Rocky Mountain Research Station

Title: Short-term responses of red squirrels to prescribed burning in the interior Pacific Northwest, USA

Author: Russell, Robin E.; Lehmkuhl, John F.; Buckland, Stephen T.; Saab, Victoria A.

Date: 2010

Source: Journal of Wildlife Management. 74(1): 12-17.

Description: We quantified changes in density of red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) in response to prescribed fire in mixed coniferous forests of Idaho and Washington, USA, using a Before-After-Control-Impact design. We found no evidence that low-severity prescribed fires affected density of red squirrels; we estimated the change in red squirrel densities due to prescribed fire as 20.15 squirrels/ha (95% CI 5 20.405­0.105). Squirrel density did, however, increase with increasing live tree density, shrub cover, and density of large downed logs, and varied across years and states. These results indicate that land managers implementing prescribed fire treatments to reduce fuel loads on public lands can reduce the impacts of fire on squirrel populations by formulating prescriptions to retain large live trees and large downed logs.

Keywords: Before-After-Control-Impact, fuel reduction, Idaho, point counts, ponderosa pine, prescribed fire, Tamiasciurus hudsonicus, Washington

View and Print this Publication (331.78 KB)

Publication Notes: 

• We recommend that you also print this page and attach it to the printout of the article, to retain the full citation information.
• This article was written and prepared by U.S. Government employees on official time, and is therefore in the public domain.

 Get the latest version of the Adobe Acrobat reader or Acrobat Reader for Windows with Search and Accessibility

Citation

Russell, Robin E.; Lehmkuhl, John F.; Buckland, Stephen T.; Saab, Victoria A.  2010.  Short-term responses of red squirrels to prescribed burning in the interior Pacific Northwest, USA.   Journal of Wildlife Management. 74(1): 12-17..