Aspen Bibliography

Effects of recent burning on breeding bird community structure in aspen forests

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Journal of Field Ornithology

Volume

70

Issue

4

First Page

491

Last Page

503

Publication Date

1999

Abstract

Fire is an important disturbance that stimulates aspen regeneration and expansion in the western United States. We investigated the impacts of burning aspen-dominated habitats on landbird community structure in the western foothills of the Wind River Range, Wyoming. Habitat structure, breeding bird species composition, richness, and relative abundance were compared in 1994 and 1995 between six independent pairs of sites, each pair consisting of a recently burned aspen site and a control site. Burned sites typically had lower canopy cover and depth, greater snag densities and aspen regeneration, and less shrub growth. We observed 45 diurnal woodland bird species overall. Western Wood-Pewees (Contopus sordidulus) and Warbling Vireos (Vireo gilvus) were detected significantly less often in the burned sites, while Mountain Bluebirds (Sialia currucoides) and Pine Siskins (Carduelis pinus) were detected significantly more often in the burned sites. Orange-crowned Warblers (Vermivora celata), Red-naped Sapsuckers ( Sphyrapicus nuchalis), and chickadees (Poecile spp.) were significantly less abundant in the burned aspen when burn size or year was factored into the analysis. For many other commonly detected species, we had relatively low power to detect meaningful differences in abundance between recently burned and unburned aspen stands. Bird species richness was similar between treatments. Bird species composition differed consistently among burned-control pairs, but our data suggested that intersite variability in species composition in aspen is the norm in the absence of burning.

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