FIRE EFFECTS AND USE
WILDLIFE SPECIES: Dipodomys ordii | Ord's Kangaroo Rat 



DIRECT FIRE EFFECTS ON ANIMALS : 
Ord's kangaroo rats inhabit open, arid, and semiarid habitats in which
wildfires are infrequent due to lack of vegetation to carry fire.  There
are no reports of direct Ord's kangaroo rat mortality from fire.
Burrowing animals such as Ord's kangaroo rat are likely to survive fire
by remaining in their burrows [3].  In California chaparral Heermann's
kangaroo rats (Dipodomys heermannii) survived prescribed fire by
remaining in their burrows.  The hottest measured temperature in
Heermann's kangaroo rat burrows was 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40.1 deg C),
9.4 inches (24 cm) below the surface, an increase of 23 degrees
Fahrenheit (13 deg C).  Most other depths tested registered less than an
18-degree Fahrenheit (10 deg C) rise in temperature [28].


HABITAT RELATED FIRE EFFECTS : 
Fire in desert and semidesert communities reduces shrub cover and
creates more open areas that are favored by Ord's kangaroo rats.  In
Nevada sagebrush-grassland, an area burned by wildfire was dominated by
Indian ricegrass (Oryzopsis hymenoides).  Ord's kangaroo rats were more
abundant in the Indian ricegrass-dominated burned areas than in adjacent
unburned sagebrush.  Kangaroo rats (mostly Merriam's and Ord's kangaroo
rats) apparently played a role in encouraging the postfire dominance of
Indian ricegrass through the caching and subsequent germination of
Indian ricegrass seed.  They also consume large seeds such as those of
Artemisia species more often than small seeds such as those of annual
forbs, thus reducing shrub seed available for colonization of burned
areas [20,21].  

In singleleaf pinyon (Pinus monophylla)-Utah juniper (Juniperus
osteosperma) with a sparse understory of big sagebrush and desert
bitterbrush (Purshia glandulosa), prescribed fires were conducted in the
winter and fall.  Fire converted pinyon-juniper communities to
single-layered, forb-dominated communities.  Ord's kangaroo rats were
caught on both burned an unburned areas, but were not common on either
treatment.  The first season after the fire a few more Ord's kangaroo
rats were caught on the unburned areas than on the burned areas.
However, Ord's kangaroo rats were caught only on burned areas the second
postfire season.  Ord's kangaroo rats appeared to be attracted by seeds
of annual forbs on burned areas; Ord's kangaroo rat numbers increased
with increased abundance of annual forbs [24].  

In western Nevada cheatgrass invasion of sparse desert shrub communities
has increased the incidence of wildfire.  Postfire succession is not
well known due to the recent change in fire frequency.  An area burned
in 1985 supported four species of Dipodomys including Ord's kangaroo rat
through 1990.  Since some desert species do not survive fire well,
seeding of native species in the immediate postfire period is
recommended to regenerate desert shrubs and prevent cheatgrass
dominance.  Indian ricegrass is a good choice for seeding but it is
expensive [43].


FIRE USE : 
NO-ENTRY


REFERENCES : 
NO-ENTRY

Related categories for Wildlife Species: Dipodomys ordii | Ord's Kangaroo Rat