Fire in the Ozarks is a fire-science multimedia fire history presentation published by the Oak Woodlands & Forests Fire Consortium and hosted by ArcGIS StoryMaps.
Featuring photos, slideshows, maps, and short videos, Fire in the Ozarks tells how dendrochronologists — researchers who study the history revealed by tree rings and the fire scars embedded in them — have discovered a remarkable pattern of recurrent widespread fire over hundreds of years across North America, but particularly in the Ozarks.
Beyond dendrochronology and fire scars, this StoryMap tells how fire has shaped Ozark ecosystems, influencing which plant and animal species are hindered or thrive. This narrative shows how humans have played a big role in applying fire, and suppressing fire, and how those actions have played out in the past and today.
With a storyline focused on the Current River Watershed in south-central Missouri, science writer Denise Henderson Vaughn traces the role of fire from the time this area was within the realm of the Osage Nation through the impacts brought by European colonizers.
Some highlights:
In a step-by-step slideshow, see how researchers collect cross-section samples from trees and analyze them in the laboratory.
View close-up photos of cross sections collected from old Ozark tree stumps. One dates back to the 1200s, another germinated in the 1500s.
Explore ongoing research within the Mark Twain National Forest in photos and a short video, “Fire Scar Research in Historically Pine-Dominated Ozark Forests.”
Glimpse times past through the eyes of Howard Smith, born 1928, as he describes community-wide controlled burns during his early years in Summersville, Missouri, which he recounts in a video, “Remembering Fire.”
In “Prescribed Fire Today,” read how Ozark landowners, big and small, are relearning the techniques, challenges and benefits of applying fire.
