Reptile and Amphibian Responses to Restoration of Fire‐Maintained Pine Woodlands

Perry, Roger W.; Rudolph, D. Craig; Thill, Ronald E.

doi:10.1111/j.1526-100x.2009.00521.x

Cited by 45 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 38 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…All reptile species living in the Natural Park do not follow the same postfire response, this conclusion confirming previous findings in Australia (Caughley 1985;Driscoll and Henderson 2008) and USA (Perry et al 2009). Several of our results support this conclusion:…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Ecological succession and habitat attributes affect the postfire response of a Mediterranean reptile community

Santos¹,

Poquet²

2010

Eur J Wildl Res

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Wildfires are recognized as natural disturbances that have shaped landscape structure and ecosystem composition in many regions of the world. As ectotherms, many Mediterranean reptiles are expected to benefit from the thermal quality of open areas created by fires. However, not all the reptile species respond positively to this pattern. We have explored the response to fire of a Mediterranean reptile community in a protected area of the northeastern Iberian Peninsula. We visually searched for reptiles at 102 sites, including unburnt, recently burnt (2003), and old burnt (1985)(1986) localities. The number of reptiles and species richness was higher at burnt sites, and both were related to several variables of the habitat structure. Accordingly, between the two most common species in recently burnt sites, Podarcis hispanica declined in old fire habitats whereas Psammodromus algirus did not. Snakes did not differ between burnt and unburnt areas, although the ambush predator viper Vipera latastei was found more frequently in unburnt habitats. Our results imply that there are different succession trajectories for Mediterranean reptile species according to their habitat preferences, life history traits, and dietary specialization. The study area has been drastically human-altered in the last 100 years by agriculture, pine reforestation, agricultural abandonment, and wildfires. These land use changes drastically alter the vegetation cover, favoring some reptiles and damaging others, and finally can promote local extinctions of sensitive species to habitat shifts.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Ecological succession and habitat attributes affect the postfire response of a Mediterranean reptile community

Santos¹,

Poquet²

2010

Eur J Wildl Res

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Widespread frequent fires and complete fire suppression are unlikely to be ecologically sustainable fire strategies in many ecosystems including the mallee system (Cunningham et al 2002;Perry et al 2009). However, it is not yet clear how important a carefully managed fire mosaic might be for conserving reptile species (Bradstock et al 2005;Driscoll and Henderson 2008;Parr and Andersen 2006).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reptile responses to fire and the risk of post-disturbance sampling bias

et al. 2012

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Altered fire regimes are a driver of biodiversity decline. To plan effective management, we need to know how species are influenced by fire and to develop theory describing fire responses. Animal responses to fire are usually measured using methods that rely on animal activity, but animal activity may vary with time since fire, potentially biasing results. Using a novel approach for detecting bias in the pit-fall trap method, we found that leaf-litter dependent reptiles were more active up to 6 weeks after fire, giving a misleading impression of abundance. This effect was not discovered when modelling detectability with zero-inflated binomial models. Two species without detection bias showed early-successional responses to time since fire, consistent with a habitat-accommodation succession model. However, a habitat specialist did not have the predicted low abundance after fire due to increased post-fire movement and non-linear recovery of a key habitat component. Interactions between fire and other processes therefore must be better understood to predict reptile responses to changing fire-regimes. We conclude that there is substantial bias when trapping reptiles after fire, with species that are otherwise hard to detect appearing to be abundant. Studies that use a survey method based on animal activity such as bird calls or animal movements, likely face a similar risk of bias when comparing recently-disturbed with control sites.Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (

show abstract

“…Shortleaf pine restoration leads to increased levels of plant available nutrients over time [22], in spite of initial loss of nitrogen [23]. Shortleaf pine restoration also provides important habitat for the federally endangered red-cockaded woodpecker (Picoides borealis), and also positively impacts diversity and/or abundance of populations of taxa including butterflies, reptiles, amphibians [24], other birds [25,26] and small mammals [27]. Shortleaf pine stands, characterized by relatively frequent fire maintaining low basal area, also provide important habitat for endangered Indiana bats (Myotis sodalis) [28], as well as a number of other bat species [29].…”

Section: Shortleaf Pine Restorationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Establishing Pine Monocultures and Mixed Pine-Hardwood Stands on Reclaimed Surface Mined Land in Eastern Kentucky: Implications for Forest Resilience in a Changing Climate

Bell

Sena

Barton

et al. 2017

Forests

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Surface mining and mine reclamation practices have caused significant forest loss and forest fragmentation in Appalachia. Shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata) is threatened by a variety of stresses, including diseases, pests, poor management, altered fire regimes, and climate change, and the species is the subject of a widescale restoration effort. Surface mines may present opportunity for shortleaf pine restoration; however, the survival and growth of shortleaf pine on these harsh sites has not been critically evaluated. This paper presents first-year survival and growth of native shortleaf pine planted on a reclaimed surface mine, compared to non-native loblolly pine (Pinus taeda), which has been highly successful in previous mined land reclamation plantings. Pine monoculture plots are also compared to pine-hardwood polyculture plots to evaluate effects of planting mix on tree growth and survival, as well as soil health. Initial survival of shortleaf pine is low (42%), but height growth is similar to that of loblolly pine. No differences in survival or growth were observed between monoculture and polyculture treatments. Additional surveys in coming years will address longer-term growth and survival patterns of these species, as well as changes to relevant soil health endpoints, such as soil carbon.

show abstract

Reptile and Amphibian Responses to Restoration of Fire‐Maintained Pine Woodlands

Cited by 45 publications

References 38 publications

Ecological succession and habitat attributes affect the postfire response of a Mediterranean reptile community

Ecological succession and habitat attributes affect the postfire response of a Mediterranean reptile community

Reptile responses to fire and the risk of post-disturbance sampling bias

Establishing Pine Monocultures and Mixed Pine-Hardwood Stands on Reclaimed Surface Mined Land in Eastern Kentucky: Implications for Forest Resilience in a Changing Climate

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About