Prairies are grasslands that are often used as forage for cattle. When a wildfire burns across a prairie, the grass is killed immediately and there is no forage for cattle. Because of this, many people thought that prairies were changed by fire. The questions the scientist wanted to answer are: 1) How does wildfire change a prairie? 2) How long does it take a prairie to recover after a wildfire? 3) In addition to immediately killing the prairie’s plants, does a wildfire affect the type of animal Topics: Fire, Grasslands, Insects, Wildlife, Adaptation, Beetles, Ecosystem, Fire.