Foraging Behavior Response of Small Mammals to Different Burn Severities

Abstract

Wildfires cause profound challenges for animals to overcome due to their reliance on vegetation. This study addresses the impact of three levels of forest burn severity (unburned, low, and high burn severity) on the foraging behavior of small mammals in the Pinaleño Mountains (AZ, USA) using the giving up density (GUD) experiment approach. Overall, burn severity affected the foraging behavior of small mammals that spent less time foraging in high burn severity patches. Vegetation characteristics influenced GUD differently based on the level of burn severity. Higher canopy cover was perceived as areas with a higher predation risk (higher GUD) in unburned and low burn severity patches, while cover provided by logs and shrubs decreased the GUD (increased foraging). This suggests a complicated interaction between horizontal (logs, grass, shrub cover) and vertical vegetation cover in relation to burn severity. Fires affected the foraging behavior of the small mammals but did not impact all species in the same way. Generalists, such as Peromyscus sp. and Tamias dorsalis, seemed to forage across all burn severities, while specialist species, such as tree squirrels, tended to avoid the high burn severity patches. Clarifying the complex impacts of fires on small mammals’ foraging behaviors contributes to our understanding of the intricate interactions, at micro-habitat levels, between vegetation structure and the behavioral responses of animals and it can help managers to plan actions to reduce the negative impacts of wildfires.