🔥 Burning Questions: What's in a name?
Breaking down "The Role of Soil Microbiome Resilience in Ecosystem Recovery Following Severe Wildfire"
Welcome back to Burning Questions. If you haven’t read our inaugural edition, you can catch up on what we’re about here.
As promised, for this next edition of the Burning Questions newsletter we’ll be diving deeper into current research on wildfires in the west. It comes at an unfortunate time.
By now, you’re no doubt aware of the devastation caused by a wind-whipped grassfire in Boulder County that torched nearly 1,000 homes. We’ll round up some useful reporting and analysis in the wake of the Marshall Fire later in this newsletter.
But first we’ll jump into the jargon-heavy details of a current collaborative research project titled “The Role of Soil Microbiome Resilience in Ecosystem Recovery Following Severe Wildfire.” That’s the project flowing from a recent grant by the National Science Foundation for research by a team of five scientists whose work we’re tracking and forms the basis for creating and producing this newsletter.
➡️ One goal of Burning Questions is to help make current scientific research on western wildfires more accessible to non-scientists.
So, here we’ll start with the basics by defining some of the more complex terms in the research project’s very title. The researchers themselves provided literature to help hash out many of the following definitions. The rest simply comes from our resident biology undergraduate Colorado College student, organismal biology and ecology major Leah Thayer, as she does her best to define her understanding of these concepts in the ways she might explain them to her non-biology-oriented friends and family.
Right out of the gate in this title the researchers hit us with a term that is almost certainly uncommon knowledge: “soil microbiome.”
What is that? To answer, let’s start with a question. When thinking of the earth, the globe, our biome largely, what comes to mind? Is it perhaps thoughts on the workings of our global community, how things intertwine, push and pull, and work together to accomplish the mutual goal of a functioning and flourishing planet? If any of those thoughts did come to mind, then great, you’re already thinking like an ecologist — a person who studies ecosystems. The study of ecology is a field dedicated to exploring how organisms interact with each other and their surrounding environment, making up an ecosystem.
Now, what comes to mind with the word ecosystem? Perhaps an image of a dynamic landscape with animals and plants of all kinds? Maybe it’s a scene of a mountain valley, or a lush rainforest, or perhaps that patch of grass and a tree across the street from where you work, all of which are teeming with life. Now just picture that one more time, but underground, in the dirt. You’ve just imagined, abstractly, a soil microbiome.
The soil microbiome is a lively ecosystem in itself, made up of tiny microorganisms, mostly bacteria and fungi living in the soils beneath our feet. Some of the primary functions of the soil microbiome are to strengthen the roots of plants, assist with water and nutrient uptake, sequester carbon, promote plant growth, and more. A healthy soil microbiome and its army of tiny organisms can be nature’s version of a super green smoothie for soils; the only difference is it doesn’t cost $13 at Whole Foods.
Preliminary data gathered by the research team and collaborators tells us a little something about what you might expect to happen to the soil microbiome after fire. The scientists looked at what happens to species richness, an ecological term for how many species are present in a community, of microorganisms in the soil after a fire, the resulting trend is evident in the following figure.
The take-away message is there’s a dramatically decreasing trend for species diversity of microorganisms following a fire, which is exacerbated as severity of fire increases.
Hopefully that explanation helps shed light on the importance of studying soil microbiomes and the effects that dramatic environmental changes, like wildfires, can have on them. Bottom line: Without a healthy soil microbiome, plants simply cannot grow and thrive.
For this research specifically, there are a few more terms that aren’t right there in the title, but we feel are important to highlight. The first is the word rhizosphere. Any guesses as to what the heck this might mean? Since we strung you along a little bit on the last one, I’ll just go right ahead and tell you:
The rhizosphere is an especially important section of the soil microbiome, specifically, it’s where plant roots exist, grow, and interact with the soil environment around them. It’s also commonly referred to as the soil-root interface. A lot of the work done by the soil microbiome happens in the rhizosphere; it’s where microorganisms assist with root growth, as well as water and nutrient uptake through the roots.
🌲 So why does this matter for wildfire research? Think of the trees
The rhizosphere is essential for the growth of many plant species, specifically pine trees. As the scientists explain in their research materials, “the rhizosphere community is critical for pine seedling growth. As seedlings establish and grow, they recruit diverse microorganisms from the surrounding soil that colonize the root environment and provide beneficial services to the tree … thus enabling robust growth.”
Lodgepole pine trees are a key species in this research since the lodgepole pine forests of North Park, Colorado, near the Wyoming border, is where our researches will be studying soil microbiomes. These trees rely specifically on what’s called an obligate mutualistic symbiosis; meaning one can’t exist without the other, with a powerhouse of a microorganism named ectomycorrhizal fungi.
These fungi exist in the rhizosphere, where they cozy up to the pine tree’s roots, and assist the tree with a variety of essential services like increasing access to water and nutrients in the soil and fighting off pathogenic fungi in exchange for free room and board — in the form of the root substrates and photosynthetic carbohydrates of course.
Another quirky specification about lodgepole pine trees that makes them an especially compelling subject for wildfire research is that they have what are known as serotinous cones. Think of them as the Harry Potter phoenix of trees. The word serotinous means “following” or “later,” and in the case of the lodgepole pines, it means following fire. That being said, serotinous pine cones only open up to release seeds following increased temperatures from fires. This happens because serotinous cones are encased by a thick layer of resin, which in nature, only the extremely hot temperatures from a fire can melt, allowing the cones to open and seeds to be released. For those of you interested in seeing this process, wildlife enthusiast and YouTuber Mike Fitz documented it by videoing a lodgepole pine cone in a toaster oven. Now, is the phoenix thing clicking? This specification allows for natural cycles of fiery destruction followed eventually by abundant new growth of pine forests.
Bringing all these technical terms together, we hope it’s clearer why we’re interested in this research, as it investigates the role of wildfires in altering the soil microbiome and how this may affect the recovery of soils and forests after fires.
We hope this helped clear up some questions you might have had in regards to this research project — at least in the title of it anyway — and if not, at the very least hopefully it equipped you with some ecology knowledge you can drop at your next pub trivia night.
🏡 On Wildfire and Housing
Riley here with this next item about how the intersection of wildfire and housing has made for recent coverage.
In October, Colorado Springs made national news when The Wall Street Journal published a piece about how the city council in Colorado Springs paused a major housing development of the 2424 Garden of the Gods apartment project “on grounds that it would overload already congested roads in case of wildfire.” Earlier, The Gazette had reported the move as a “win” for “protestors” and “neighborhood advocates” who feared 420 new apartments “could make wildfire evacuation more dangerous, among other concerns.”
The following month, The Catalyst student newspaper at Colorado College reported, “growing concern over wildfire damage is hampering Colorado Springs’ ability to grapple with its growing demand for housing.”
Later, a Nov. 30 Colorado Sun headline read: “4,000 cars, one exit: Residents in growing neighborhoods worry their new neighbors could crowd wildfire escape routes,” that added concerns of Colorado residents elsewhere to the mix.
The stories raise important questions around growing populations and public safety from wildfires.
Consider: Colorado is projected to grow in population by over 20% in the next 20 years, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife, and Colorado Springs is predicted to become the state’s largest city in the next 15 years.
In more housing-and-wildfire news, Colorado Springs has recently approved building a new $8.5 million dollar fire station near a new subdivision. The structure will not only serve to protect during wildfires, but also aid in response to area emergency calls.
🔥 Wildfire wire 🔥
🌬 As we were preparing this second installment of Burning Questions over the holidays, a grassfire morphed into a suburban firestorm that burned nearly 1,000 homes in Boulder County, making it the most destructive fire in state history. Some journalists were quick to point out the fire’s relation to climate change. Days later, The Colorado Sun reported on the risk of other densely populated areas of the state, saying in a headline how the Marshall Fire is “Colorado’s new reality.” (The Sun also teamed up with Climate Central, an “independent organization of leading scientists and journalists researching and reporting the facts about our changing climate and its impact on the public” for a story about the “future of climate change and suburban firefighting.”)
💭 Nationally, Axios published a story focusing on the thoughts of climate scientists about the fire, reporting how “some of the top minds who study how climate change is amplifying wildfire risks find themselves shaken and struggling to process what they just witnessed.” New York Magazine’s Intelligencer pointed out the difference between a typical wildfire and what happened in Boulder County. The New Yorker reported an excellent long-form story about what it’s like to fight a megafire. (Author M. R. O’Connor underwent training to become “one of the entry-level wildland fire technicians that make up the bulk of America’s fire-suppression workforce” and embedded with wildfire-fighters in the West.)
🎙 In our last newsletter, we shared the groundbreaking story from Colorado Public Radio about how Colorado lacks fire investigation resources and personnel. Since then, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis has had a chat with CPR news about the topic. As explained further in another CPR article, he now sees that Colorado should have better resources in place, and he said he planned to provide “additional funding” to “assist in investigations” when the time comes. Nicely done, CPR. 👏
🔥 Also since our last installment, two smaller fires burned near Denver. One was a grass fire east of the city, while the other was located in the “foothills of Southwest Denver,” according to The Denver Post. A third fire burned near Idaho Springs, eating 20 acres and causing evacuation notices before authorities contained it. While all of these fires were small, they underscored a trend of wildfires in December, which experts say may become the new norm. As reports show drought throughout the state, wildfire expert and journalist Michael Kodas told Denver7, “It’s important to recognize that this is a year-end threat now, that wildfires can happen in Colorado any time of year.”
🏕 In late November, The Colorado Sun outlined a wildfire study in the San Juan National Forest, which highlighted an increased risk in human-caused wildfires in areas where people frequently hike and camp, ultimately putting those areas of the forest at a higher risk for destruction. While most fires in the San Juans are started by lighting, “Humans started more than a quarter of all wildfires from 2000 to 2018 in San Juan National Forest, and those fires tended to be closer to campgrounds, trails and roads, clear evidence that people enjoying the outdoors are often to blame,” the Sun reported.
👩🚒 As wildfire coverage populated news feeds, so have stories about the people who fight the fires. Some of them are prison inmates. In Colorado, a new $700 million stimulus package has allowed Colorado’s State Wildland Inmate Fire Team, or SWIFT, to expand — and raise inmate pay. Still, Abolish Slavery National Network lead organizer Kamau Allen told The Denver Post the pay inmates receive for their labor till equates to “modern-day slavery.” This is technically legal under the 13th amendment. This is also apparently one of the best job opportunities for Colorado prisoners, while other jobs pay even less. Not only is the firefighting job dangerous for inmates, the state also relies on their work for adequate fire protection even though it does not pay them like it. According to the Associated Press, a new law created in Colorado is meant to help SWIFT graduates find firefighting jobs after incarceration.
💸 The executive director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, Dan Gibbs, is urging state residents to advocate for wildfire mitigation in their areas. The state has plowed $88 million towards a new mitigation project, but DNR needs to know where to start. Gibbs told Colorado Politics things need to be done “differently” because what is being done now “is just not working.” Residents will soon be able to apply for some of the funds for projects in their neck of the woods.
👷♀️ Colorado Springs is “ready to start 2-D funded wildfire protection work,” per the Colorado Springs Independent. We reported on the measure’s approval in our last newsletter; now it’s being put into action. Colorado Springs Fire Marshal Brett Lacey told the paper that “as soon as I get a green flag,” meaning as soon as the city has figured out how to precisely use the allotted funds as they are collected over a period of two years, “we’re going.”
🌊 Recently, multiple outlets reported that the remains of Diana Brown, a missing 57-year-old woman from San Antonio, have been found by a hiker. She was in northern Colorado on Jul. 20 when flooding and mudslides, resulting from burn scars of the Cameron Peak fire, swept the area. The others killed in the post-fire flood were “Diana’s husband, David Brown, 61; his sister, Patricia Brown, 59, from Madison, Wisconsin; and their father, Richard Brown, 85.”
🚐 Here’s a hearth-warming story for you. After the 2018 Camp Fire in California, father-daughter duo Woody and Luna Faircloth periodically drive RVs from Colorado to California to deliver them to anyone made houseless by a wildfire. They have gotten help from RV donations and volunteers who answer emails and process paperwork. So far, they’ve brought temporary homes for 100 wildfire victims.
📸 The Denver Post published a series of photos of wildfire mitigation in action. Check them out here.
Burning Questions is created by Colorado College senior Leah Thayer and recent CC grad Riley Prillwitz and as part of their journalism practicum. The project seeks to help bridge a gap between wildfire science research and journalism. 📬 Enter your email address to subscribe and get the newsletter in your inbox each time it comes out. You can reach us with questions, feedback, or tips by emailing burningquestionscc@gmail.com