PARENT SESSION
Oral Session #67: Ecotoxicology and Applied Ecology.
Presiding: W. Snyder
Wednesday, August 7. 1:00 PM to 4:45 PM. Cochise Meeting Room, TCC.

Fire and fuels management in the Sierra Nevada and California spotted owls: Searching for compromise.

Lee, Danny^*,1, ¹ USDA Forest Service, Arcata, CA

ABSTRACT- More than a century of land-use change in the Sierra Nevada has produced unnaturally dense vegetation conditions that are primed for potentially catastrophic wildland fire. Efforts to reduce fuel loads and the attendant risk of stand-replacing fires by thinning or burning raise questions of whether vegetation treatments could have negative effects on California spotted owls (Strix occidentalis occidentalis) and other forest-dependent species. Using previously reported data collected in the southern Sierra Nevada, I developed a Bayesian network model that linked nesting choice and fledgling success of individual owl nest sites to characteristics of the surrounding landscape. After adjusting for annual variation in reproduction, having more of the landscape with high canopy cover and less open forest increases the probability of successful reproduction. The relationship is not linear, however, implying that more is not always better. There appears to be sufficient flexibility to reduce stand densities sufficinently to lower fire risks without appreciably impacting nesting success. These results suggest that there may be win-win situations where fuels management can occur without harm to California spotted owls.

KEY WORDS: wildland fire, forest management, California spotted owls, Bayesian networks