Frequent, heterogenous fire supports a forest owl assemblage

Fire shapes biodiversity in many forested ecosystems, but historical management practices and anthropogenic climate change have led to larger, more severe fires that threaten many animal species where such disturbances do not occur naturally. As predators, owls can play important ecological roles in biological communities, but how changing fire regimes affect individual species and species assemblages is largely unknown. Here, we examined the impact of fire severity, history, and configuration over the past 35 years on an assemblage of six forest owl species in the Sierra Nevada, California using ecosystem-scale passive acoustic monitoring. While the negative impacts of fire on this assemblage appeared to be ephemeral (1-4 years in duration), spotted owls avoided sites burned at high-severity for up to two decades after a fire. Low- to moderate-severity fire benefited small cavity nesting species and great horned owls. Most forest owl species in this study appeared adapted to fire with ..., , , # Frequent, heterogenous fire supports a forest owl assemblage

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.w6m905qzc](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.w6m905qzc)

## Description of the data and file structure

*Study system*

The species that comprise the owl assemblage in the Sierra Nevada co-occur at the landscape scales but occupy distinct ecological niches (Wood et al. 2019a). While all forest owl species rely on trees for nesting, great horned (GHOW; *Bubo virginianus*) and western screech (WESO; *Megascops kennicottii*) owls occupy a wide variety of habitats and often forage where canopies are relatively open (Davis & Weir, 2010; Johnson, 1992). Flammulated owls (FLOW; *Psiloscops flammeolus*) breed in mid-successional mixed conifer forests often dominated by yellow pine and Douglas fir (Linkhart et al. 1998). California spotted owls (SPOW; *Strix occidentalis occidentalis*) rely on closed-canopy forest for roosting and nesting, while benefiting from forest heterogeneity—specifically edges b...

火塑造了诸多森林生态系统的生物多样性，但既往森林经营活动与人为气候变化导致野火规模更大、烈度更高，对那些原本无此类自然干扰的动物类群构成威胁。作为捕食者，鸮类在生物群落中发挥着重要的生态功能，但火制度（fire regime）的改变如何影响单个物种及物种集合群，目前仍知之甚少。本研究依托生态系统级被动声学监测（passive acoustic monitoring）技术，分析了过去35年间的火灾烈度、历史格局与空间配置，对加利福尼亚州内华达山脉6种森林鸮类集合群的影响。尽管火灾对该鸮类集合群的负面影响看似短暂（持续1至4年），但斑林鸮会规避经历过高烈度火烧的区域，规避时长可达火灾发生后的二十年。中低烈度火灾则对小型洞巢鸟类与大雕鸮有利。本研究中的多数森林鸮类似乎已适应火灾……# 频发且异质化的火灾可维持森林鸮类集合群
https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.w6m905qzc

## 数据与文件结构说明
*研究系统*
内华达山脉的鸮类集合群物种在景观尺度上同域分布，但各自占据独特的生态位（Wood等，2019a）。尽管所有森林鸮类均依赖树木筑巢，但大雕鸮（great horned owl, GHOW; *Bubo virginianus*）与西美鸣角鸮（western screech owl, WESO; *Megascops kennicottii*）可栖息于多样的生境，且常在林冠相对开阔的区域觅食（Davis & Weir, 2010; Johnson, 1992）。娇鸮（flammulated owl, FLOW; *Psiloscops flammeolus*）在以黄松与花旗松为主的中生演替混交针叶林内繁殖（Linkhart等，1998）。加利福尼亚斑林鸮（California spotted owl, SPOW; *Strix occidentalis occidentalis*）依赖闭合林冠的森林栖息与筑巢，同时得益于森林异质性——具体而言是林缘……