Status: 11/26/2022 3:27 p.m
After the forest fire in summer, Bohemian Switzerland attracts tourists again. But scientists are also examining the charred areas to find out how the forest can be protected against drought and climate change.
By Danko Handrick, MDR
They look like a lunar landscape, the charred forests of Bohemian Switzerland. However, botanist Ivana Marková speaks of a paradise, at least for her work. With a small spatula, she pricks the apparently dead earth. Under the magnifying glass, however, she can see that the first life is forming in the charred black: nature is reclaiming its space.
“It doesn’t look like it, but everything is full of life here. While it was still burning elsewhere, where there were no more flames, the plants were already coming back. The bracken – they came right after the first rain. Or here the mosses – Fountain Liverwort and Spinning Moss These are nutrient-loving pioneer plants found on every abandoned burn site.”
It burned for weeks on more than 1000 hectares in the summer.
Image: Danko Handrick, MDR
Fires on more than 1000 hectares
With around 79 square kilometers, Bohemian Switzerland is the smallest national park in the Czech Republic. At the end of July, the flames raged on more than 1000 hectares. The fire could only be extinguished after three weeks, three houses fell victim to it. The fire was a disaster for the region and vital tourism. From nature’s point of view, the balance sheet is less tragic: today’s destruction is tomorrow’s life. For research, the fire area with its enormous dimensions offers an opportunity that has never been seen before in the Czech Republic.
That’s why National Park botanist Marková doesn’t stay alone in the forest. Dozens of researchers from various disciplines have already started their work in the ash. In one of the areas hardest hit by the fire, red markers divide the forest into manageable grid squares. Here, how the forest recovers and changes is observed in detail, explains national park spokesman Tomas Salov. For another project, surreal-looking white mushrooms were distributed in the forest – they are sensors that measure soil moisture and temperature. Because not only plants but also animals return, they are protected by large wire baskets.
Bioclimatologist Markéta Poděbradská and her colleagues are collecting data directly between the charred logs. The observations are entered into an American computer model of the spread of forest fires. “We want to understand how much deadwood contributed to the spread of the fire. Our work can thus have an impact on the future of the non-invasive zones in the national park,” she explains.
Deadwood as a fire accelerator?
The bioclimatologist is addressing one of the most explosive topics in the park. For some, it was quickly identified who was to blame for the fire. They criticize that the national park administration did not remove the deadwood from the forest in parts of the park. This could have served as a fire accelerator.
National Park spokesman Salov can only shake his head at this. A fallen tree will not catch fire by itself. The culprit for the fire is solely the person who caused the fire through his careless behavior. “If it’s very dry, then it’s the very small material in the forest floor, the twigs and needles, that are highly flammable. That’s where the fire starts. Deadwood in the forest may not make the situation any easier, but it’s not the actual cause of the fire either. ” It also burned in places where the deadwood was removed from the forest. The fire made no difference.
Salov sees the cause of the fires solely in humans.
Image: Danko Handrick, MDR
It’s best to leave the forest alone
Salov now hopes that the researchers’ work will provide insights into what the forest of the future could look like. He believes that the national park will be more resilient after the fire because monocultures have burned down – a mixed forest could emerge that can also cope better with the consequences of climate change. He too can at least gain something positive from the brand. In 15 years, at least laypeople would no longer recognize that there was a fire here.
The forests don’t need to be helped now, that’s the most important message for Salov. Where they endanger nobody, the charred trees stopped. Man’s best help is to leave nature alone.