FIRE EFFECTS AND USE
WILDLIFE SPECIES: Urocyon cinereoargenteus | Gray Fox 



DIRECT FIRE EFFECTS ON ANIMALS : 
Death of gray foxes due to fire has not been documented in the
literature.   They are highly mobile animals and are probably only
rarely caught by fast-moving or intense wildfire.


HABITAT RELATED FIRE EFFECTS : 
Gray foxes use brush and brushy woods in most areas.  Fire that reduces
brush cover will decrease gray fox habitat.  Fire usually increases the
productivity of early successional prey species and improves predator
efficiency by reducing hiding cover for prey [21].  In the Southeast
fire produces immediate short-term habitat reduction for prey animals;
prey is concentrated in unburned habitat islands [19].  The most
important gray fox prey in the Southeast are cottontails and cotton
rats.  Cottontails and cotton rats are not usually killed by fire but
prefer habitats with more cover than is found in immediate postfire
environments.  Both species return to postfire habitats when there is
sufficient vegetation for food and cover.  Fire often reduces fruit
production in the short term, but edges of older burns are usually good
regeneration sites for fruiting shrub species such as blackberries and
blueberries (Vaccinium spp.); gallberry (Ilex glabra) produces the most
fruit a few years after fire pruning [21].


FIRE USE : 
Hon [19] and Landers [21] suggest that in the Southeast, burning fields
and slash pine forests on 3-year rotations would create desirable
furbearer habitat; areas supporting fire-sensitive fruit-bearing plants
should be protected from fire.


REFERENCES : 
NO-ENTRY

Related categories for Wildlife Species: Urocyon cinereoargenteus | Gray Fox