Effect of Wildfire on the Occurrence of Three Squirrel Species in a Dry Dipterocarp Forest in Northeastern Thailand

Abstract

Abstract. Wildfires occur almost every year at the end of the dry season in some dry dipterocarp forests (or dry deciduous forests) of northeastern Thailand. This study assessed the effects of a wildfire on the occurrence of variable squirrels (Callosciurus finlaysonii), gray-bellied squirrels (C. caniceps), and Indochinese ground squirrels (Menetes berdmorei). Route census surveys before and after the wildfire revealed that the frequency of occurrence of the two tree squirrels (Callosciurus spp.) did not change, whereas that of the Indochinese ground squirrel decreased. The wildfire burned bushes and grasses but did not destroy the trees, leaving the food and resting sites for the tree squirrel species intact. Therefore, wildfires in this area may have no clear effects on tree squirrel species, but negative ones on ground squirrels. The probable reasons for these findings may be the nature and extent of the wildfire, as well as the space utilization of the squirrel species.