Developing a Multiscale Fire Treatment Strategy for Species Habitat Management

Reintroducing fire to manage vegetation and fuel may have poorly understood consequences for wildlife. Prescribed burning can reduce down wood and snags that provide critical habitat and mechanical thinning designed to reduce fire hazards may alter forest structures that are preferred by some species. Moreover, fine scale fuel treatments may alter wildlife and habitat dynamics within the larger landscape. In this paper, we provide a process-based heuristic for understanding varied wildlife responses to fire at multiple scales that integrates fire behavior, vegetation dynamics and long-term habitat resilience.