Frequent Forest Fires Could Help Ecosystems

About half of the overstory trees were killed in the B&B Complex fire in 2003 near Canyon Creek in the central Oregon Cascade Range, yet a high level of tree survival and vegetation rapidly recovered, as can be seen in this photo taken in 2007. This type of burning and re-growth is typical of fires in the Pacific Northwest.

Research has suggested that global warming will change wildfire patterns and cause a leap in the number of forest fires in the Pacific Northwest (though that's hotly debated). But there might just be a silver lining in those billowing clouds of smoke.

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