Myth vs Reality: Marsh Fires

Produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute’s Office of Public Outreach in collaboration with the NASA Earth Observatory.

All images, illustrations, and videos courtesy of NASA except:

·       Celtic Monster illustration by John Dickson Batten

·       Phosphate mine photo courtesy of Pamlico-Tar River Foundation, Washington, North Carolina

·       Horicon Marsh photos and marsh wildlife photos courtesy of Andrea Gianopoulos

·       Sea creature illustration copyright The National Library of Israel, Shapell Family Digitization Project _and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Department of Geography – Historic Cities Research Project

·       Assateague Island marsh photos courtesy of Lucy Albert

·       Muskrat photo courtesy of Dan Leveille

·       Peat fire photo courtesy of Guillermo Rein

·       Marsh algae photos courtesy of Andrea Gianopoulos

·       Close-up Lake Carnegie satellite image courtesy of the USGS EROS Data Center Satellite Systems Branch

·       Photos of Tigris River and drained Mesopotamian Marshes courtesy of Dr. Michelle Stevens, iraqmarshrestoration.blogspot.com

·       Photo of boatmen in an Iraqi marsh courtesy of Hassan Janali, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

 

Music courtesy of Associated Production Music

Written by Andrea Gianopoulos

Designed by Marc Lussier

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Text, Myth VS Reality.

 

Myth, All marsh fires are bad.

 

Reality. While deep peat fires are bad for marshes, some marsh fires are beneficial. Marsh fires can stimulate new growth of marsh grasses and destroy woody plants that shade and kill the grasses.