using birds to guide post-fire management in the plumas & lassen national forests ryan d....
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Using Birds to Guide Post-fire Management in the Plumas & Lassen National Forests
Ryan D. Burnett, Nathaniel Seavy, and Diana Humple
4/21/2011
PRBO Conservation Science
Study Objectives
• Assess the influence of post-fire conditions on spatial and temporal variation in landbird populations
- diversity and abundance of a suite of landbird species
- woodpecker cavity use
- linking avian metrics with habitat conditions at multiple
spatial scales
• Inform forest management decisions to promote diverse and resilient forest ecosystems across multiple spatial scales
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Study Sites
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Fire Age, Size, Patch Size, and Severity Varies
Cub ~15,000 acres – Summer 2008
12% High Severity
Moonlight ~ 66,000 acres
Summer 2007
56.5% high severityStorrie ~”52,000” acres – Fall 2000
28% high severity
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Site Selection
• Random Stratified sample (public
land, slope<40 percent, 1km from road or trail,
1500m between starting points)
• Sample size per fire based on accessible area
• 17 Storrie Fire Transects (4 private)
• 32 Moonlight Fire Transects (6 private)
• 13 Cub Fire Transects (0 private)
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Sampling Transect
Five exact distance point count surveys per transect
2-4 hour cavity nest search of 20ha plot
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Habitat Surveys
• 50m radius vegetation surveys at each point count station
• 11.3m radius snag plot at each nest, point count station, and 5 random locations – DBH, decay class, tree
species, scorch height, etc.
• Classified Severity Using Composite Burn Index
Point Count Stations & Random Snag Plot - example
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Storrie Greatest Diversity and Abundance
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Riparian Areas Serve as Refugia on Private Land
Species Richness Total Bird Abundance0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Private Land Upland vs. Riparian Sites
Riparian
Upland
# p
er p
oin
t co
un
t st
atio
n
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Avian Abundance Varies by Severity & Fire
<0.1 0.1 - 0.5 0.5 - 1.0 1.0 - 1.5 1.5 - 2 2.0 - 2.5 2.5 - 30
1
2
3
4
5
6
Storrie Total Bird Abundance
Burn Severity (Composite Burn Index)
Det
ecti
on
s/P
oin
t C
ou
nt
Vis
it
<.1 .1 - 0.5 .51 - 1.0 1.01 - 1.5
1.51 - 2 2.01 - 2.5
2.5 - 30
1
2
3
4
5
6
Moonlight Total Bird Abundance
Burn Severity (Composite Burn Index)
Det
ecti
on
s/P
oin
t C
ou
nt
Vis
it
<.1 .1 - 0.5 .51 - 1.0 1.01 - 1.5
1.51 - 2 2.01 - 2.5
2.5 - 30
1
2
3
4
5
Cub Total Bird Abundance
Burn Severity (Composite Burn Index)
Det
ecti
on
s/P
oin
t C
ou
nt
Vis
it
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Nest Tree Size Varies by Woodpecker Species
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Most Species Select for Broken Tops
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All Species Selecting for Dead & Decaying Trees
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
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Black-backed Woodpecker Nest Sites = High Snag Densities ~277/ha (111/acre)
Po
rpo
rtio
n (
+/-
CI )
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
Black-backed Woodpecker
All nests (N = 19, p < 0.001)Cub nests (N = 10, p < 0.001)Moonlight nests (N = 9, p = 0.006)Available (N = 247,114,133)
Se
lect
ion
ra
tios
(+/-
CI )
0
1
2
3
4
5
< 4 snags per plot 4-8 snags per plot > 8 snags per plot
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Black-backed Woodpecker Use = Very High Snag Densities beyond the micro-nest site
Mean Snag Density across 20ha plots with BBWO Nests
Mean Snag Density within 11.3m of BBWO nests
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Post-fire habitat is Unique & Heterogeneous
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Early Successional - Disturbance Dependent Species left out in the rain
Regression Coefficient
← Decrease in Owl Habitat Increase in Owl Habitat →
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Early Seral & Habitat Mosaics
R2=0.21, p<0.0001
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
% Shrub/Brush within a 500m radius
Fo
x S
pa
rro
w A
bu
nd
an
ce
(p
red
icte
d)
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Edge Density within a 1000m radius (Contrast Weighted m/ha)
Oliv
e-s
ide
d F
lyc
atc
he
r A
bu
nd
an
ce
(p
red
icte
d)
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Conclusions
• Post-fire habitat – including areas that burned at high severity
– are an important component of the ecosystem necessary for
maintaining biological diversity in the Sierra Nevada
• Time since fire & fire severity both appear to influence avian
community
• Post-fire salvaged areas on private land support significantly
less diverse and abundant avian community
• Existing snags on the landscape (prior to fire) are important
resource for cavity nesting birds the first 3 to 5 years post-fire
• Black-backed Woodpecker are nesting in areas with very high
snag densities (100 – 300 per acre)
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Future Direction
• Temporal & spatial effects of fire severity on bird diversity, abundance, and cavity use
• Spatially explicit habitat suitability models to help guide future post-fire management
• Compare bird assemblages between green forest and post-fire habitat with and without treatments
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Bird Response to Commercial DFPZ Harvest
• 122 points treated with DFPZs (only) 2005 – 2009
• Lassen and Plumas National Forests
• 122 reference points selected using cladogram to determine most appropriate reference for each treated sites
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Cladogram to Select Reference Sites
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Analysis
• Dependent variables: abundance of 15 focal species, total bird abundance, & species richness
• Data from 2004-2010• Generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) with Poisson
distributions • Controlled for random effects (point, year, transect)
• Compared:-reference to pre-treatment-year-since-treatment to reference sites-year-since-treatment to pre-treatment sites
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Preliminary Results
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Four main uses of the website:
1) view project results through
‘packaged’ analyses
2) view study locations and
presence/absence on a map
3) download raw data (survey
results and locations)
4) Access reports, publications, and
other literature
Sierra Nevada Avian Monitoring Information Network
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Thank You!
Plumas & Lassen National Forests
H.F. Quincy Library Group Monitoring Program
PSW SNRC – Peter Stine
Resources Legacy Fund
Field Crew:
Paul Taillie, Mel Preston, Tiffany Russell, Brendan McGarry, Jason St. Pierre, Meghan Horne-Brine, Alicia Arcidiacono, Simone Cook, Joe Michael, Doug Zimmerman