Wildlife, Animals, and Plants
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FIRE EFFECTS AND USE
WILDLIFE SPECIES: Gymnogyps californianus | California Condor
DIRECT FIRE EFFECTS ON ANIMALS :
Fire may directly reduce California condor reproductive success if
chicks or eggs are lost due to burning, smoke inhalation, or stress.
For these reasons, fall burning near nest sites could have adverse
effects on newly hatched California condors [17]. Fire suppression
activities could cause impacts such as nest abandonment, egg breakage by
a disturbed adult, or increased disturbance from road construction and
brush elimination [27].
HABITAT RELATED FIRE EFFECTS :
Fire may enhance California condor habitat by creating snags for future
roost sites and improving foraging habitat. California condors occur in
or have recently occupied the following five major fire-dependent plant
associations in the western United States: grasslands, chaparral,
ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), and
giant sequoia [12]. In all of these communities, fire exclusion reduces
openings and increases shrub or tree cover. Fire exclusion also allows
fuels to accumulate which increases the potential for large, severe
fires. Large, severe fires may destroy roost trees [4].
Periodic fire is instrumental in maintaining a relatively open
grass-shrub structure in chaparral communities [4], which enhances
California condor access to carcasses. Additionally, fire may improve
habitat for small mammals, which are essential in California condor
diets. Many small mammals decline when ground cover is not periodically
reduced by fire, so California condors must feed on the carcasses of
larger animals. Since they cannot swallow the larger bones, they may
not be able to obtain sufficient calcium in their diets [5]. Occasional
fire in chaparral can maintain a mixture of edge and grasslands,
improving habitat for small mammals several fold [36]. Fire has
contributed to the maintenance of some grasslands by reducing woody
vegetation, while the exclusion of fire has resulted in encroachment of
trees and shrubs in those ecosystems [12]. Additionally, fire is an
important factor in maintaining the openness of oak savannahs [38].
FIRE USE :
Prescribed burning may be used to improve condor foraging habitat and
reduce the chance of large, severe fires [27]. Burning should be
deferred until nesting is completed in areas where impact to breeding
California condors may occur [4].
REFERENCES :
NO-ENTRY
Related categories for Wildlife Species: Gymnogyps californianus
| California Condor
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