Station Fire Environmental Project

I chose to study the species and hazard zones in and around the Station fire. Previously, I had portrayed the effects of the Station fire on recreation, so I was somewhat familiar with the event. It is my understanding that events such as the Station fire can be both good and bad for the environment. Good in the sense that it is the earth's natural cycle to have fires, and some species thrive in the "destruction" left by them. I specifically recall hearing about a tree whose seeds need fire to open up. As for the bad, some of the less adept-to-fire species can be harmed by fires. These can be species who live in the water, or birds that need trees to survive, for example.

My first map illustrates some of the animals that have critical habitat within LA county. The two species that lie within the Station fire perimeter are made up of data that was taken after the Station fire occurred. This leads me to questions what their habitats looked like before the fire. The Arroyo Toad is listed as an endangered species, and has a fairly specific habitat area found in Southern California and Baja, Mexico (Wikipedia). Habitat destruction due to fires, climate change, and predators is the reason for the toad's "endangered" label. The toad is usually found in wash beds, next to a river, where sand or small rocks fill an area that only is filled with rain. As you can see in the map, there is a small area near the rivers that the Arroyo toad is found.

The second species found in the Station fire perimeter is the Santa Ana sucker. This is a fish species that is threatened. This data was also taken after the Station fire occurred. The Santa Ana sucker has a very small native habitat area that includes only four rivers (Wikipedia). Due to urbanization, this fish is very threatened, not only with increasing infrastructure but also the quality of water. This fish likes clear water, which seems increasingly difficult to find in the Los Angeles area. The fish is now only found in the San Gabriel mountains as well as the lower part of the Santa Ana river in Orange county (Wikipedia). I am sure the Station fire negatively affected the Santa Ana sucker, due to the drying up of riverbeds and other factors.

The third species on the map is the Coastal Gnatcatcher. Although this species is not found within the Station fire perimeter it is a flying species which means it would be affected by the smoke of the fire. The data for this species was taken after the Station fire, and I wonder if the Gnatcatcher does not venture into the fire's perimeter because of the actual fire, or just because it is not it's native habitat.

My second map is a combination of significant ecological areas overlayed with fire hazard severity zones. There are three levels of fire hazard severity, less severe, more severe, and most severe. Unfortunately, almost all of the area is most severe. Green depicts the significant ecological areas. There is a lot of significant ecological land found within this most severe zone, and although not directly related to the Station fire, this gives us a good idea of the probability of what would be affected if a similar fire took place. It is imperative to recognize these risks in order to take the proper preventing measures.

References

Arroyo toad. (2013, November 14). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 05:02, March 7, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Arroyo_toad&oldid=581645856

Los Angeles County GIS Data Portal. (2012). [GIS shapefile of Significant Ecological Areas 2012]. 

Significant Ecological Areas (SEA) – Existing/Adopted. Retrieved from http://egis3.lacounty.gov/dataportal/2013/09/05/significant-ecological-areas-sea/

Los Angeles County Enterprise GIS. (2 September 2009) All Station Fire Perimeters (as of September 2, 07:02) – Complete set [Data Files]. Retrieved from http://egis3.lacounty.gov/eGIS/2009/09/02/all-station-fire-perimiters-as-of-september-2-0702-complete-ste/

(n.d.) Saving the Santa Ana Sucker. Retrieved from http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/species/fish/Santa_Ana_sucker/

Santa Ana sucker. (2013, July 3). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 05:02, March 7, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Santa_Ana_sucker&oldid=562698278

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Critical Habitat Portal. [Data Files]. Retrieved from http://ecos.fws.gov/crithab/