Restoring fire to grasslands is critical for migrating shorebird populations

Abstract

Fire is a disturbance process that maintains the structure and function of grassland ecosystems while sustaining grassland biodiversity. Conversion of grasslands to other land uses coupled with altered disturbance regimes has greatly diminished the habitat available to many grassland-dependent species. These changes have been linked to declines in breeding bird populations, but may also be critical for migrating bird populations such as those shorebird species that depend on mesic grasslands during migration. We examined migratory shorebird use of burned grasslands in the southern Great Plains of North America using DISTANCE sampling to estimate and compare bird densities across recently burned and not recently burned landscapes (1-5 yr post fire). We conducted two surveys per week for 8-10 weeks along a 54-km route starting at the end of March and concluding in mid-May during 2014-2015. We encountered 2,509 total shorebirds in recently burned areas compared to 130 individuals in areas that were unburned. Fire was a major attractant for our three focal species with American Golden-plover (Pluvialis dominica), Upland Sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda), and Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) densities of 20.48, 11.09, and 26.09 birds/km in burned areas compared with 0.00, 1.27, and 0.92 birds/km in unburned areas, respectively. This research illustrates the importance of burned grassland for migrating shorebirds, a phenomenon that has largely gone unreported previously. Generally, these findings add to a body of knowledge that demonstrates the value of managing grasslands with historic disturbances that vary over space and time. The application of these findings should improve decision-making for shorebird conservation and provides evidence that prescribed fire planning should include consideration for breeding, transient, and non-breeding populations that vary in their temporal use of the landscape.

Female Greater Prairie‐Chicken response to energy development and rangeland management

“…), but our results add to the growing body of literature that demonstrates that grassland heterogeneity is critical throughout the entire annual cycle (Hovick et al. , , Winder et al. ).…”

Is prescribed fire a suitable management tool to reduce shrub encroachment in palm savannas?

“…In all cases, reduction of shrubs resulted in a less flammable plant community (Fuentes et al ), and, consequently, a lower risk of eventual occurrence of high‐intensity wildfires (Weatherspoon & Skinner ; Pollet & Omi ). Open habitats can also be used by native animals that select sites with a simpler landscape structure, facilitating their movements and offering more food resources (García Erize & Gomez Villafañe ; Hovick et al ).…”

Pyric‐carnivory: Raptor use of prescribed fires

“…From a land manager perspective, it is important to understand that disturbances can affect wildlife throughout their annual cycle. Specifically, fire can influence the avian community in the breeding season (Davis, Churchwell, Fuhlendorf, Engle, & Hovick, ; Fuhlendorf et al., ; Hovick, Elmore, Fuhlendorf, Engle, & Hamilton, ), over‐winter during the nonbreeding season (Hovick, Elmore, & Fuhlendorf, ), and during migration (Hovick et al., ). Despite being the most understudied period in the life cycle of many organisms, migration is risky and can greatly reduce survival for a population (Carlisle et al., ; Sillett & Holmes, ; Skagen & Knopf, ).…”

“…These immediate changes to vegetation structure from fire are often prolonged when fire is coupled with large herbivore grazing, and this combined disturbance is known to alter small mammal and insect communities which make up the prey base for many grassland predators (Engle, Fuhlendorf, Roper, & Leslie, ; Fuhlendorf, Townsend, Elmore, & Engle, ; Kral, Limb, Harmon, & Hovick, ; Ricketts & Sandercock, ). Additionally, these changes in vegetation resulting from fire can influence not only resident and breeding species' interactions, but may have impacts on organisms that use burned areas for over‐wintering or in transit during migration events (Hovick, Carroll, Elmore, Davis, & Fuhlendorf, ).…”

“…In many circumstances, these systems are important for nutrient uptake, body maintenance, and reproductive success and survival (Morrison, Ross, & Niles, ; Skagen, ). Understanding the responses of nonbreeding, transient species to fire (and the burn event) is an additional knowledge gap where information is needed for informed and effective conservation strategies (Hovick et al., ; Keith, Williams, & Woinarksi, ).…”