Wildfire influences individual growth and breeding dispersal, but not survival and recruitment in a montane amphibian

Abstract

Global wildfire regimes are changing rapidly, with widespread increases in the size, frequency, duration, and severity of wildfires. Whereas the effects of wildfire on ecological state variables such as occupancy, abundance, and species diversity are relatively well documented, changes in population vital rates (e.g., survival, recruitment) and individual responses (e.g., growth, movement) to wildfire are more limited because of the detailed information needed on the same individuals both pre-and post-fire. We capitalized on the 2018 Roosevelt wildfire, which occurred during our 6-year (2015-2020) capture-mark-recapture study of boreal toads (Anaxyrus boreas boreas; n = 1415) in the Bridger-Teton National Forest, USA, to evaluate the responses of population vital rates and individual metrics to wildfire. We employed robust design capture-recapture models to compare the growth, dispersal, survival, and recruitment of adult boreal toads pre-and post-fire at burned versus unburned sites. At burned locations, growth increased 2 years post-fire compared with the year directly following wildfire and was higher 2 years post-fire than any other interval during our study period.Boreal toads dispersed to alternative breeding patches more at burned sites than unburned sites and dispersal increased 2 years post-fire compared with the year directly following wildfire. Annual survival and recruitment neither differed between pre-and post-fire years nor among pre-fire years, the year following wildfire, and 2 years post-fire. We demonstrate that, in certain contexts, dispersal can play a major role in changes to state variables (e.g., abundance) after wildfire, as opposed to other vital rates such as survival and recruitment. Our study represents

The House Is Burning: Assessment of Habitat Loss Due to Wildfires in Central Mexico

“…Studying the effects and responses of individuals and communities to wildfires poses significant challenges. Comparing pre-and post-fire conditions relies on fires occurring coincidentally during the study period [56]. Long-term projects, like continuous sampling over multiple years, are constrained in Mexico and other developing countries due to the Fire 2024, 7, 134 considerable investments needed in time, materials, and safety measures for the research team.…”

“…However, research in tropical zones and ecosystems sensitive to fire is still in its early stages, further compounded by the limited number of studies contributing to the understanding of fire history [44]. Without leaving aside the logistical difficulties and unpredictability of wildfires, many of the studies are opportunistic and take advantage of being performed in the right space at the right time [56].…”