"Fires are happening more often, and they're bigger and more severe than they have been in the past. And so we went in to understand how fire severity and time since fire affect these birds and these national parks,"
"So not only did we look at the effect of burn severity and time since burn, but we accounted for other differences in the habitat at each point, like its elevation and the amount of forest cover and the height of those trees,"
"And so with prescribed fire, we have the option of controlling the parameters on that fire, of making sure the fire happens under weather conditions, for example, that aren't going to lead to a huge conflagration. They can control, where the fire starts and when the fire starts and generally leads to much better outcomes than wildfires that might start in the worst possible conditions on a 110 degree day with 30 mile an hour winds, says executiv"
Records of bird populations at Yosemite, Sequoia, and Kings Canyon National Parks were compared to multiple fires that burned through the parks over several decades. Of 42 bird species examined, 28 showed higher population density in areas that had previously burned, with increases sometimes lasting for decades. Analyses accounted for burn severity, time since burn, elevation, forest cover, and tree height. Detailed findings could inform management techniques such as prescribed burns, which allow control of timing, location, and conditions to reduce the risk of large, severe wildfires and improve ecological outcomes.
Read at ABC7 San Francisco
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