Developing a multiscale fire treatment strategy for species habitat management

Abstract

Reintroducing fire to manage vegetation and fuel may have poorly understood consequences for wildlife. Prescribed burning can reduce down wood and snags that provide critical habitat and mechanical thinning designed to reduce fire hazards may alter forest structures that are preferred by some species. Moreover, fine scale fuel treatments may alter wildlife and habitat dynamics within the larger landscape. In this paper, we provide a process-based heuristic for understanding varied wildlife responses to fire at multiple scales that integrates fire behavior, vegetation dynamics and long-term habitat resilience.

Parent Publication

• Proceedings of the 2002 fire conference: managing fire and fuels in the remaining wildlands and open spaces of the Southwestern United States

Citation

Norman, Steven P.; Lee, Danny C.; Tallmon, David A. 2008. Developing a multiscale fire treatment strategy for species habitat management. In: Narog, Marcia G., tech. coord. 2008. Proceedings of the 2002 Fire Conference: Managing fire and fuels in the remaining wildlands and open spaces of the Southwestern United States. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-189. Albany, CA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station. p. 159-166