forests and foliage grazing species are more abundant in unburned forests. Within the spruce and fir community type, trees often lose their lower branches, becoming unavailable to hare and other small mammals for food or cover during the seven to nine months of winter. This makes larger mammals more densely populated in fir and spruce forests. Fire does not displace fauna that are dependent on fir and spruce forests. When fir and spruce begin sprouting, they are utilized for food and the patches of trees remaining provides shelter. Because of the heterogeneity in fir and spruce forests, patches of trees are always left in nature. Fire suppression, on the other hand, alters the natural patch dynamics, thus greatly reducing the number of mammals present. The trees all grow older, close the canopy, the understory is repressed, branches fall off during the winter, and for the majority of the year there is no available food. Also, if fire is suppressed for a number of years and then a crown fire breaks out in the area, it will quickly spread throughout the dense canopy. No patches will be left for shelter and the fir and spruce will take much longer to regenerate because of the distance from the remaining stands to the center of the burned site. See also Southern Appalachian spruce-fir forest References Forest ecology Temperate coniferous forests