Bat Response to Differing Fire Severity in Mixed-Conifer Forest California, USA

Abstract Wildlife response to natural disturbances such as fire is of conservation concern to managers, policy makers, and scientists, yet information is scant beyond a few well-studied groups (e.g., birds, small mammals). We examined the effects of wildfire severity on bats, a taxon of high conservation concern, at both the stand (,1 ha) and landscape scale in response to the 2002 McNally fire in the Sierra Nevada region of California, USA. One year after fire, we conducted surveys of echolocation activity at 14 survey locations, stratified in riparian and upland habitat, in mixed-conifer forest habitats spanning three levels of burn severity: unburned, moderate, and high. Bat activity in burned areas was either equivalent or higher than in unburned stands for all six phonic groups measured, with four groups having significantly greater activity in at least one burn severity level. Evidence of differentiation between fire severities was observed with some Myotis species having higher levels of activity in stands of high-severity burn. Larger-bodied bats, typically adapted to more open habitat, showed no response to fire. We found differential use of riparian and upland habitats among the phonic groups, yet no interaction of habitat type by fire severity was found. Extent of high-severity fire damage in the landscape had no effect on activity of bats in unburned sites suggesting no landscape effect of fire on foraging site selection and emphasizing stand-scale conditions driving bat activity. Results from this fire in mixed-conifer forests of California suggest that bats are resilient to landscapescale fire and that some species are preferentially selecting burned areas for foraging, perhaps facilitated by reduced clutter and increased post-fire availability of prey and roosts

The redox behavior of 9-nickelafluorenyl sandwich complexes

A collection of nickelocene and cobaltocene analogs with one or two nickelafluorenyl rings has been recently synthesized starting from 9-nickelafluorenyllithium complex. The redox ability of the whole series of derivates has been investigated by electrochemical techniques, and the nature of the frontier orbitals responsible for the electron transfer activity of this class of compounds has been supported by extended Hückel calculations

Effect of fire severity and habitat on nightly bat activity.

<p>Effect size (natural log-transformed number of calls per night and 95% confidence intervals) of moderate- and high-severity fire, as well as the effect of habitat (upland vs. riparian), on bat activity one year post-fire in mixed-conifer forest of California. Effects are relative to unburned, riparian forest stands among (A) <i>Myotis thysanodes</i> = MYTH; (B) “large-bodied” species in the 25 KHz range = LB25; (C) <i>Myotis evotis</i> = MYEV; (D) <i>Antrozous pallidus</i> = ANPA; (E) <i>Myotis</i> species in the 50 KHz range = MY50; and (F) <i>Myotis</i> species in the 40 KHz range = MY40.</p

Effect of the landscape fire mosaic on nightly bat activity.

<p>Effect size (natural log-transformed number of calls per night and 95% confidence intervals) of the amount of stand-replacing fire within a 2 km radius on bat activity in unburned forest stands.</p

Bat Response to Differing Fire Severity in Mixed-Conifer Forest California, USA

<div><p>Wildlife response to natural disturbances such as fire is of conservation concern to managers, policy makers, and scientists, yet information is scant beyond a few well-studied groups (e.g., birds, small mammals). We examined the effects of wildfire severity on bats, a taxon of high conservation concern, at both the stand (<1 ha) and landscape scale in response to the 2002 McNally fire in the Sierra Nevada region of California, USA. One year after fire, we conducted surveys of echolocation activity at 14 survey locations, stratified in riparian and upland habitat, in mixed-conifer forest habitats spanning three levels of burn severity: unburned, moderate, and high. Bat activity in burned areas was either equivalent or higher than in unburned stands for all six phonic groups measured, with four groups having significantly greater activity in at least one burn severity level. Evidence of differentiation between fire severities was observed with some <i>Myotis</i> species having higher levels of activity in stands of high-severity burn. Larger-bodied bats, typically adapted to more open habitat, showed no response to fire. We found differential use of riparian and upland habitats among the phonic groups, yet no interaction of habitat type by fire severity was found. Extent of high-severity fire damage in the landscape had no effect on activity of bats in unburned sites suggesting no landscape effect of fire on foraging site selection and emphasizing stand-scale conditions driving bat activity. Results from this fire in mixed-conifer forests of California suggest that bats are resilient to landscape-scale fire and that some species are preferentially selecting burned areas for foraging, perhaps facilitated by reduced clutter and increased post-fire availability of prey and roosts.</p> </div

Study area.

<p>Map of sampled portion of the 2002 McNally Fire (southern Sierra Nevada mountains, California, USA) with topography and the extent of low-, moderate-, and high-severity fire damaged areas with study sites identified by severity type. Dashed lines represent 2 km radii buffers used to quantify the area of high-severity fire damage surrounding each unburned site.</p