Effects of historic wildfire and prescribed fire on site occupancy of bats in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia, USA
Journal of Forestry Research
Links
- More information: Publisher Index Page (via DOI)
- Open Access Version: External Repository
- Download citation as: RIS | Dublin Core
Abstract
Given high likelihood of regional extirpation of several once-common bat species in eastern North America from White-nose Syndrome, it is critical that impacts of forest management activities such as prescribed fire are known to minimize potentially additive negative effects on bat populations. Historic wildfires may offer a suitable surrogate to assess long-term burn impacts on bats for planning, implementing and assessing burning programs going forward. To examine effects of historic fire on bats, we sampled bat activity at 24 transect locations in burned and unburned forest stands in the central Appalachian Mountains of Shenandoah National Park (SNP), Virginia, USA, 2015. We found limited evidence positive fire effects over time on hoary bats (Lasiurus cinereus) and big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) occupancy. Overall, we found few or mostly equivocal relationships of bat occupancy relative to burn condition or time since fire at SNP across species using a false-positive occupancy approach. Our results suggest that fire does not strongly affect bat site occupancy at short or long-term time scales in the central Appalachians.
Suggested Citation
Ford, W., Austin, L.V., Alexander Silvis, and Powers, K.E., 2019, Effects of historic wildfire and prescribed fire on site occupancy of bats in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia, USA: Journal of Forestry Research, v. 31, p. 1255-1270, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-019-00923-y.
Study Area
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | Effects of historic wildfire and prescribed fire on site occupancy of bats in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia, USA |
| Series title | Journal of Forestry Research |
| DOI | 10.1007/s11676-019-00923-y |
| Volume | 31 |
| Publication Date | April 04, 2019 |
| Year Published | 2019 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Springer |
| Contributing office(s) | Coop Res Unit Leetown |
| Description | 16 p. |
| First page | 1255 |
| Last page | 1270 |
| Country | United States |
| State | Virginia |
| Other Geospatial | Shenandoah National Park |