FIRE EFFECTS AND USE
WILDLIFE SPECIES: Aix sponsa | Wood Duck 



DIRECT FIRE EFFECTS ON ANIMALS : 
NO-ENTRY


HABITAT RELATED FIRE EFFECTS : 
Specific information regarding the effects of fire on wood duck habitat
has not been found.  The author concludes that because wood ducks need
forested wetlands for cover and food, fires that substantially remove
overstory, especially that providing nesting cavities and mast, could
harm wood duck populations.

Hydric hammock communities in the South, which support wintering wood
ducks, are not as fire-dependent or adapted as neighboring pine flatwood
communities [15].  Some tree species in these hydric hammock communities
can be damaged by fire, thus becoming susceptible to fungal attack and
decay.

Red oak swamps are important for wintering wood ducks.  Red oak is more
susceptible to fire than many other oak species (see FEIS DATABASE:
Quercus rubra).  Severe fire may kill seedlings and sawtimber-sized red
oak; however, larger red oak sprout from the root crown and/or trunk
following such fire.


FIRE USE : 
Fire is NOT recommended to rejuvenate elm-ash-cottonwood stands in
bottomlands of the north-central United States.  These genera, and
others in this type, are susceptible to fire damage.  Fires could lead
to loss of the bottomland hardwood stand, which is important wood duck
habitat [12].


REFERENCES : 
NO-ENTRY

Related categories for Wildlife Species: Aix sponsa | Wood Duck