Birds & burns: Can prescribed fires limit wildfire severity while maintaining fire’s ecological importance to bird species?

Abstract

Wildfire influences wildlife habitat in ways that benefit some species while degrading habitat for others. Recent wildfire favors several woodpecker species by creating dead trees, or "snags," that are easily excavated for nest cavities and also provide foraging substrate for bark and wood-boring beetles. Within a few years after wildfire, openings in the canopy often stimulate understory vegetation and improve opportunities for species that nest in shrubs or forage on the ground. Yet the same wildfire may reduce habitat for species that nest and forage in live trees. Prescribed fires also can shape bird habitat and diversity directly by changing forest structure and indirectly by modifying subsequent wildfire effects on habitat.

Citation

Saab, Vicki; Dudley, Jonathan; Latif, Quresh. 2022. Birds & burns: Can prescribed fires limit wildfire severity while maintaining fire’s ecological importance to bird species? Science You Can Use (in 5 Minutes), May 2022. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 2 p.