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“What I think is happening now (with Parry Sound 33) is that this is a pretty intense fire that is combusting away almost all signs of life in at least some of the areas in that fire perimeter,” said Merritt Turetsky, a University of Guelph professor and ecosystem ecologist.

Photo by THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Thornhill

Such fires in peat-rich areas can also burn away the ground around charred trees that remain standing, she said.

“Nothing is holding these trees on the ground anymore. A big gust of wind and they fall right off,” Turetsky said, noting that the situation could pose a hazard for residents moving back into their homes after a forest fire.

The way in which forest fires burn the ground has also changed in recent years, said Turetsky, noting that in the past, fires left patches of surviving vegetation and organic matter behind.

“Now when we go in and survey these severely burned plots, we literally feel like we are walking on the moon,” she said. “This is a totally different ball game for the vegetation to re-vegetate.”

Now when we go in and survey these severely burned plots, we literally feel like we are walking on the moon

Severely burned ground can lead to soil erosion, which then causes other issues, said Feltmate.

“When large precipitation occurs, trees are usually there to intervene between the water and the ground, so the water only sort of sprinkles onto the ground,” he said. “But when the trees have been removed, raindrops hit the ground at maximum speed and it can create a large-scale erosion.”

When such erosion occurs, soil and ashes can flow into water systems and that potentially “knocks out the habitat” for insects that live in the area, said Feltmate.