1969 Yukon Nuggets

Morel Mushrooms

Forest fires are nature's way of clearing old growth, which allows organic matter to decompose rapidly into minerals which - in turn - supply fuel for speedy plant growth.

Some trees cannot survive without forest fires. Lodgepole and jack pines, seeds germinate after they have been exposed to fire. Both have resin-sealed cones that stay on the trees for many years.

The heat of a fire melts the resin and the cones pop open. Thousands of seeds scatter onto the ground and some grow into sturdy stands of pine. Aspen vigorously sprouts from underground roots after a fire - good news for moose and elk that feed on the new growth.

In the blackened woods, the Yukon's beautiful official flower, the fireweed appears in a splurge of abundant colour.

Many plants and animals are adapted to fires and the conditions they create. After a fire, birds such as the woodpecker may actually increase their population many times over as they feast on bark beetles and other insects that colonize the newly burned trees.

Predators like the lynx benefit from fires that maintain the forest mosaic. They use mature conifers for cover and hunt in recently burned areas that support large populations of its favourite prey - the snowshoe hare.

Parks Canada says that forest fires seldom trap large mammals, although they do kill some small animals and birds. However, over the long term, most species benefit from the habitats created by fire.

The type of fire and how quickly the vegetation comes back determines how fast the animals come back.

Many areas regenerate quickly as grasses sprout within two or three weeks after a fire, to the delight of Yukon gophers.

Then, there is a rapid re-colonization by small mammals like snowshoe hares and birds such as the sharp-tailed grouse. These are quickly followed by predators like foxes, marten, and owls.

Yukon forest fires also trigger a type of fungus to burst into full bloom, thus producing a bumper crop of highly-prized mushrooms. Precious, expensive morel mushrooms make their mysterious debut.

 

Dried morels can sell for more than $100 dollars per pound, and mushroom pickers can be seen at the road sides searching for these treasured fungi.

 

Mycologists, scientists who spend their careers studying mushrooms, are not sure why morels are produced in such abundance after forest fires. It could be that the rich nutrients released by forest fires somehow trigger the crops.

Still, at the peak of the season, high quality morel mushrooms are flown out of the Yukon. Thus forest fires help ensure that a tasty bit of the Yukon ends up on dinner plates in expensive restaurants around the world.

 

A CKRW Yukon Nugget by Les McLaughlin.