Bird survey data from the Victorian Central Highlands 2004 to 2019. Associated with paper 'Rapid bird species recovery following high-severity wildfire but in the absence of early successional specialists' for Diversity and Distributions

We established 85 one-hectare permanent bird-monitoring sites. These sites were at least 750 m apart, although there was often 5-10 km between sites. We assembled data gathered from surveys completed between 2004 and 2019. We determined the severity of the 2009 fire at each site by on-ground vegetation surveys completed within four weeks of the fire. We assigned each site to one of three categories: (1) no fire in 2009, (2) moderate severity fire in 2009 where the ground and understorey layers had the majority of their above-ground biomass scorched or consumed but the overstorey remained green, and (3) high fire severity in 2009 in which plants in the ground, shrub, understorey and eucalypt tree layers had the majority of their above-ground biomass scorched or consumed. Sixteen of our sites burned at high severity, 28 at moderate severity, and 41 did not experience fire in 2009. Notably, vegetation monitoring over the post-fire period (2009-2019) indicates there has been rapid vegetation growth in burnt areas, with the canopy height of regenerating eucalypts often approaching 15 metres (Bowd et al., 2021a).
We completed bird surveys in late November and early December in 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, and 2019.

本研究共设置85个面积为1公顷的永久性鸟类监测样地（permanent bird-monitoring sites）。各监测样地间距不低于750米，实际样地间间距多为5至10千米。本研究整合了2004年至2019年间完成的鸟类调查数据。通过火灾发生后四周内开展的地面植被调查，我们确定了各监测样地2009年火灾的过火烈度（fire severity）。我们将所有样地划分为三类：（1）2009年未发生火灾；（2）2009年中度过火：地表层与下层植被（understorey）的多数地上生物量（above-ground biomass）被灼烧或消耗，但上层林冠（overstorey）仍保持青绿；（3）2009年重度过火：地表、灌丛、下层植被及桉树（eucalypt tree）层的多数地上生物量均被灼烧或消耗。其中16个样地遭受重度过火，28个样地遭受中度过火，剩余41个样地在2009年未发生火灾。值得注意的是，火灾后2009至2019年的植被监测结果显示，过火区域植被恢复迅速，新生桉树的冠层高度常接近15米（Bowd等人，2021a）。
本研究分别于2004、2005、2007、2009、2010、2011、2012、2013、2014、2016、2017及2019年的11月末至12月初开展鸟类调查。