Does post-fire salvage logging affect foraging activity by rodents?

Puig-Gironès, Roger; Imbeau, Louis; Clavero, Miguel; Rost, Josep; Pons, Pere

doi:10.1007/s10342-020-01285-5

Cited by 12 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…This new open habitat, consisting of sparse shrubs surrounded by grasslands, can be successfully colonised by pioneering (M. spretus) and generalist small mammal species (A. sylvaticus and C. russula), but is barely colonised, if at all, by small mammal predators (tawny owls, Strix aluco, and genets, Genetta genetta) and competitors (red squirrels, Sciurus vulgaris, black rats, Rattus rattus, or wild boars, Sus scrofa), even after a long duration since the last fire. Furthermore, the use of common sylvicultural practices after forest fires such as salvage logging [30] will additionally reduce habitat suitability for fast recolonization by forest predators and competitors.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…All shrublands resulted from fires occurring between 1982 and 2003. Since the last fire affecting a plot was recorded in the first years of the new century, we considered the recovery of the small mammal communities to be completed [29,30]. So, we did not expect direct/indirect effects of fire on small mammal communities, only effects derived from the secondary vegetation succession.…”

Section: Small Mammal Samplingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Habitat Suitability for Small Mammals in Mediterranean Landscapes: How and Why Shrubs Matter

Torre

Jaime-González²,

Dı́az

2022

Sustainability

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Fires are usually seen as a threat for biodiversity conservation in the Mediterranean, but natural afforestation after abandonment of traditional land uses is leading to the disappearance of open spaces that benefit many species of conservation interest. Fires create open habitats in which small mammals can live under more favourable conditions, such as lower predation, interspecific competition, and higher food availability. We analysed the role of changes in shrub cover and shrub preference by small mammals along the Mediterranean post-fire succession. We used data (period 2008–2018) from 17 plots woodlands and post-fire shrublands present in the study area (Barcelona’s Natural Parks, Catalonia, NE Spain), and vegetation structure was assessed by LiDAR technology for modelling ground-dwelling small mammal preferences. The diversity, abundance, and stability of Mediterranean small mammal communities negatively responded to vegetation structural complexity, which resulted from the combined effects of land abandonment and recovery after wildfires. We suggest that biotic factors such as vegetation profiles (providing food and shelter) and their interaction with predators and competitors could be responsible for the observed patterns. Considering the keystone role of small mammals in the sustainability of Mediterranean forest, our results could be useful for management under the current global change conditions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Small Mammal Samplingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Habitat Suitability for Small Mammals in Mediterranean Landscapes: How and Why Shrubs Matter

Torre

Jaime-González²,

Dı́az

2022

Sustainability

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“…However, cover selection varies by species, sex, and age. For example, adult females were more often captured in places with taller grass cover, and shrub cover, used as shelter, increased wood mice abundance in the burnt area (Díaz, 1992; Puig‐Gironès et al., 2020). Algerian mice did not show any sex‐dependent habitat preferences, but taller vegetation and lower plant cover did favor breeding and body mass condition, respectively.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…If salvage logging is chosen, based on our results, maintaining good connectivity between burnt and adjacent unburnt areas is crucial. This may be achieved through wood debris piles, which provide shelter, reduce erosion, and benefit plant regeneration and animal presence (Mauri & Pons, 2019; Puig‐Gironès et al., 2020; Sullivan et al., 2012). For open‐habitat maintenance, management should begin 5 years after fire, when the habitat is no longer optimal for open‐habitat specialists (Puig‐Gironès et al., 2022) and mice have likely recovered (Torre & Díaz, 2004).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Mice population dynamics and structure over time and space after wildfires

Puig-Gironès

Pons

2023

Journal of Zoology

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Rodents respond quickly to changes in habitat structure after wildfires. They constitute important prey items for vertebrate predators and influence vegetation structure and regeneration. Assessing the population dynamics of rodents in burnt areas, whether individuals originate from in situ survival or from ex situ immigration, is therefore a key question in understanding the recovery of trophic networks after disturbance. This study aimed to identify the recovery strategies of rodent populations in recently burnt forests in the Mediterranean basin using body condition, reproductive output, sex ratios, and distance covered by wood mice and Algerian mice. Sampling stations were set up at increasing distances from the perimeter of recently burnt areas. Rodents were captured using Sherman traps and measured. Wood mice and Algerian mice lived syntopically within the recently burnt areas studied, the former species being more abundant and the second one selecting drier areas. Results indicated that time since fire, shrub cover, and distance to the perimeter of the burnt area influenced wood mice and Algerian mice population structures. Adult female wood mice mainly remained close to the burnt area perimeter, due to this species' matriarchal structure, while juvenile males dispersed farther into the burnt area. Adult females were also recaptured more frequently than other age and sex categories over time, whereas males covered greater distances. These findings suggest that the recovery strategy of these widespread Mediterranean rodents is mainly driven by ex situ immigration from unburnt areas. These results will be useful for post‐fire management decisions such as non‐intervention, salvage logging or the conservation of open areas, given that mice are a fundamental component of the ecosystem. Results also suggest that management should focus on maintaining good connectivity between burnt and adjacent unburnt areas to support mice populations and facilitate other longer‐term conservation benefits.

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Long-term response of open-habitats species to wildfire salvage logging: the endangered European wild rabbit as example

et al. 2022

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Salvage logging treatments, a type of logging to economic returns after natural disturbance, are often applied in the aftermath of wildfires. Specialist or dependent species of open-habitat usually increase their populations in the short-term after wildfires and post-fire salvage logging. However, the long-term effects on threatened open-habitat species such as the European wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus L.) are still poorly known. Thus, plant productivity, habitat heterogeneity and rabbit abundance were studied in the north-east Iberian Peninsula in four type of post-fire treatment plots: (1) unburnt, (2) salvage logging with branches left on the ground, (3) salvage logging and manual removal of branches, and (4) recurrent fires. Both the time since the fire and the treatment affected plant productivity and habitat heterogeneity. Plant productivity was quicker in treatments when branches were left on the ground or when branches were removed than in recurrent fire plots. Rabbit relative abundance increased in the short term but dramatically declined over time after fires, especially in the plots where branches were left on the ground and with recurrent fires, in which rabbit abundances fell dramatically. In the long-term, the lack of food availability and adequate habitat structure are the main factors affecting the maintenance of the rabbit population. An appropriate moment for managing burnt areas to favour the persistence of rabbit is between the fifth and sixth year after the fire. These actions also benefit the reduction of environmental biomass and so help prevent future severe wildfires.

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Does post-fire salvage logging affect foraging activity by rodents?

Cited by 12 publications

References 63 publications

Habitat Suitability for Small Mammals in Mediterranean Landscapes: How and Why Shrubs Matter

Habitat Suitability for Small Mammals in Mediterranean Landscapes: How and Why Shrubs Matter

Mice population dynamics and structure over time and space after wildfires

Long-term response of open-habitats species to wildfire salvage logging: the endangered European wild rabbit as example

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