Record Details

Survival Rates of Northern Spotted Owls in Post-fire Landscapes of Southwest Oregon

ScholarsArchive at Oregon State University

Field Value
Title Survival Rates of Northern Spotted Owls in Post-fire Landscapes of Southwest Oregon
Names Clark, Darren A. (creator)
Anthony, Robert G. (creator)
Andrews, Lawrence S. (creator)
Date Issued 2011-03 (iso8601)
Note This is the publisher’s final pdf. The published article is copyrighted by the Raptor Research Foundation, Inc. and can be found at: http://www.bioone.org/loi/rapt.
Abstract We estimated annual survival rates (S) of 23 radio-marked Northern Spotted Owls (Strix occidentalis
caurina) at the Quartz and Timbered Rock burns and adjacent areas in southwest Oregon. We used
known-fate models in program MARK to test for differences in survival among three groups (owls dwelling
inside of burned areas, owls displaced by wildfire, and owls dwelling outside of burned areas) and to
investigate the potential effects of fire severity and cover type on survival. We found that annual survival
rates of Spotted Owls that maintained a territory within the burn perimeter (Ŝ = 0.69 ± 0.12) or that had
been displaced by the burn (Ŝ = 0.66 ± 0.14) were lower than those owls that had territories outside but
adjacent to the burn perimeter (Ŝ = 0.85 ± 0.06). This result indicated that wildfire had a negative impact
on Spotted Owl survival, at least in the short-term (i.e., 3-5 yr post-burn). We were unable to identify a
significant effect of fire severity or quantity of habitat on Spotted Owl survival, but this inability was likely
related to our small sample size and high variability in habitat composition. We recommend long-term
monitoring of survival on larger samples of owls to identify the effects of fire severity and habitat on Spotted
Owl survival and to determine if wildfire poses a significant threat to the long-term persistence of Spotted
Owls.
Genre Article
Topic Northern Spotted Owl
Identifier Clark, D. A., Anthony, R. G., & Andrews, L. S. (2011). Survival rates of northern spotted owls in post-fire landscapes of southwest Oregon. Journal of Raptor Research, 45(1), 38-47. doi:10.3356/JRR-10-42.1

© Western Waters Digital Library - GWLA member projects - Designed by the J. Willard Marriott Library - Hosted by Oregon State University Libraries and Press