[SoWestLep] fires
Stanley A. Gorodenski
stan_gorodenski at asualumni.org
Mon Oct 27 16:30:18 EST 2003
You have a good point. At the 2001 Lep Soc meeting Craig Rudolph gave a
talk on the effect of controlled burns on S. diana in Virginia. They
found that controlled burns resulted in a greater abundance of the
butterfly. However, Virginia is not a desert habitat. At the same
meeting Dana Ross gave a talk on the effects of burn experiments in a
desert habitat. He found, to quote him:
"Average species richness and average species abundance were not
significantly between control and recovering burn plots while newly burn
plots (one year post burn) generally did show a decrease in both these
respects. Fire affected butterfly populatons differently and generally
paralleled the changes in larval host plant relative abundance. This
suggests the importance of taxon-specific life history knowledge when
the management and conservation of butterfly populations is of concern."
Thus, it appears, tentatively, that burns in desert habitats _at_ _best_
do not affect species richness and species abundance negatively, but at
the same time do not affect them positively. This is a general statement
which may not be true for a specific taxon as I understand the research
results.
Stan
Paul Cherubini wrote:
>My guess is southern Calif. leps suffer more from fire
>suppression. In college plant ecology classes, one of the
>first things the professors teach students is that virtually the
>whole state of California used to burn very roughly every
>7-12 years before the arrival of European man. These fires
>were mostly started by lightning and would burn for months.
>
>Paul Cherubini
>Placerville, CA
>
>------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
>Rent DVDs from home.
>Over 14,500 titles. Free Shipping
>& No Late Fees. Try Netflix for FREE!
>http://us.click.yahoo.com/ybSovB/hP.FAA/3jkFAA/CCYolB/TM
>---------------------------------------------------------------------~->
>
>
>
>Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>
>
>
>
>
------------------------------------------------------------
For subscription and related information about LEPS-L visit:
http://www.peabody.yale.edu/other/lepsl
More information about the Leps-l
mailing list