|
BIRDS AND BURNS NETWORK: Fire Effects on Populations and Habitats of Sensitive Species of Wildlife
in Ponderosa Pine Forests of the Interior WestOur Goal:
Understand Ecological Consequences of Fire Management for Wildlife in Ponderosa
Pine Forests of the Interior West |  |
Fact Sheet (pdf)
Introduction
Objectives & Questions
Design & Methods
Information for Participants
Information for Managers
Preliminary Results
Fire and Avian Ecology in North America
National Fire Plan & Joint Fire Sciences Accomplishments:
Joint Fire ( # 01-1-3-25) Final Report
Fiscal 2005 report
Fire-related publications
Wings Across the Americas 2007 Award
Introduction:
The USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station is leading the effort to examine fire effects on populations and habitats of wildlife in ponderosa pine forests in eight states across the western United States, including locations on National Forests, National Parks, and state and private lands (see map). Our goal is to understand the ecological consequences of fire management for wildlife in ponderosa pine forests. The target wildlife species are cavity-nesting birds and songbirds (also small mammals at selected locations). Cavity-nesting birds are a focus of this research because many of them depend on fire-maintained habitats for their dispersal and movements, they are designated as Management Indicator Species (MIS) and Sensitive Species by state and federal agencies, and they are responsive to timber and fire management activities. Funding is provided primarily by the Joint Fire Sciences Program (01-1-3-25), the National Fire Plan (02.RMS.C.2), and Rocky Mountain Research Station (4251), with matching dollars contributed by the individual units (see map). Our primary collaborators are those listed on the map, Pacific Northwest Research Station, The Nature Conservancy, and several universities.
Objectives & Questions:
We have five primary objectives:
- Conduct effectiveness monitoring for prescribed fire to quantify reductions in fuel.
- Evaluate effects of fuel reductions on habitat and populations of the avifauna (and small mammals in selected locations)
- Determine the most productive habitats for cavity-nesting birds among three fire conditions (fire exclusion, prescribed fire, and wildfire)
- Develop design criteria for post-fire salvage logging that maintains habitat for MIS and sensitive species of birds.
- Develop remote-sensing methods to predict bird distributions and ground vegetation in different habitat conditions created by fire.
Some questions that we are addressing include:
- What are the sizes and composition of fuels after prescribed fire?
- What are the population responses by birds and mammals to vegetation changes after prescribed fire?
- Which fire conditions (exclusion, prescribed, and wildfire) provide source habitats for MIS and Sensitive Species of woodpeckers?
- Can we use remote sensing before fires to predict cavity-nesting bird and snag distributions after fire?
- Will selected species of noxious weeds increase after prescribed fire?
Design & Methods:
We are using a Before, After, Control, Impact (BACI) design with replication at 9
locations in 8 western states for the prescribed fire studies, which began in 2002. At each location, sampling units are 250-400 ha
with at least 2 replicate units for each treatment and control and a minimum of 20 point count stations in each unit. We are conducting
point count surveys to quantify population densities of songbirds; monitoring nests of target species (woodpeckers, bluebirds,
and nuthatches) to determine nesting densities, success, and productivity; and measuring vegetation (fine fuels; ground, log, and
overstory cover; densities of logs, shrubs, trees and snags) at nest and point count locations. Point count and vegetation
sampling are stratified by crown closure; nest surveys and monitoring are conducted throughout each unit. Point count, vegetation,
and nest data are collected at least 2 years before prescribed fire treatments and at least 2 years after fire treatment.
Results from ongoing wildfire research that began in the 1990s are being used to compare habitat and bird populations with those
monitored before and after prescribed fire treatments.
Information for Participants
Information for Managers
Preliminary Results
Fire and Avian Ecology in North America
National Fire Plan & Joint Fire Sciences Accomplishments:
Joint Fire ( # 01-1-3-25) Final Report
Fiscal 2005 report
Fire-related publications
Wings Across the Americas 2007 Award
Contact:
Vicki Saab, Rocky Mountain Research Station., 1648 S. 7th Ave., MSU campus, Bozeman, MT 59717-2780, 406-994-5032, vsaab@fs.fed.us.
|
