Wildlife Monitoring on the Murphy Complex Fire

Publication Type:

Unpublished

Authors:

Ann Moser; Brad Lowe

Source:

Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Boise, Idaho, p.40 (2011)

Call Number:

U11MOS01IDUS

Keywords:

Centrocercus urophasianus, fire, monitoring, Murphy Complex Fire, sage grouse

Abstract:

In July 2007, the Murphy Complex Fire in southwest Idaho burned approximately 504,400 acres of grassland and sagebrush steppe, including 273,600 acres of key greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) habitat. The Bureau of Land Management and other cooperators worked together to reseed approximately 82,800 acres with grasses and forbs and aerially seed 294,000 acres with sagebrush (Artemisia sps.). We monitored the wildlife responses to the burn and rehabilitation efforts. We continued to count sage-grouse leks by ground and with aerial surveys in and adjacent to the burn 2008–2010. We also measured the abundance of other breeding birds and small mammals at 45 1-km2 survey blocks distributed among drill-seeded, natural recovery, and unburned shrub areas in 2009–2010. We evaluated trends in male lek attendance within the burn boundary compared to leks in the surrounding landscape, using population reconstructions. For songbirds and small mammals we used ANOVA to compare abundances among strata and years. Male lek attendance and the estimated minimum number of males were similar between leks in the burn boundary compared to the surrounding landscape 2008–2009, but declined in 2010. Shrub-obligate songbird species and least chipmunk had higher abundances at unburned shrub sites. Brewer’s sparrow, sage thrasher, horned lark, and deer mice decreased in abundance at all sites from 2009 to 2010. Vesper sparrow and montane vole increased in abundance from 2009 to 2010, with vesper sparrow more abundant at natural recovery sites and montane vole more abundant at drill-seeded sites. Similar to other studies in sagebrush steppe, this study documented a time lag in population responses to loss of key habitat. As expected, our results demonstrated the negative impact of loss of sagebrush on sagebrush-obligate species. After the 3rd growing season after the fire, we were unable to determine whether wildlife species benefited from the drill-seeding effort as opposed to natural recovery. Our goal is to monitor the long-term impacts of the Murphy Complex Fire and to replicate this study in 2015.