It’s easy to spot the contrasts in the forest landscape around Jasper National Park. Countless conifers with thick, dark green branches line the roads and hillsides in areas spared from the July wildfires.

Burned areas look worse with the remains of tree trunks without burnt branches.

Now the ground is showing signs of new life under a thin layer of snow, but the deep freeze of winter will soon slow any progress.

“The landscape, although really fragile, was greening up very quickly, which was kind of encouraging — a sign that there’s still a seed base for things to happen on Earth,” Marcia de Wendel. , said a Parks Canada plant restoration specialist.

The monster fire, the largest recorded in the park in more than a century, is estimated to have burned more than 32,000 hectares.

The flames started early in the season, so “we had a lot of grasses, and our early successional and fire-adapted plants, come back right away,” de Wandel said.

But he said it would take more time to restore the lost tree cover.

Some trees and their roots are so severely damaged that they will not regrow, he said, but others with extended root systems have a chance to regrow naturally.

“The tree will regrow from those little roots below ground, unless the fire goes deep enough,” de Wandel said. “This forest will change completely.

“Those fire-adapted species, like aspen and different willows and forbs (herbs other than grasses) and grasses — they’ll come back first.”

Planted 5000 new trees

Over the past two months, Parks Canada has planted 5,000 Douglas fir trees in fire-ravaged areas of Jasper National Park to re-establish native forests.

The tree species was chosen because of its adaptations, such as thick bark and deep root systems, which make it better suited to combat future wildfires. Over the next several years, Parks Canada also plans to plant aspen and willow trees.

The roots of the new trees will better hold the fire-weakened soil together, helping prevent erosion, de Wandel said. Soil erosion near lakes and rivers is of particular concern, as sediment entering water can damage underwater ecosystems.

DeVandel said tree planting efforts are focused on areas near water and popular hiking and camping spots, because invasive plants can take over parts of the landscape.

“As people move across the landscape, they bring invasive species with them,” he said. “The wind also contributes, blowing the seeds around.”

Invasive alien species (IAS) are insects, plants, animals and fungi that have been introduced into areas outside their natural range. According to Parks Canada, they can accidentally step on people’s shoes and gear.

Parks Canada officials say invasive species are the second biggest threat to biodiversity in the world after habitat loss. Planting trees before they establish a foothold can help protect endangered ecosystems and wildlife.

Animals affected by forest canopy changes

Wildlife in Jasper National Park will have a hard time finding food this winter due to reduced tree canopy, said Parks Canada resource management officer James McCormick.

McCormick said less tree cover allows more sun to hit the ground, which can be a good thing for animals that eat certain foods like wild berries.

“Berry production is affected by the amount of canopy. The more sun, the more berries will be produced,” he said.

“Once the berries start coming back into that burned forest, we expect to have higher yields than when the forest was there, historically.”

But fewer tree branches are blocking the ground, so the snow, instead of piling up on tree branches, will hit the forest floor and bury whatever food is growing back.

Bare forests also make it difficult for some animals to hide while hunting, and make it harder for animals lower down the food chain to hide from predators, McCormick said.

Due to lack of food and security, many animals are expected to move into unburned forest areas, which presents other challenges, he said.

“They can generally search different areas. This can increase the density of animals in certain areas, which can provide competition within species,” McCormick said.

A decades-long renewal process

Alan MacDonald, retired professor of forest ecology at the University of Alberta, said that although burned areas no longer look like traditional forest, the landscape is supporting all kinds of biodiversity.

“It’s a young forest now. It’s going to grow. There’s a lot more to it than trees,” he said.

By the time we can see burned areas as they once did, McDonald said it could be decades.

“It’s going to take 40, 50 years to get to what we would think of as really big trees and full-grown trees,” he said.

“The kind of trees that were there before the fire, they’re going to be 100 years or more.”