Occupancy of California Spotted Owl sites following a large fire in the Sierra Nevada, California

The condor

Derek E. Lee¹ 

关键词: California Spotted Owl;    Strix occidentalis occidentalis;    occupancy;    forest fire;   

DOI  :  10.1650/CONDOR-14-155.1

学科分类：动物科学

来源: Central Ornithology Publication Office

【 摘 要 】

ABSTRACT High-severity forest fire often is presumed to adversely affect the occupancy of territories by California Spotted Owls (Strix occidentalis occidentalis) because these owls are associated with mature and old-growth forests. We used single-season, multi-state occupancy statistics to estimate site occupancy probability for Spotted Owls at 45 historically occupied sites during the breeding season immediately following the 2013 Rim Fire, which was one of the largest forest fires on record in California. We quantified how occupancy probability was influenced by the amount of high-severity fire occurring in mature forested habitat within Protected Activity Centers (PACs). The model-averaged estimate of site-occupancy probability for at least a single owl was 0.922 (±SE = 0.073), which was higher than other published occupancy probability estimates for this subspecies in either burned or long-unburned sites in the Sierra Nevada. Mean site-occupancy probability for pairs was 0.866 (±0.093), and most site...

【 授权许可】

CC BY