What happens to wildlife during a wildfire?

Los Angeles is experiencing the worst wildfires in the city's history. As thousands of people are forced to evacuate and many lose homes to the flames, wildlife is also facing deadly consequences. Plants and animals feel the effects of natural disasters just as humans do, and most will have to go through a similar recovery process.

How is wildlife affected by wildfires?

Like hurricanes or earthquakes, wildfires are disasters that can occur naturally. Wildlife is therefore generally prepared for it. "Forest animals typically have some ability to escape the heat," said National Geographic. "Birds may fly away, mammals can run, and amphibians and other small creatures burrow into the ground, hide out in logs or take cover under rocks. And other animals, including large ones like elk, will take refuge in streams and lakes." In some cases, fire is even beneficial to the natural landscape. "Heat from the flames can stimulate some fungi, like morel mushrooms, to release spores. Certain plants will seed only after a blaze. And some animals, such as mule deer and black-backed woodpeckers, require burned areas to both eat and nest."

Despite wildlife's ability to escape, wildfires are still dangerous and likely to cause casualties. "Some animals do die in the flames of wildfires, mostly the elderly and very young animals who can't escape," said the National Forest Foundation. "However, the majority of wildlife mortalities come after the fire is out, due to the loss of important habitat and food sources burned in the fire."

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Mass destruction can completely alter an ecosystem. "The burns create a new type of habitat, usually open areas where dense forests used to be that are quickly colonized by grasses and shrubs," the outlet added. Because of this, invasive species can set up camp before the native species get a chance to recover and regrow in the area, permanently changing the ecosystem.

What about the future?

While wildfires are naturally occurring, climate change is making them larger and more frequent. The warming planet has given rise to megafires, or "large-scale, uncontrollable blazes that consume more than 100,000 acres of land," said North Carolina State University. Megafires, like the ones in Los Angeles, pose a significant threat to landscapes. "Since the early 1970s, the wildfire season in the western U.S. has grown from about five to more than seven months," said National Geographic.

"Wildlife have adapted to deal with smaller fires, and unfortunately, sometimes they can't escape these recent, big fires," Stephanie Eyes, a senior wildlife biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office, said to Newsweek. The fires also often "kill all or a portion of the tree canopy," said NC State. "The reduction in overstory trees allows more light penetration to the ground, leading to a denser understory and a general shift in the structural characteristics of the plant community."

Despite the intensity of these blazes, nature has the ability to heal. "Wildlife is incredibly resilient," Eyes said. "California has a long history with wildfire, and many species adapted to endure it."