOD FOR OTHER ANIMALS – Predators of earthworms include small mammals, beetle adults and larvae, centipedes, spiders, some flies, birds,

reptiles, and amphibians.

Spiders:
Page 9:
“…spiders were the dominant predators, consuming each year 2.3 times the mean standing crop of potential prey,
and 44 percent of all forest floor cryptozoans (arthropods and mollusks).
The importance of spiders and predatory insects maintaining the balance of herbivores and detritivore {decomposers) arthropods species
is significant.”

Pollinators:
Page 13: RANGELANDS Ecology/MANAGEMENT ISSUES:
“Any management to reduce cheatgrass or other annuals will favor angiosperm {flowering plants} diversity and pollinator abundance. Grazing by

sheep is particularly disruptive to flowering plant diversity because sheep are forb eaters.”
Cheatgrass is native to Eurasian ecosystems that dry out each summer and burn in range fires; but native Western American grasslands were

full of fleshy, moist, vascular flowering plants & bunchgrasses that impeded wild range fires in summer and excessively hot range fires kill

off native flowering plants and bunchgrasses.
Above the TCPC, on the hillside above, is a living classroom ongoing between exotic cheatgrass vs. native bunchgrass ecology-restoration.
Oregon State Professor John Bunkhouse (Department of Rangeland Ecology & Management) (541-737-3341) talked with the author the summer of

2008. Bunkhouse was involved in the “prescribed burns” above the TCPC in 1989(?) and John said he was retiring in 2008 and he knew 2008 Grant

County Extension Agent.
Anyway, John mentioned an interest in helping JODA developed this part of the range ecology story above the TCPC after retiring?

Page 15:
“Nesting success for the western sage grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) is tied to their dietary needs, which are primarily succulent forbs

and insects…These first-order predators then become food themselves for….other second-order predators such as hawks, owls, coyotes, and

bobcats.
There are three major issues related to management for grassland herbivores: effect of plant community composition, effects of exotic flora

and fauna, and effects of insecticides.

Changes in plant community composition affect the herbivore community because of changes in availability of their host plants and

abundance and faunal composition of predators. Management activities that change vegetation structure, vegetation biomass, and plant species

composition can affect presence and density of grassland herbivores. A diverse insect herbivore fauna is best ensured by maintaining a

structurally and taxonomically diverse floral community.
Hammond and McCorkle (1983) found a rich diversity of plants and butterflies on pristine bunchgrass prairie, whereas adjacent over grazed

rangeland separated by a fence had few plants or butterflies.”

“The second issue related to management for grassland herbivores is the invasion of exotic flora and fauna. Exotic flora such as cheatgrass

(Bromus tectorum L.), knapweeds (Centaurea spp.), and leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula L.) have invaded and replaced native bunchgrasses and

herbaceous plants on many basin assessment area grasslands. In addition, large areas of degraded grasslands throughout the West have been

artificially planted with monocultures of exotic crested wheatgrass (Kochia prostrate) to provide livestock forage and prevent soil erosion.

Most native insects are unable to exploit this new resource. Thus, generally a reduction in grassland insect diversity occurs (including

predatory species), leading to the specific favoring of one or a few species of the community (For example, various species of

grasshoppers….).”

“The problem is how to bring about a striving for harmony with land among a
people many of whom have forgotten there is any such thing as land, among
whom education and culture have become almost synonymous with
landlessness.”
- Aldo Leopold, from A Sand County Almanac, 1949

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