Bird Populations before and after Wildfire in a Great Lakes Pine Forest

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Abstract
Birds in a 6.25 ha quadrat in a 73 yr old jack pine-black spruce forest (Pinus banksiana-Picea mariana) in Cook County, Minnesota [USA] were intensively studied in June 1976. A wildfire burned through the area in Aug. The following spring the same quadrat was resurveyed to determine the 1st yr changes in bird populations. Species and guilds were compared by density, territorial space, existence energy and importance values. Twelve species had territories in the study grid before the fire [Dendroica castanea, D. fusca, Parus hudsonicus, Vireo olivaceus, Regulus calendula, V. solitarius, D. coronata, Certhia familiaris, Sitta canadensis, Catharus guttatus, Seiurus aurocapillus, Troglodytes troglodytes]; six [V. olivaceus, V. solitarius, Sitta canadensis, C. guttatus, Seiurus aurocapillus, T. troglodytes] were not there the following spring, but 8 additional species [Nuttallornis borealis, Picoides arcticus, Catharsus minimus, C. ustulatus, Carpodacus purpureus, Turdus migratorious, Junco hyemalis and Zonotrichia albicollis] had established territories. Tree-foliage searchers had the greatest importance value before the fire and ground-brush foragers the greatest value afterwards. Density, total biomass, and combined existence energy of birds decreased after the fire by 50, 23 and 41%, respectively, but species using the area after the fire were 63% heavier on the average. Average energy consumption per unit of body weight was calculated to be 23% less after the fire. Fire apparently reduced the total food available for birds, but increased the kinds of food, especially at or near the ground.

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