Extent, configuration and diversity of burned and forested areas predict bat richness in a fire-maintained forest

Abstract Context Fire transforms, fragments and sometimes maintains forests, creating mosaics of burned unburned patches. Highly mobile animals respond to resources in the landscape at a variety spatial scales, yet we know little about their landscape-scale relationships with fire. Objectives We aimed identify drivers bat richness mosaic forested areas while identifying scales which was most strongly related extent, configuration, diversity measures landscape-level habitat. Methods used multi-species hierarchical occupancy modelling relate variables 10 based on acoustic data collected Sierra Nevada, United States. also assessed redundancy among variable type (extent, diversity) between focal patch types (forested burned). Results Bat positively associated heterogenous landscapes, shown by positive associations pyrodiversity, extent mean area patches, edge density were generally consistent across scales. Extent forest cover highly correlated, but configuration these diverged. Conclusions communities our study appear be largely resilient wildfire adapted more forests shorter-interval fire regimes that likely predominated before suppression era.