Aridity influences the recovery of Mediterranean shrubland birds after wildfire

Wildfires play a determining role in the composition and structure of plant and animal communities. At the same time, climate change is considered to be a major driver of current and future fire regime changes. Despite increases in the water deficit in many areas of the world, the effects of aridity on post-fire colonization by animals have been rarely addressed. This study aims to analyse how a regional aridity gradient affects the recovery of vegetation and birds (including the whole bird community and four species of shrub-dwelling warblers) using a large database derived from sampling in Catalonia (NE Iberian Peninsula). The database contains bird abundances and environmental variables from 3,072 censuses in 695 transects located in 70 recently burnt areas (1 to 11 years after fire), which were sampled between 2006 and 2013.