Credit: David Foster
Conservationists have employed prescribed fire in an attempt to maintain
openland habitats such as the Katama sandplain grassland on the island of Martha’s Vineyard.
Research by Oswald and colleagues indicates that, despite a large human population for
thousands of years, fire was uncommon and landscapes across southern New England were
heavily forested until European contact and deforestation for agriculture. Grazing and other
agricultural practices can be used to maintain these uncommon habitats today.