Resilience of Nature

Nature generally restores the land, plants, and animals after disturbance. In my recent travel across the American West, I came upon two large-scale examples. First, I visited in the town of Wallace, Idaho on the one hundredth anniversary of the great fire of August, 1910, the largest fire in American history. The forests are completely re-grown and there remains no evidence of the massive fire, which killed 90 people and destroyed most of the silver mining town of Wallace. Wallace, in today’s picture, is recognized as the location of the fictional movie, Dante’s Peak. Next, I travelled through Yellowstone National Park, which encountered massive fires in 1988. The fires, mostly caused by lightning, spread rapidly along the ground, fueled by a heavy layer of debris from evergreen trees damaged by pine bark beetles. Today, after 22 years, evergreen trees stand 10 feet high among the scorched trunks of trees killed in the fire. Grasses and wildflowers cover the ground where sunlight now encourages growth. Some mountain slopes are carpeted in pink blossoms of fireweed, often the first flowering plant to arise after a forest fire. I observed large numbers of animals thriving in the re-growth of the understory plants. A mule deer browsed on a diverse stand of wildflowers. A spruce grouse and her clutch of chicks moved cautiously between tufts of native grasses growing next to bubbling volcanic mud pots.

The resiliency of nature gives me hope that our honey bees will rebound from the simultaneous attacks they have encountered from numerous sources: pests, pathogens, chemicals in the environment, and the stresses placed upon the bees by the beekeepers. We often attempt to use the honey bees as agricultural tools to pollinate food crops grown in mono-cultural plantings which don’t afford the bees adequate or complete nutrition. The honey bees should respond to efforts to breed resistance to parasitic mites and other pests and pathogens. Chemicals can be prudently applied, and nutrition improved through diverse wildflower growth.

--Richard

Wildlife Corridors

For any form of wildlife to exist in an area, the animals require food, water, some form of protective cover, and adequate space. Most warm-bloodied animals must have a continuous supply of food to provide energy for motion and to maintain body heat. I encountered a number of the large mammals on my recent travel through the American West. While some warm-blooded animals, like bears, hibernate in the winter, other animals migrate from one location to another to obtain food throughout the year. To allow for the long migrations of these animals, individuals and agencies are establishing corridors for the animals to safely travel. One of these corridors involves Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park, and the lands connecting the parks. These corridors allow elk, bison, pronghorn antelope, mountain goats, and bighorn sheep to pass between areas that otherwise would be wildlife islands. The wildlife food is comprised principally grasses, but also includes browse of twigs and wildflowers. I observed a mule deer consume large amounts of flowering plants, pollinated by solitary native bees. Today’s picture shows a bison dominating a road in Yellowstone National Park. Bison use their massive head and their shoulder muscles to dig into deep snow to find plant material. Its presence is evidence of the results of years of conservation efforts.

Cold-blooded animals have an advantage in that they can survive in an area that does not have a continuous supply of food. The animal’s body temperature remains the same as its surroundings. Fish, reptiles, amphibians, and insects are cold-blooded creatures. The honey bee is a unique insect that can generate body heat. It derives energy to produce this heat from eating honey which it gets from flowering plants. The bees pollinate the plants and assist in their reproduction. The flowering plants contribute greatly to the food available for wildlife. The wildlife corridors make for greatly enhanced habitat and forage areas for animals, large and small. Animals from bison to bees benefit.

--Richard