These perennial plants grow back quickly from protected root systems which often extend 15 feet underground. After a fire passes, the prairie grasses and other plants respond with a profusion of bloom. Studies show that wild mammals and birds recognize fire and nearly all escape the flames. Small mammals go underground while larger ones move away temporarily or jump unharmed across the fire line. Occasionally slow-moving snakes and frogs may die and some bird nests may be lost if the fire occurs during nesting season.
Birds are excellent re- nesters, however.
No more than one-half of a preserve is burned at any one time and many sites are a matrix of burned and unburned patches. Thus, habitat remains for prairie animals immediately following the fire. While total numbers of some insect species are lower immediately after a fire, they regain their former abundance in nearly all cases. In the long run, fire is essential to the survival of all animals that must live in the open, tallgrass prairie. The Conservancy believes that periodic controlled burns are an important tool in managing prairies.