Type: other

Article abstract: Fire can have both negative and positive impacts on the flora and fauna of southern California. The native vegetation communities have evolved with the regional fire regime and have adapted various survival strategies in response. However, as firereturn intervals decrease to more frequent than historic levels, the trend is for shrublands, whether chaparral or coastal sage scrub, to be vegetation type-converted to grasslands. Just as fires alter the composition and structure of vegetation communities, animals may experience similar shifts in community structure and species occurrence. With the type-conversion of vegetation communities, we may expect a concomitant shift and potential biodiversity loss in faunal populations. Fire may cause direct mortality or loss of habitat and food resources that result in the decline of some species. Other species that survive the fire and prefer open or disturbed landscapes may benefit, thereby increasing in numbers. The U.S. Geological Survey is investigating how plant and animal communities are responding and recovering from the massive 2003 San Diego County wildfires. The taxa being investigated include plants, invertebrates (selected terrestrial macro-invertebrate taxa and ants) and vertebrates (reptiles, amphibians, small mammals, birds, bats, and carnivores). Investigations include comparisons of post-burn conditions to pre-burn baseline conditions and comparisons of responses of the various taxa between burned and unburned control sites based on available pre-burn data and data collected over the five-year study. The goal of this study is to provide scientifically based information to aid in land management planning and reserve design. These conservation and monitoring decisions should include considerations of the effects of large wildfires on structure and function of the biological community. Many of the species documented during these efforts are covered in the habitat conservation plan of San Diego, the Multiple Species Conservation Program (MSCP).