Divergent responses of native predators to severe wildfire and biological invasion are mediated by life history

This dataset supports an analysis of the relative and combined effects of severe wildfires and an early-stage barred owl (Strix varia) invasion on three native forest owl species in the Sierra Nevada, California, USA. Data were collected between 2018 and 2023 using a regional passive acoustic monitoring program, complemented by manipulative (lethal barred owl removals) and natural (severe wildfire) experiments. The dataset includes species-specific detection histories for flammulated owls (Psiloscops flammeolus), great horned owls (Bubo virginianus), and northern pygmy owls (Glaucidium californicum), as well as site-level covariates describing fire severity, barred owl removal treatment, topographic conditions, and survey effort. Derived variables include wildfire severity classifications and pre- and post-removal monitoring periods. The data can be reused to run Bayesian single-species \"stacked\" single-season occupancy models. All sensitive location information of forest owls has been ..., Study system
Our study area encompassed > 6,000 km2 in the northern Sierra Nevada, California, comprised primarily of publicly-managed lands (Lassen and Plumas National Forests) and some private lands. The area included a topographically complex mountain range that varied in elevation and vegetation type (though predominantly mixed conifer forest). Three significant environmental changes occurred in this region from 2018 to 2022: 1) the North Complex Fire ( 1,220 km2 burned in late summer 2020, 599 km2 [49%] at high-severity); 2) the Dixie Fire (3,740 km2 burned in late summer 2021, 2,090 km2 [56%] at high-severity); and 3) a barred owl lethal removal experiment (removals conducted across the entire study area primarily in summer 2019 described below) (Hofstadter et al. 2022). The extent and severity of each fire were both a departure from historical fire regimes and emblematic of emerging trends in the Sierra Nevada (Cova et al. 2023). 
The lethal removal experiment was initiat..., # Data from: Divergent responses of native predators to severe wildfire and biological invasion are mediated by life history

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.c866t1gkt](10.5061/dryad.c866t1gkt)

## Description of the data and file structure

This dataset contains detection histories and associated covariates for single-species \"stacked\" single-season occupancy models of forest owls in the northern Sierra Nevada, California. Data were collected during passive acoustic monitoring surveys conducted in 2018, 2021, 2022, and 2023 at multiple fixed survey sites. The surveys targeted three focal owl species: great horned owl (*Bubo virginianus*, GHO), flammulated owl (*Psiloscops flammeolus*, FLM), and northern pygmy owl (*Glaucidium gnoma*, NPO).

Each dataset (data_stacked) combines weekly detection/non-detection records from autonomous recording units (ARUs) with site-level and survey-level covariates describing topography, barred owl presence/removal treatments, wildfire history, and survey ef...,