Exam 6: Ecosystems and Evolution

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California has about 6,000 wildfires each year,and they are becoming increasingly expensive and dangerous to manage because many people are building homes and living in the fire-vulnerable chaparral.Prescribed burns would be one way to reduce the fire load.But the topography of chaparral is so steep that firefighters cannot easily get fire equipment out there.That and the fear that prescribed burns will get out of control,local governments are increasingly trying an effective,low- tech method to reduce the fuel load: goats.During the 6-month fire season,goats are clearing hills around Oakland,Berkeley,Monterey,and Malibu.A herd of 350 goats can clear an entire acre of heavy brush in about a day.Goats are an excellent tool for fire management,because they preferentially browse woody shrubs and thick undergrowth.These woody and weedy species are common to chaparral and exactly the fuel that causes disastrous fires.Fires that have occurred in areas after goats have browsed there are much easier to contain.But the use of goats also entails advance organization and support.Before goats can remove hazardous dry fuels from surrounding hillsides,botanists must fence off small trees and rare or endangered plants,to keep the goats from eating those plants.Goats are confined with installed electric fencing,and the goatherds typically use dogs to help herd the goats.Responsible management includes grazing the goats for the optimal amount of time-long enough to reduce the threat of fire but not so long as to cause unnecessary erosion in the area.