Fire and land in Onondaga
Fire (along with flooding, windstorms, ice storms) is considered a natural disturbance process, and one used by people for millennia. A disturbance, by definition, is a short-lived event that removes biomass, and therefore causes a measurable change in the properties of an ecological community (Keddy 2010). “Properties” of communities include biomass, species makeup, species diversity, and the like. “Biomass” is shorthand for living matter—in the case of plants, it includes leaves, bark, stems, fruit, wood and other plant tissues. So our definition of disturbance is a fancy way of saying that fire burns plants, thus converting living tissue into ash and gases, and removing them from the landscape.
Periodic fires help maintain grassland and oak woodland ecosystems. Records suggest that large tracts of land were burned in the area we now call New York State in order to clear land for villages, agriculture, and perhaps also to facilitate travel and enhance habitat for large edible mammals such as elk, bison, deer, and rabbits. Fire may also have been used to encourage growth of culturally useful species (Waugh 1916). In western New York in particular, extensive prairies and oak openings were recorded by early visitors. The explorer Galinee traveled through Seneca country on his way to the west in 1699, and described prairies of significant size:
The country between the lake [Ontario] and the large village, farthest to the east, to which I was going, is for the most part beautiful, broad meadows, on which the grass is as tall as myself. In the spots where there are woods, these are oak plains, so open that one could easily run through them on horseback. This open country, we were told, continues eastward more than a hundred leagues. Westward and southward it extends so far that its limit is unknown, especially towards the south, where treeless meadows are found more than one hundred leagues in length, and where the Indians who have been there say very good fruits and extremely fine Indian corn are grown (Coyne 1903).
Northern New York also appears to have had extensive grassland, perhaps due to burning by Haudenosaunee in what is now Jefferson County. Simon Le Moine describes extensive grasslands (“vast prairies”) and "wild cows" during his travels from Montreal to Onondaga in 1654. Le Moine probably traveled by way of the St Lawrence River and Lake Ontario to the Salmon River, then overland to Brewerton or Caughdenoy, and by water and land to Onondaga settlements in the Pompey hills. The extensive grasslands he described could be related to presence of "Jefferson County Iroquois," a sedentary group who lived in the Watertown area up until the 1500s, when they were appeared to be absorbed by the Onondaga (Bradley 1987).
Similarly, written [and archaeological?] records confirm native people’s use of fire to clear land and create openings in what is now central New York. However, I have found no evidence for the widespread use of fire (pre-European) to maintain extensive savannahs, as in western NY (see also entry on Successional Old Field community for comments on clearing land around village sites). When Euro-American settlers arrived, they used fire liberally to clear land for agriculture, making way for the plough and for pasture. These farmers also burned great heaps of logs to procure ash for use in potash production. Sale of these ashes gave pioneer farmers a ready source of much-needed cash (Taylor 1995).
There were other differences in the use of fire by Indians versus Euro-Americans. Indigenous peoples used fire to clear lands for planting annuals (corn, beans, squash) and to maintain successional habitats and the plants found therein [citation]. They moved villages around every 10 – 20 years, abandoning cleared lands that then could cycle through successional processes to eventually revert to forest. Euro-American farmers, in contrast, cleared lands once for a place they intended to farm for many years. They aimed to create a more or less permanent site for agricultural production that could conceivably continue for generations. These farmers had no interest in maintaining successional habitats for production of berries or medicines, for example. Such plants as Indian tobacco, milkweed, groundsel were considered weeds.
How can burning have a positive effect on plant communities? Why does fire benefit some plants and not others?
However, some of the most important species to the Onondaga have low fire tolerance. That means that they are easily killed by fire. In contrast, fire tolerant species may undergo scarring or loss of foliage or stems, but they can resprout once the fire is over. The list of fire-intolerant plants includes sugar maple, butternut, goldthread, goldenseal, and others. These are plants of wetlands or mesic rich forests where fire is not a common disturbance. Also there were large areas of wetland in Onondaga and Oswego Counties— the floodplains of streams and rivers (such as Onondaga Creek and the Seneca River), and the once-flooded post-glacial basins around lakes (such as Onondaga and Oneida Lakes). It seems that the emphasis in central New York was on water—water of the Finger Lakes, of the rivers and streams as well as large areas of wetland complex such as Montezuma.
Periodic fires help maintain grassland and oak woodland ecosystems. Records suggest that large tracts of land were burned in the area we now call New York State in order to clear land for villages, agriculture, and perhaps also to facilitate travel and enhance habitat for large edible mammals such as elk, bison, deer, and rabbits. Fire may also have been used to encourage growth of culturally useful species (Waugh 1916). In western New York in particular, extensive prairies and oak openings were recorded by early visitors. The explorer Galinee traveled through Seneca country on his way to the west in 1699, and described prairies of significant size:
The country between the lake [Ontario] and the large village, farthest to the east, to which I was going, is for the most part beautiful, broad meadows, on which the grass is as tall as myself. In the spots where there are woods, these are oak plains, so open that one could easily run through them on horseback. This open country, we were told, continues eastward more than a hundred leagues. Westward and southward it extends so far that its limit is unknown, especially towards the south, where treeless meadows are found more than one hundred leagues in length, and where the Indians who have been there say very good fruits and extremely fine Indian corn are grown (Coyne 1903).
Northern New York also appears to have had extensive grassland, perhaps due to burning by Haudenosaunee in what is now Jefferson County. Simon Le Moine describes extensive grasslands (“vast prairies”) and "wild cows" during his travels from Montreal to Onondaga in 1654. Le Moine probably traveled by way of the St Lawrence River and Lake Ontario to the Salmon River, then overland to Brewerton or Caughdenoy, and by water and land to Onondaga settlements in the Pompey hills. The extensive grasslands he described could be related to presence of "Jefferson County Iroquois," a sedentary group who lived in the Watertown area up until the 1500s, when they were appeared to be absorbed by the Onondaga (Bradley 1987).
Similarly, written [and archaeological?] records confirm native people’s use of fire to clear land and create openings in what is now central New York. However, I have found no evidence for the widespread use of fire (pre-European) to maintain extensive savannahs, as in western NY (see also entry on Successional Old Field community for comments on clearing land around village sites). When Euro-American settlers arrived, they used fire liberally to clear land for agriculture, making way for the plough and for pasture. These farmers also burned great heaps of logs to procure ash for use in potash production. Sale of these ashes gave pioneer farmers a ready source of much-needed cash (Taylor 1995).
There were other differences in the use of fire by Indians versus Euro-Americans. Indigenous peoples used fire to clear lands for planting annuals (corn, beans, squash) and to maintain successional habitats and the plants found therein [citation]. They moved villages around every 10 – 20 years, abandoning cleared lands that then could cycle through successional processes to eventually revert to forest. Euro-American farmers, in contrast, cleared lands once for a place they intended to farm for many years. They aimed to create a more or less permanent site for agricultural production that could conceivably continue for generations. These farmers had no interest in maintaining successional habitats for production of berries or medicines, for example. Such plants as Indian tobacco, milkweed, groundsel were considered weeds.
How can burning have a positive effect on plant communities? Why does fire benefit some plants and not others?
- Some plants benefit from frequent, low-intensity fires
- Burning prairies can stimulate seed regeneration (Storm 2002)
- When biomass is removed, resources such as light become more available (Keddy 2010)
- Ashes from burned biomass contain phosphorus
- Reserves of viable seeds (seed banks) allow plants to rapidly colonize disturbed patches and exploit the nutrients there (Keddy 2010)
- Frequent, low temperature fires replenish soil nutrients and fertilize the ground
However, some of the most important species to the Onondaga have low fire tolerance. That means that they are easily killed by fire. In contrast, fire tolerant species may undergo scarring or loss of foliage or stems, but they can resprout once the fire is over. The list of fire-intolerant plants includes sugar maple, butternut, goldthread, goldenseal, and others. These are plants of wetlands or mesic rich forests where fire is not a common disturbance. Also there were large areas of wetland in Onondaga and Oswego Counties— the floodplains of streams and rivers (such as Onondaga Creek and the Seneca River), and the once-flooded post-glacial basins around lakes (such as Onondaga and Oneida Lakes). It seems that the emphasis in central New York was on water—water of the Finger Lakes, of the rivers and streams as well as large areas of wetland complex such as Montezuma.