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Wildfire and Prescribed Fire Effects on Wildlife

Edited by Gavin Jones, Brice Hanberry, Katie H. Greenberg, Angela M. White

This special collection includes papers about fire effects on wildlife and fire management for wildlife. Many wildlife species require forest conditions created by large-scale disturbances, including fire. Differences in responses to fire and fire severity among the diverse wildlife species across US forests highlight the need to appropriately target prescribed fires. 

These papers were presented at the Wildfire and Prescribed Fire Effects on Wildlife in US Forests symposium of The Wildlife Society conference held on September 30, 2020. In addition, we encourage other researchers and managers to submit papers that cover this topic.



  1. Due to anthropogenic climate change and historic fire suppression, wildfire frequency and severity are increasing across the western United States. Whereas the indirect effects of fire on wildlife via habitat ...

    Authors: Jessalyn Ayars, Robert L. Emmet, Sarah B. Bassing, Olivia V. Sanderfoot, Sierra Raby, Alexandra Karambelas, Eric P. James, Ravan Ahmadov and Beth Gardner
    Citation: Fire Ecology 2023 19:49
    Content type: Original research Published on:

  2. Dry mixed-conifer forests of the southwestern United States are experiencing rapid, anthropogenically driven fire regime change. Prior to the Euro-American settlement, most of these forests experienced frequen...

    Authors: Tara D. Durboraw, Clint W. Boal, Mary S. Fleck and Nathan S. Gill
    Citation: Fire Ecology 2022 18:31
    Content type: Original research Published on:

  3. Pine flatwoods of the southeastern United States were shaped by frequent fires. Land managers use prescribed fires to control fuels but also to restore historical fire dynamics. Broad outcomes of this practice...

    Authors: Ian N. Biazzo and Pedro F. Quintana-Ascencio
    Citation: Fire Ecology 2022 18:24
    Content type: Original research Published on:

  4. Salvage logging of fire-killed trees in western US conifer forests has been shown to negatively affect many wildlife species, but there are few quantitative studies from the Sierra Nevada, CA. Salvage intensit...

    Authors: Alissa M. Fogg, L. Jay Roberts, Ryan D. Burnett and Brent R. Campos
    Citation: Fire Ecology 2022 18:20
    Content type: Original research Published on:

  6. Humans have altered fire regimes across ecosystems due to climate change, land use change, and increasing ignition. Unprecedented shifts in fire regimes affect animals and contribute to habitat displacement, r...

    Authors: Rasoul Khosravi, Hamid Reza Pourghasemi, Roya Adavoudi, Leila Julaie and Ho Yi Wan
    Citation: Fire Ecology 2022 18:1
    Content type: Original research Published on:

  8. The northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) is an Endangered Species Act-listed subspecies that requires coniferous forests with structurally complex and closed-canopy old-growth characteristics for nes...

    Authors: Damon B. Lesmeister, Raymond J. Davis, Stan G. Sovern and Zhiqiang Yang
    Citation: Fire Ecology 2021 17:32
    Content type: Original research Published on:

  9. Bats are important components of forested ecosystems and are found in forests worldwide. Consequently, they often interact with fire. Previous reviews of the effects of fire on bats have focused on prescribed ...

    Authors: Susan C. Loeb and Rachel V. Blakey
    Citation: Fire Ecology 2021 17:29
    Content type: Review Published on:

  10. Fire strongly affects animals’ behavior, population dynamics, and environmental surroundings, which in turn are likely to affect their immune systems and exposure to pathogens. However, little work has yet bee...

    Authors: Gregory F. Albery, Isabella Turilli, Maxwell B. Joseph, Janet Foley, Celine H. Frere and Shweta Bansal
    Citation: Fire Ecology 2021 17:23
    Content type: Review Published on:

  11. Understanding the effects of disturbance events, land cover, and weather on wildlife activity is fundamental to wildlife management. Currently, in North America, bats are of high conservation concern due to wh...

    Authors: Marcelo H. Jorge, Sara E. Sweeten, Michael C. True, Samuel R. Freeze, Michael J. Cherry, Elina P. Garrison, Hila Taylor, Katherine M. Gorman and W. Mark Ford
    Citation: Fire Ecology 2021 17:19
    Content type: Original research Published on:

  12. Drastic increases in wildfire size and frequency threaten western North American sagebrush (Artemisia L. spp.) ecosystems. At relatively large spatial scales, wildfire facilitates type conversion of sagebrush-dom...

    Authors: Ian F. Dudley, Peter S. Coates, Brian G. Prochazka, Shawn T. O’Neil, Scott Gardner and David J. Delehanty
    Citation: Fire Ecology 2021 17:15
    Content type: Original research Published on: