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Publication Date

6-1-2003

Abstract

Fire is an important tool used by range and wildlife managers to manipulate vegetation. However, the effects of summer prescribed fires on vegetation, bird and invertebrate communities are largely undocumented in south Texas. The objective of this study is to determine the effects of prescribed summer burns on the avian and macroinvertebrate communities related to fire caused changes in vegetation. Two treatment replicates were established on two study sites in San Patricio County and Bee County Texas during April 2001. Pretreatment data were collected during the breeding season for the bird and macroinvertebrate communities (April-June). Post-fire data were collected for invertebrates at quarterly intervals whereas bird and vegetation responses to summer fire were monitored 1-yr after fire ignition during the 2002 bird breeding season. Results indicate that vegetative cover was reduced on fire treatments 1-yr post-fire. Additionally, macro invertebrate populations declined dramatically immediately after summer fires but began to recover within 4 to 6 months post-fire and the abundance of some important insect families surpassed pre-treatment and control population levels 1-yr post-fire. There did not appear to be a treatment effect for the bird community because post-treatment bird abundance and diversity remained similar to pre-treatment levels on both burned and control sites. The results of this study seem to indicate that summer prescribed fires may not have a negative long-term impact on invertebrate communities, and that more than one summer fire event may be necessary to impact the composition and abundance of south Texas bird communities.

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