For decades, the U.S. Forest Service stamped out fires wherever they appeared. But their attempts to save forests through fire suppression nearly killed a complex, diverse Ozark biome: glades.
Alley Spring is best known for its namesake, a natural waterworks pumping millions of gallons per day from deep underground. Last weekend, fire ecologist Jamie Ladner with park rangers Josh Chilton and Hailey Blackburn introduced hikers to the importance of fire in conserving the Ozark National Scenic Riverways.
“For any park to conduct prescribed burns, we need to have objectives,” Ladner explained during the hike up Overlook Trail. Alley Spring’s goals are to maintain a 50% annual increase in native herbaceous species and to thin out midstory saplings and shrubs. Though burning patches of forest to save an ecosystem seems counterintuitive, fire is key to one of the region’s most diverse environments. One square foot of glade holds up to 30 distinct species of plants and insects — 10 times as much as shaded woodlands.
“Usually these glades are on top of Ozark hills,” Chilton explained. “They get more sun, more heat, so the species there mimic species you see in deserts.”
This means glades hold pockets of lizard, snake, bird and even tarantula populations specific to the region. Ecologists also find wildflowers like butterfly milkweed, rattlesnake master, Texas green-eye, wild dill and the rare prairie snoutbean, which only thrive in a combination of full sun, shallow soil and fire.
When conservationists adopted fire suppression policies, glades were crowded out by trees and shrubs from the surrounding woodlands. This was a loss for plants, insects and animals alike. But despite decades of deprivation, glade plants were ready to spring back as soon as the time was right.
“They (the flower seeds) will stay in the seedbed for a long time,” Ladner explained. This meant Alley Spring’s wildflower seeds sprouted as soon as the trees and understory in former glade sites were thinned. “They’re very tough plants.”
Chilton cited the prairie warbler as another Ozark success story. These birds nest in trees and feast on the abundant insects in glades. They reappeared a mere two months after fire was reintroduced to the ecosystem.
“That was quick. That’s not a two-year program...that was two months. That’s not very long at all for a species that hadn’t been seen in decades to come back,” Chilton said.
Alley Spring is located five miles west of Eminence. More information and upcoming events can be found at nps.gov.
View the full photo gallery at https://www.darnews.com/gallery/43807