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Local survival after fire in Mediterranean shrublands: combining capture-recapture data over several bird species

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Population Ecology

Abstract

Post-disturbance survival is a key factor in the onset of secondary successions. Here we analyse capture-recapture data from two before/after disturbance studies to estimate the effect of fire on local bird survival. Analyses of six bird species at two Mediterranean shrubland sites were combined using a meta-analysis approach. Two warblers, Sylvia undata and S. melanocephala, were studied at one site altered by prescribed burning, and five passerines (Luscinia megarhynchos, Turdus merula, Parus major, P. caeruleus and S. melanocephala) at one site disturbed by wildfire. Based on the combined analysis, annual survival probability significantly decreased from 0.49 to 0.18 (i.e. a 64% decline) after the fire. Our results further suggest a trend for a higher decrease in annual survival associated with wildfire (−72%, from 0.51 to 0.14) than with prescribed burning (−35%, from 0.41 to 0.27), although this should be properly tested with a specific experimental design. In S. undata, a decline in survival in the ‘long-term’ cannot account for the drop in density observed the first spring after fire. We suggest that a decrease in recruitment rate and an increase in the proportion of non-breeders immediately after the fire may contribute more strongly to the decline in the breeding population. Our results tend to support the idea that bird populations may respond to moderate disturbances with noticeable time lags, because of individual site tenacity.

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Acknowledgements

We are indebted to R. Pradel for help in data analysis. B. Batailler, J.P. Clara and C. Wendenburg provided field assistance at Torderes. B. Lambert (SIME) made the prescribed burning possible and J.M. Bas kindly provided us with useful data. E. Brooks and S. Watt corrected the English. Thanks for research facilities are due to Laboratoire Arago (Banyuls) and to J. Giró (Tiana). We are also indebted to all the ringers who worked at Tiana ringing station, coordinated by the Institut Català d’Ornitologia. P.P. benefited from a FPI grant from the Spanish government, and from a BE98UdG grant from the University of Girona.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departament de Ciències Ambientals, Universitat de Girona, Campus de Montilivi, 17071, Girona, Catalonia, Spain

    Pere Pons

  2. CEFE/CNRS, Montpellier, France

    Pierre-Yves Henry & Jean-Dominique Lebreton

  3. Institut Català d’Ornitologia, Museu de Zoologia, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

    Gabriel Gargallo

  4. Biogéographie et Écologie des Vertébrés, EPHE, Université Montpellier II, Montpellier, France

    Roger Prodon

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  1. Pere Pons
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  2. Pierre-Yves Henry
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  3. Gabriel Gargallo
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  4. Roger Prodon
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  5. Jean-Dominique Lebreton
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Correspondence to Pere Pons.

Appendix

Appendix

Table 7 shows capture-recapture data for S. undata and S. melanocephala at the prescribed burning plot. Table 8 shows capture-recapture data for the five bird species at the wildfire site.

Table 7 Capture-recapture data for S. undata and S. melanocephala at the Torderes site. Capture occasions are given per 3-month period (parenthesis) per year. R i number of individuals captured at occasion i; m(i,j) number of individuals captured at occasion i and recaptured at occasion j
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Table 8 Capture-recapture data per species at the Tiana site. Capture occasions are year. R i number of individuals captured at occasion i; m(i,j) number of individuals captured at occasion i and recaptured at occasion j
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Pons, P., Henry, PY., Gargallo, G. et al. Local survival after fire in Mediterranean shrublands: combining capture-recapture data over several bird species. Popul Ecol 45, 187–196 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10144-003-0155-7

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