Watch This Space For More Wildflowers In 2012
After a fall burn, Bremer volunteers spread seed collected at other sites to add to the variety and numbers of wildflowers. Some flower and grass seeds are also purchased. From left, Bob Mullins, Ken Schaal, Bremer's restoration chairman, and Jim Hefley do the work on this day.
It's important to have a variety of flowers and grasses to satisfy the different tastes of all of Bremer's visitors, from birds, to butterflies, to small animals.
Be sure to visit often this coming year as the flowers don't all bloom at the same time, nor do the grasses show off their best qualities at one time only.
Sturgeons Honored By Chapter
Jim and Olga Sturgeon, two long serving and faithful servants of Bremer Sanctuary, were honored at an informal get-together in early November. The two were part of the group who were early organizers of Hickory Hills Chapter of the Illinois Audubon Society. Friends of Betty and Helen Bremer, they helped the two sisters fulfill their longtime desire to protect the Bremer farm and create the nature sanctuary that now bears their name.The Sturgeons are now living in Springfield, but still attend frequent meetings at the sanctuary.
Members of the chapter, close friends of the Sturgeons, placed a bench near a large oak tree where the Sturgeons frequently walked when they were more active in the work of the Sanctuary.
Why Do We Do Prescribed Burns At Bremer?
Each of us grew up with Smokey the Bear’s admonishment “only you can prevent forest fires”. At one time, fire was thought to be only detrimental – never beneficial AND necessary – to healthy ecosystems. The catastrophic fires in our western states that have destroyed thousands of acres of forests and have resulted in the loss of many human lives are a result of this aversion to fire.
Historically, fire resulted from occasional lightning strikes. Later, Native Americans used fire as a hunting tool, to burn vegetation around their campsites to prevent a lightning-induced wildfire from destroying the settlement and in warfare. Fire still is used by indigent peoples to prepare land for farming. Fire is now recognized as an integral part of healthy ecosystems and all ecosystems are fire-adapted. Fire reduces fuel load (dead woody vegetation and leaf litter) that, if left unchecked, results in conflagrations. Prairies are fire-dependent communities. Fire maintains prairie ecosystems by preventing the encroachment of shrubs and trees. Because their growth is triggered by underground structures, prairie grasses and wildflowers are well-adapted to withstand fire.
In forests, fire prevents fire-intolerant species (which in our area include maples and elms) from moving into drier uplands which are more likely to burn. By restricting the movement of fire intolerant species, fire prevents maples and elms from competing for nutrients and sunlight required by upland species such as oaks and hickories. The thick barks of mature hickories and oaks allow them to withstand fire.
In any ecosystem, fire releases nutrients remaining in dead vegetation into the soil providing a quick influx of nutrients for a new generation of vegetation. In turn, this nutrient boost allows the ecosystem to thrive and provide abundant food for wildlife.
Fire is used by restoration ecologists as a tool to rid an ecosystem of invasive (especially, non-native) species of vegetation such as the non-native honeysuckle that plagues Bremer. In this way, fire also encourages diversity since honeysuckle competes with native woodland wildflowers and trees for sunlight for germination and growth and for soil nutrients.
Some of your young charges might question whether prescribed fires hurt or kill wildlife. We need to keep in mind that just as native plants are adapted to deal with fire, so too are our native animals. Although some might not survive a fire, most animals that are active at the time of year (after the breeding season and prior to the start of the next one) prescribed burns are conducted do escape. Those that burrow underground will retreat into their burrows while birds fly away or take shelter in tree cavities above the fire. Other animals hide under logs and others run away from the fire. Those insects that over-wintered as eggs or larvae and were overlooked by hungry burns might not survive. In the end however, enough insects do survive to quickly repopulate the area. Since fire maintains or creates suitable habitat and encourages the growth of nutrient rich food resources, wildlife in general benefits from fire.
