Fire and distance from unburned forest influence bird assemblages in Southern Andean Yungas of Northwest Argentina: a case study

MORALES, MARISEL; POLITI NATALIA; RIVERA LUIS; VIVANCO, CONSTANZA; GUILLERMO DEFOSSÉ

FIRE ECOLOGY

Springer

Lugar: SYDNEY; Año: 2019

Wildfires affect vegetation structure, functions, and other attributes of forest ecosystems.Among these attributes, bird assemblages may be influenced by the distance from undisturbed to fire-disturbed forests. Information about this influence is essential for designing management plans aimed at conserving birds? diversity in undisturbed forests, which contributes to their sustainability. In Northwest Argentina, timber extraction and man-caused fires threaten the sustainability of Southern Andean Yungas forests. In this region, we evaluated, in relation to a reference unburned forest, the effects of close and distant fire-disturbed patches on bird assemblages, exploring also relationships between burned and unburned forest structures on bird assemblages. On each site, we determined forest structural variables, and twice per year, from 2015 to 2017, we recorded birds seen or heard on every site, from dawn to 1000 hours, at 30 0.5 ha counting points.