When bigger isn’t better - implications of large high-severity wildfire patches for avian diversity and community composition

Zachary Steel; Alissa M. Fogg; L. Jay Roberts; Hugh D. Safford; Ryan Burnett

doi:10.1111/ddi.13281

Treesearch

When bigger isn’t better - implications of large high-severity wildfire patches for avian diversity and community composition

Formally Refereed

Authors:

Zachary Steel, Alissa M. Fogg, L. Jay Roberts, Hugh D. Safford, Ryan Burnett

Year:

2022

Type:

Scientific Journal

Station:

Rocky Mountain Research Station

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.13281

Source:

Diversity and Distributions. 28: 439-453.

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Download (PDF 1.63 MB): https://research.fs.usda.gov/download/treesearch/66729.pdf

Abstract

Wildfires increasingly create large high-severity patches with interior areas far from less disturbed habitats. We evaluated how these trends impact bird communities by investigating the effect of internal distance from lower-severity areas, high-severity patch size, and years since fire on avian alpha and beta diversity. Location: Sierra Nevada, California, USA.

Keywords

avian diversity, fire ecology, fire suppression, heterogeneity, landscape ecology, multispecies occupancy model, patch size, pyrodiversity, wildfire

Citation

Steel, Zachary L.; Fogg, Alissa M.; Burnett, Ryan; Roberts, L. Jay; Safford, Hugh D. 2022. When bigger isn’t better - implications of large high-severity wildfire patches for avian diversity and community composition. Diversity and Distributions. 28: 439-453.