How does wildfire affect wildlife?
Tennessee’s wildlife has become adapted to live with occasional wildfires over the years. Usually, animals can move out of the way of a slow-moving fire (such as a prescribed or controlled fire). In fact, prescribed fire is often used to improve the quality and quantity of wildlife habitat. A mosaic of burned and unburned areas tends to maximize edge effect that produces a large and varied wildlife population. Wildlife benefits from burning include: stimulation of fruit and seed production; increases in yield and quality of herbage, legumes and browse from hardwood sprouts; and creations of openings for feeding, dusting and travel.
