Effects of Fire and Disturbance on Plants and Birds in a Florida Oak/ Palmetto Scrub Community

Abstract

-The vegetation and avian communities of a site consisting of oak/palmetto scrub and disturbed oak scrub were characterized. Nearly half of the oak/palmetto scrub was intentionally burned midway through the study. The prescribed fire altered avian community composition for at least 6 months in areas where nearly all the vegetation burned. Twenty years after clearing of an area of oak/palmetto scrub, the regenerated oak-scrub habitat differed from adjacent oak/palmetto scrub in having more bare ground (15.5 vs. 0.8%), a taller shrub layer (272 vs. 161 cm) composed primarily of oak species without saw palmetto and more herbaceous species (11 vs. 3). Compared with oak/palmetto scrub, disturbed oak scrub had more breeding bird species that were abundant enough to allow density estimation (8 vs. 4) and supported a higher density of the Florida scrub jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens coerulescens), a threatened subspecies. These data suggest that disturbed areas can represent important wildlife habitat in scrub-dominated landscapes, but because effects of mechanical disturbance last for very long periods, the use of mechanical disturbance as a habitat management tool should be applied cautiously.