fish and wildlife habitat

In this study, researchers developed models of freshwater habitat for spring Chinook Salmon in pre- and post-fire scenarios in the Wenatchee River sub-basin of central Washington, where a large number of wildfires have occurred in the past 30 years. They predicted changes in in-stream wood, sediment, and water temperature as a result of wildfires and modeled their influence on habitat quality for three life stages (egg/fry, juvenile, and adult) of spring Chinook Salmon. They also compared their model results with the current and historic distribution of spring Chinook Salmon to better understand if decreasing populations are distributed in ways that correlate with fire impacts on habitats.

In this study, researchers gathered vegetation and songbird abundance data in the Little Applegate Valley of Jackson County, Oregon. After one year of data collection, a portion of the study area experienced a 6,177-acre mixed-severity wildfire (23% low, 36% moderate, 42% high severity). To better understand how the wildfire affected songbird abundance, they continued to collect data in the burned area as well as an unburned control area for four years after the wildfire.