Research on the effects of fire on
grassland ecosystems yields among the most controversial research results. This
is caused by the global distribution of grasslands under different
environmental conditions in addition to complex fire characteristics (time,
severity, frequency, history etc.). Challenges and discrepancies arise from
various temporal and spatial scales, as well as methods used. Moreover, the function of fire can be
different from one grassland to another. In the large body of
grassland fire literature, the Canadian northern mixed prairie is understudied,
especially regarding the vegetation’s post-fire recovery. The wildfire in April
2013 provided an opportunity to study how the grassland responded to the
burning, and particularly how remote sensing can provide potential solutions to
grassland fire studies in this region. This research investigated the
vegetation’s post-fire recovery using six years’ field survey data. Results
indicate a quick overall recovery of the grassland, but with different
vegetation forms recovering at various post-fire growing seasons. Green grass
was the most resilient component that fully recovered one year post-fire,
followed by forbs at two years post-fire, with shrubs and the soil organic
crust taking longer than four years to recover. The ecosystem recovered to the
unburned state roughly after four years. This conclusion agrees with the
shortest fire interval of some research, probably because of the heavy fuel
loading before the wildfire, due to Grasslands National Park’s long-term
conservation practice. Both hyperspectral data and historical Landsat images
were investigated to demonstrate their effective assessment of the post-fire
grassland vegetation recovery trajectory.
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