Small Mammal Use of the Burn Perimeter Following a Chaparral Wildfire in Southern California

Borchert, Mark; Borchert, Sinéad M.

doi:10.3160/0038-3872-112.2.63

Cited by 10 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Unlike edges in modified landscapes, we would expect these effects to reduce over time as vegetation regenerates and the fire edge softens. Some small mammal species have been shown to avoid fire edges for 4–5 years postfire, until shrub cover and seed production reached sufficient levels to sustain viable populations in these areas (Borchert & Borchert, ). In contrast, reduced understory cover post‐fire can enable predators to hunt more effectively (Conner, Castleberry, & Derrick, ; Hradsky, Mildwaters, Ritchie, Christie, & Di Stefano, ; Leahy et al., ), resulting in the increased prevalence of some predators at fire edges briefly post‐fire, while the contrast between burnt and unburnt remains high.…”

Section: Edge Effects In Fire‐prone Landscapesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A habitat generalist (pinyon mouse, Peromyscus maniculatus ) was found to occupy burnt edge and unburnt habitat in similar abundance within 1 year of a high‐intensity wildfire. In contrast, a late seral specialist (Californian mouse, Peromyscus californicus ) was more prevalent in unburnt habitat, took 4–5 years to occupy the edge zone and was only detected in high abundance in burnt vegetation nine years after fire (Borchert & Borchert, ). Burnt chaparral produces an abundance of seeds immediately after fire and this is likely driving the high occupancy of the burnt site by granivorous species or those with generalist habitat and/or diet requirements.…”

Section: Edge Effects In Fire‐prone Landscapesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Edge effects in fire‐prone landscapes: Ecological importance and implications for fauna

Parkins

York

Stefano

2018

Ecology and Evolution

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Edges are ecologically important environmental features and have been well researched in agricultural and urban landscapes. However, little work has been conducted in flammable ecosystems where spatially and temporally dynamic fire edges are expected to influence important processes such as recolonization of burnt areas and landscape connectivity. We review the literature on fire, fauna, and edge effects to summarize current knowledge of faunal responses to fire edges and identify knowledge gaps. We then develop a conceptual model to predict faunal responses to fire edges and present an agenda for future research. Faunal abundance at fire edges changes over time, but patterns depend on species traits and resource availability. Responses are also influenced by edge architecture (e.g., size and shape), site and landscape context, and spatial scale. However, data are limited and the influence of fire edges on both local abundance and regional distributions of fauna is largely unknown. In our conceptual model, biophysical properties interact with the fire regime (e.g., patchiness, frequency) to influence edge architecture. Edge architecture and species traits influence edge permeability, which is linked to important processes such as movement, resource selection, and species interactions. Predicting the effect of fire edges on fauna is challenging, but important for biodiversity conservation in flammable landscapes. Our conceptual model combines several drivers of faunal fire responses (biophysical properties, regime attributes, species traits) and will therefore lead to improved predictions. Future research is needed to understand fire as an agent of edge creation; the spatio‐temporal flux of fire edges across landscapes; and the effect of fire edges on faunal movement, resource selection, and biotic interactions. To aid the incorporation of new data into our predictive framework, our model has been designed as a Bayesian Network, a statistical tool capable of analyzing complex environmental relationships, dealing with data gaps, and generating testable hypotheses.

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Section: Edge Effects In Fire‐prone Landscapesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Edge Effects In Fire‐prone Landscapesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Edge effects in fire‐prone landscapes: Ecological importance and implications for fauna

Parkins

York

Stefano

2018

Ecology and Evolution

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“…Over a period of several years, as shrubs resprout and grow denser and as different food sources become available, small-mammal species preferring a shrubby overstory, including woodrats (Neotoma spp. ), California mice (Peromyscus californicus), brush mice (Peromyscus boylii), and cactus mice (Peromyscus eremicus), increase in number (Cook, 1959;Wirtz, 1977;Price and Waser, 1984;Brehme et al, 2011;Borchert and Borchert, 2013). Compared with unburned chaparral and grassland, severely burned chaparral had the highest rodent diversity 4 years after a high-intensity wildfire near Mount Laguna in San Diego County (Lillywhite, 1977).…”

Section: Chaparral and Coastal Sage Scrubmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…During intense fires, some individuals among small, less vagile animals may suffer mortality, but many others survive in rock crevices, riparian areas, large downed logs, and underground burrows where temperatures remain cool and the air clean (Chew et al, 1959;Quinn, 1979;Lawrence, 1966;Wirtz, 1995;Smith, 2000). Following fire, small-mammal communities change over time (Diffendorfer et al, 2012;Borchert and Borchert, 2013) and space (Schwilk and Keeley, 1998), depending on the vegetation associations of the various species. Species preferring open habitat, including pocket mice (Chaetodipus spp.…”

Section: Chaparral and Coastal Sage Scrubmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The occupation of severely burned areas by small mammals is related to regrowth of the vegetation structure with which various species are associated (Torre and Díaz, 2004;Lee and Tietje, 2005;Vamstad and Rotenberry, 2010;Diffendorfer et al, 2012;Kelly et al, 2012;Borchert and Borchert, 2013), as well as with seed and insect production and availability (Coppeto et al, 2006), and cavities created by woodpeckers in snags (Tarbill, 2010). I discuss fire effects on small mammals according to habitat type but give special attention to the deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus)-an exceptionally "fire-loving" species-in its own section.…”

Section: Small Mammalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Mammals and Mixed- and High-severity Fire

Bond

2015

The Ecological Importance of Mixed-Severity Fires

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Contrasting responses of native and introduced mammal communities to fire mosaics in a modified landscape

Zylinski

Swan

Sitters

2022

Ecological Applications

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Planned fire is increasingly recognized as an important tool in conservation, but other factors such as land‐use change may hinder the ability of land managers to use fire for the benefit of biodiversity. The mosaic of past fires in native vegetation may interact with the mosaic of other land‐cover types in human‐modified landscapes, yet the effects of these interactions on mammal communities are unknown. We investigated the responses of ground‐dwelling mammal community composition and species richness to interactions between land cover and post‐fire vegetation growth‐stage mosaics in southern Australia. This fire‐prone, human‐modified landscape features a fine‐scale fire mosaic in native vegetation patches surrounded by pasture, horticulture, and peri‐urban environments. We measured the composition of land‐cover types and fire mosaics (landscape structure) at multiple scales of up to 1257 ha surrounding 129 study sites, and considered native and introduced species together and separately. Land‐cover composition was the primary driver of community composition: native species favored areas with a greater proportion of native heathy woodland, whereas introduced species were associated with landscapes comprising more cleared land. The fire mosaic also influenced community composition and species richness: greater growth‐stage diversity was associated with native habitat‐specialist communities and fewer introduced species. In areas with more cleared land, native species richness increased when there was a greater proportion of mid‐successional vegetation, demonstrating that the effect of fire mosaics on mammal diversity depended on land‐cover composition. The positive relationship between introduced species richness and cleared land extent was also stronger in recently burned sites than in other growth stages, suggesting that introduced species are well suited to more modified areas of the landscape. Land managers need to consider the underlying land‐cover composition and the potential interactions it may have with fire mosaics and species composition. In this landscape a greater diversity of growth stages may disadvantage introduced species yet an increase in mid‐successional vegetation in more modified areas would be likely to benefit native mammal communities. Our study highlights that fire management may need to be tailored depending on the context of land use and the species of interest.

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Small Mammal Use of the Burn Perimeter Following a Chaparral Wildfire in Southern California

Cited by 10 publications

References 36 publications

Edge effects in fire‐prone landscapes: Ecological importance and implications for fauna

Edge effects in fire‐prone landscapes: Ecological importance and implications for fauna

Mammals and Mixed- and High-severity Fire

Contrasting responses of native and introduced mammal communities to fire mosaics in a modified landscape

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