Transcript:
The forest in northern Colorado is the home of various animals-from birds, squirrels and snow shoe hares to elk, big horn sheep and mountain lions.
But in 2020, severe wildfires were raging on the large area of its habitat. Damage still stabs the landscape.
Mctware: “You drive along the highway, and you will see the whole hillside that has just been burned and burned.”
Leah McTigue, a researcher at the State University of Colorado, said that with the warming of the climate, extreme wildfires became more and more frequent.
MCTIGUE: “Therefore, we are studying how wild animals and plants respond to these giant fat power.”
As the forest gradually recovered, the animals began to return, and her team was using a motion detector camera and recorder to compare the wild animals and plant activities and unblied areas in the burning area.
They are looking at which species and relative numbers-this can change the long-term availability of food and habitat.
For example, if a large number of herbivores like elk (ELK) are returned, only a few predators still exist …
Mctware: “We may see excessive grazing, which will only reduce the health of the ecosystem.”
Therefore, she said that these data can help shape out how to manage and restore the habitat after the extreme wildfire.
Report credit: Sarah Kennedy / Chavobart digital media
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