FIRE EFFECTS AND USE
WILDLIFE SPECIES: Grus canadensis | Sandhill Crane 



DIRECT FIRE EFFECTS ON ANIMALS : 
Sandhill crane nests can be destroyed by fire [17].


HABITAT RELATED FIRE EFFECTS : 
The absence of fires in southern Florida wetlands has promoted the
succession to pine forests.  With the increase in brush and litter, food
and suitable nesting cover for the sandhill crane in wetlands has
disappeared [8].

A June and August prescribed fire in a big sagebrush (Artemesia
tridentat ssp. vaseyana) stand near Jackson, Wyoming, led to an increase
in sandhill crane numbers on the burned sites [10].  Sandhill crane
numbers were greatest during the second postfire year on the June burn
and greastest during the first postfire year on the August burn.

Similar results occurred following several postdrought fires in the
Okefenokee Swamp from July through June of the following year [3].
Fires swept over 80 percent of the swamp, severely burning 140,000 acres
of upland pine stands.  There was no change in the resident sandhill
crane population, but there was a significant increase in the winter
population on the burned areas.  The fire seemed to cause an increase in
paintroot (Gyrotheca tinctoria), a valuable crane food.

Fires in peat bogs can sterilize the soil if allowed to burn too hot.
Cooler fires can create open water in areas where marsh vegetation
becomes too thick.  Fires can also prevent encroaching wooody
vegetation, therefore maintaining sedge meadows [17].  Fires can
increase worm activity by increasing soil temperatures.  Worms are an
important food for juvenile sandhill cranes [13].


FIRE USE : 
Marsh vegetation should be burned periodically to stimulate the growth
of food plants by reducing litter and competition from undesirable
species.  Fire can convert upland forests adjacent to marshes to grass
and sedge meadows [17].


REFERENCES : 
NO-ENTRY

Related categories for Wildlife Species: Grus canadensis | Sandhill Crane