The Effects of Post-Fire Management on Bird Community Succession

Abstract

In September 1989 a wild fire burned over 300 ha of pine (Pinus halepensis) forest on Mt. Carmel, Israel. In winter 1990, logging took place on several burned plots. Since then, nonbreeding bird communities were censused in unburned plots, in burned plots and in burned logged plots. Canonical correspondence analysis was used to investigate the relationship between bird composition, post-fire managements and time since fire. Thirty-three species of passerine bird were recorded during fall, winter and spring (1991-1994). The most significant differences in avian community structure appeared between the unburned forest and the burned logged forest, and between the first period (1-2 years) post-fire and the following period (3-5 years post-fire). In general, the number of bird species in the ecosystem was increased as the result of imposing different post-fire managements. Therefore, creating a mosaic of different type of habitats contributed in maintaining high bird diversity.