Wildfire smoke affects animals in unique ways. Scientists are trying to understand it

The new field of "smoke ecology" examines how wildfire smoke perturbs wild places and animals — and what might be done to prevent its worst mayhem.

<img src='https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/5712x4284+0+0/resize/5712x4284!/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fcb%2F8d%2F0ebd98c943b98fec6b5e73aca53d%2Fximg-6316.jpg' alt='Olivia Sanderfoot of Cornell University is trying to understand how the smoke billowing off of wildfires is bothering birds — and what can be done to prevent that harm.'/><p>The new field of "smoke ecology" examines how wildfire smoke perturbs wild places and animals — and what might be done to prevent its worst mayhem.</p><p>(Image credit: Ari Daniel)</p><img src='https://media.npr.org/include/images/tracking/npr-rss-pixel.png?story=nx-s1-5991854' />