Devastating forest fires can also have upsides - especially for California's black-backed woodpeckers

                                                                     

Black-backed woodpecker at its nest in burnt tree - photo by Jeremy Roberts for Cornell Lab

IN the short term, forest fires must be devastating for almost wildlife.

However, in the medium or long term, the situation may sometimes be more favourable, at least for some species.

According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, one bird to benefit from 'pyro-diversity'  is the black-backed woodpecker, a familiar species in forests of California - a state that is no stranger to raging wildfires.

Says a press release issued this week by the Lab: "This woodpecker prefers to build its nest cavities in newly burned areas after high severity fire. 

"But it also likes to be adjacent to an area that burned at low intensity where its young can hide from predators among living trees that still provide cover. 

"The species' unique habitat associations means that it is sensitive to the removal of trees after fire, and forest managers use information on the woodpecker to guide their post-fire planning."

Andrew Stillman, an authority on pyro-diversity, states: "A burned forest is a unique, incredible, and complicated ecosystem that bursts with new life.

"At first you think everything is dead. The ground is ash. The trees are black. 

"But as you start walking around, you find that the place is alive. It’s not dead, just changed."