Jennifer Baltzer

WATERLOO – A study from Wilfrid Laurier University offers a rare “good news story” in relation to forest fires. Jennifer Baltzer, the Canada Research Chair in Forests and Global Change, published field data on overwintering fires – known as “zombie” fires – that smoulder throughout the winter and reignite the following spring. Despite fears that zombie fires would increase carbon release and hinder forest regrowth, Baltzer’s data suggests that they are less destructive than anticipated. Between 2022 and 2023, Baltzer and colleagues collected samples at overwintering fire sites. They visited 20 locations in the boreal forests of Alaska and the Northwest Territories that had originally burned in 2009 or 2014. …Baltzer’s research shows that more often than not, overwintering fires are actually happening in “upland” locations – productive forests on higher ground with good drainage and thinner layers of organic, carbon-rich soil. “…smouldering is happening in the roots and trunks of trees, as opposed to deep organic soils,” says Baltzer.