The Wilson Journal of Ornithology 124( l):24-30, 2012 
GRASSLAND BIRD COMMUNTIY RESPONSE TO LARGE WILDFIRES 
ANTHONY J. ROBERTS, 1 * 67 CLINT W. BOAL, 2 DAVID B. WESTER, 34 
SANDRA RIDEOUT-HANZAK. 3 AND HEATHER A. WHITLAW 5 
ABSTRACT.-We studied breeding season communities of grassland birds on short-grass and mixed-grass prairie sites 
during the second and third breeding seasons following two large wildfires in March 2006 in the Texas panhandle. USA 
Associated' wlihTfr? 77^' aV,a " CommuQi,y imposition following the tires due to species-specific shifts 
s3 B mss t n Z , T\ VC f m,0n Preferences - SPCC>( * ,hat P rcfer sparse vegetation and bare ground on 
Meadowlik “ ,° h remophila alpestris ), benefited from wildfires, while others, such as Western 
srecies'sDecific^shif/^*' ”*** deMC Vegeta,ion ’ were ^lively impacted. Mixed-grass sites had 
srimlar’bv "oost h , ’ 7° 7,'"* T*™* ^ f,res; grassland bird communities on burned plots were 
M'^ng wddfires. Many 
sbr-” - 
Fire is a driving ecological process of healthy 
giassland ecosystems. Following a history of fire 
suppression, the application of prescribed fire 
has become a contemporary method to manage 
grasslands. However, it is unclear how well 
prescribed fires can replicate the ecological values 
°f natural fi res. For example, studies of grassland 
bird response to lire have focused on effects of 
prescribed fire (e.g., Huber and Steuter 1984 
Madden et al. 1999. Kirkpatrick et al. 2002. Grant 
et al. 2010); no published studies have examined 
the impact of wildfires on avian communities in 
Great Plains grasslands. Prescribed fires are 
generally conducted in low wind and high 
humidity conditions that promote controlled 
burning. Wildfires may be more intense than 
presented fires and cover larger spatial scales. 
Litter is decreased, woody plants are often killed 
or burned completely, and live plants are killed at 
high rates (Rideout-Hanzak et al. 2011) This 
removes structure from the landscape, affecting 
'Department of Natural Resources Management. To 
lech University. Luhbock, TX 79409. USA 
o C0l0gical Survc >'- Texas Cooperative Fish : 
S Unit - Te,as T “ h 
’ Department of Animal. Rangeland, and Wildl 
A*M n 3 " KlebCrg Wi,d,ifc Research Institute. Tex 
■V S Fkh rMt a i- , ?t SV,,1C ' Ki,, 8 sviUc » 78363. US/ 
Old Dcpartmenl - 52 - 
Corresponding author; 
e-mail: tony.roberts@aggicmail.usu.edu 
24 
(he poorly understood avian community in 
unknown ways (Smith 2000). There is potential 
lor increased frequency and size of wildfires in 
the coming decades due to warmer temperatures 
and less precipitation, as predicted by current 
climate change models (North American Bird 
Initiative 2010). Numerous bird species of 
concern occur in the short-grass prairies of the 
southern Great Plains, an assemblage of some of 
the least ecologically understood of all grassland 
birds (Askins et al. 2007). The effects of wildfires 
on these and other species are unknown. 
Two large wildfires ignited east of Amarillo in 
the Texas panhandle. USA on 12 March 2006. 
Together the fires burned 360.000 ha of predom¬ 
inantly private lands in what is known as the East 
Amarillo Complex (EAC) wildfires (Zane et al. 
2006). Widespread vegetation loss on the mixed- 
grass and short-grass ecosystems had potentially 
large negative impacts on numerous species of 
grassland obligate songbirds that breed in the 
Southern High Plains. The EAC presented a rare 
opportunity to examine the effects of large-scale 
wildfires on grassland bird populations. The 
objectives of our study were to: (1) examine the 
changes in avian species densities after a wildfire, 
and (2) how avian community composition 
adjusts in the years following the wildfires. 
METHODS 
This study was conducted on private ranches 
in Roberts. Gray, and Donley counties in the 
Texas panhandle. This area is in the Rolling 
Plains ecoregion of Texas, a transition zone 
between short-grass and mixed-grass prairie 
types in the Southern High Plains. The landscape 
