Western Ecological Research Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Dixon Field Station, 800 Business Park Drive, Suite D, Dixon, CA, 95620, USA.
Department of Animal Sciences, University of California Davis, 2251 Meyer Hall, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.
Sci Rep. 2023 Jul 6;13(1):10970. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-32937-2.
Wildfire events are becoming more frequent and severe on a global scale. Rising temperatures, prolonged drought, and the presence of pyrophytic invasive grasses are contributing to the degradation of native vegetation communities. Within the Great Basin region of the western U.S., increasing wildfire frequency is transforming the ecosystem toward a higher degree of homogeneity, one dominated by invasive annual grasses and declining landscape productivity. Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; hereafter sage-grouse) are a species of conservation concern that rely on large tracts of structurally and functionally diverse sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) communities. Using a 12-year (2008-2019) telemetry dataset, we documented immediate impacts of wildfire on demographic rates of a population of sage-grouse that were exposed to two large wildfire events (Virginia Mountains Fire Complex-2016; Long Valley Fire-2017) near the border of California and Nevada. Spatiotemporal heterogeneity in demographic rates were accounted for using a Before-After Control-Impact Paired Series (BACIPS) study design. Results revealed a 40% reduction in adult survival and a 79% reduction in nest survival within areas impacted by wildfires. Our results indicate that wildfire has strong and immediate impacts to two key life stages of a sagebrush indicator species and underscores the importance of fire suppression and immediate restoration following wildfire events.
野火事件在全球范围内变得更加频繁和严重。气温升高、干旱延长以及易燃入侵性草本植物的存在，导致了本地植被群落的退化。在美国西部的大盆地地区，野火频率的增加正在使生态系统向更高程度的同质性转变，这种同质性主要由入侵性一年生草本植物和景观生产力下降所主导。大角羊（Centrocercus urophasianus；以下简称大角羊）是一种受到关注的保护物种，它们依赖于结构和功能多样化的大面积山艾树（Artemisia spp.）群落。我们使用了 12 年（2008-2019 年）的遥测数据集，记录了在加利福尼亚州和内华达州边界附近经历了两次大型野火事件（2016 年弗吉尼亚山脉火灾复合体；2017 年长谷火灾）的大角羊群的人口统计率的直接影响。使用 Before-After Control-Impact Paired Series（BACIPS）研究设计，考虑了人口统计率的时空异质性。结果表明，野火对受影响地区的成年个体存活率和巢存活率分别产生了 40%和 79%的降低。我们的结果表明，野火对山艾树指示物种的两个关键生命阶段产生了强烈而直接的影响，强调了火灾抑制和野火事件后立即恢复的重要性。
