FIRE EFFECTS AND USE
WILDLIFE SPECIES: Tympanuchus phasianellus | Sharp-Tailed Grouse 



DIRECT FIRE EFFECTS ON ANIMALS : 
Fire occurring during the nesting season may kill sharp-tailed grouse
and destroy their nests and clutches [14].  However, four of five
sharp-tailed grouse nests on the Lostwood National Wildlife Refuge,
North Dakota, survived a fire and the eggs hatched [30].


HABITAT RELATED FIRE EFFECTS : 
Fire is an important factor in creating and maintaining sharp-tailed
grouse habitat.  Fire helps to maintain early successional stages of
grasses, sedges, forb, and shrubs, all of which provide cover and food
for sharp-tailed grouse [14].  Sharp-tailed grouse need open habitat
with good horizontal visibility for lek sites, so fires that reduce tall
cover would enhance lek availability and quality [42].
  
Much of the prairie habitat in which sharp-tailed grouse occur was
largely maintained by fire in presettlement times [14].  On native
northern mixed prairie grassland in South Dakota, sharp-tailed grouse
were absent in an unburned control area, which contained dense grass.
They were present on a less dense burned area within a few months
following the fire [22].

Following fire in boreal forests of Alaska, stands of aspen and birch
develop on well-drained sites and are occupied by Alaskan sharp-tailed
grouse [10].

Fire helps to eliminate dense mats of dead grasses, sedges, bushes,
sticks, and other debris which can act as a barrier to walking and
feeding.  When this accumulation of debris is removed by fire,
sharp-tailed grouse make better use of the habitat [14].

Frequent fires may help reduce the number of wood ticks and other
parasites of sharp-tailed grouse [14].

Although fire is generally beneficial to sharp-tailed grouse, severe
fire may eliminate valuable cover essential for nesting, roosting,
hiding, and feeding.  Severe fires in autumn may eliminate the entire
winter food and cover resource, making winter survival in that area
nearly impossible [14].

Fire helps to stimulate new food supplies for sharp-tailed grouse.  In
Wisconsin, plants such as smartweed (Polygonum spp.) and ragweed
(Ambrosia spp.) usually increase following fire.  Ragweed is one of the
best foods for sharp-tailed grouse.  Numerous sedges and many grasses
eaten by sharp-tailed grouse also grow luxuriantly in fire-created
openings.  Wild fruit supplies are greater and of better quality in
burned areas from 2 to 5 years after a fire because of the pruning
effect of fire [14].  Sharp-tailed grouse in central Wisconsin occupy
semiopen oak woodlands which have been opened up by fire.  Acorns are
easier to find in these woodlands.  Oakwoods with dense underbrush are
generally not used by sharp-tailed grouse.  Fires also prune older
growth of browse such as hazelnut (Corylus cornuta), chokecherry,
willow, and sweet-fern (Myrica asplenifolia) and stimulates the new
growth that is preferred by sharp-tailed grouse [14].


FIRE USE : 
Prescribed fire has been used to maintain and improve sharp-tailed
grouse habitat in several areas [9,17,28,41,42]. Repeated prescribed
fire in Michigan has helped to improve sharp-tailed grouse habitat and
increase populations.  Herbage produced following prescribed burning in
the pine types of Michigan provided food and cover for sharp-tailed
grouse that was not found on unburned areas [23].  In Alaska and the
Yukon Territory, prescribed burning has helped convert spruce (Picea
spp.) muskeg habitat into more productive sharp-tailed grouse habitat
[36].  Mature aspen can be converted to sharp-tailed grouse habitat
through repeated spring prescribed burning [4].  Burning should be
avoided during the nesting season [14].


REFERENCES : 
NO-ENTRY

Related categories for Wildlife Species: Tympanuchus phasianellus | Sharp-Tailed Grouse