Do Wildfire-mitigation Practices Affect the Conservation of Sensitive Owls?

• Main Author: Pifer, Josef D
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: ScholarWorks at University of Montana 2022
• Subjects: Strix nebulosa
• Online Access: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/umcur/2022/327/3; https://scholarworks.umt.edu/context/umcur/article/2549/type/native/viewcontent/Pifer_Owls_UMCUR.pptx

Fire-mitigation practices are commonly used in fire-adapted forests of the western US to reduce fire hazard and restore historical fire regimes. However, these treatments are being implemented without synthetic knowledge on the extent to which they may adversely affect species of conservation concern due to the possible alteration of critical habitat features they rely on. Although some studies have been done, to date there has not been a synthesis of information or recommendations for a strategic agenda of future research. To accomplish this, I conducted a bibliometric review of articles identified in Web of Science that assessed the effect of fire mitigation practices in western North American forests on three sensitive owl species: Spotted owls (Strix occidentalis), great gray owls (Strix nebulosa) and flammulated owls (Psiloscops flammeolus). Most articles (77%) studied California spotted owls (S. o. occidentalis) and thus occurred in California; in contrast, few articles studied impacts on Mexican spotted owls (S. o. lucida) or northern spotted owls (S. o. caurina), both of which are federally listed subspecies, one article focused on great gray owls and none focused on flammulated owls. Most studies (94%) occurred in dry forests with frequent fire regimes and on federally owned land. Most importantly few studies (5%) used experimental designs that avoid confounding treatment effects with spatial or temporal variation in owl observations, indicating an overall lack of information on treatment effects. I suggest future research should focus on employing a before-after control-impact (BACI) design to avoid confounding treatment effects with background variation. Research should also prioritize assessing effects on federally listed subspecies of the spotted owl beyond the California spotted owl, and other sensitive owl species besides spotted owls.