South Texas Wildlife, Volume 15, Number 3, Fall 2011 Page: 2
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Wildlife populations are likely
affected more by indirect effects
of wildfire attributable to changes
in their habitat. In South Texas
rangelands, this consists mainly of
structural changes to the vegetation.
Perennial grasses are evolved to
regrow after defoliation from graz-
ing or fire, and most shrubs found
in South Texas are sprouting spe-
cies. They will all come back after
fire. However, the structure of the
vegetation will be changed for a few
years. Plants will be shorter. There
will be less litter on the ground and
more bare ground than before theThe plant community may
also be more diverse after wildfire
because many forbs in the seed bank
will germinate; the newly opened
space on the ground gives them an
opportunity to grow. This increased
plant diversity results in morediverse seed
Sandra Rideout-Hanzak
Training sessions are essential to learn how to control wild
fires as well as how to keep prescribed burns under control.fire. Sprouting shrubs may return
with many more small stems replac-
ing each larger stem that was present
before the fire. The former habitat is
not gone forever, rather it is changed
for a short time.
As vegetation regrows, it pro-
vides different benefits to wildlife in
its new state. The old, dead thatch
has been removed from grasses, and
the resulting new vegetative growth
is more palatable and more nutritious
for both grazers and browsers than it
was before the fire.
Depending on the amount of pre-
cipitation, grasses may return to their
pre-fire production levels within a
year. However, when wildfires occur
during a drought such as this year it
may take as many as three or more
years for grassland production to
return to pre-burn levels.Lark, prefer
resources for foraging
wildlife as well as a
more diverse insect
community.
Grassland bird
species are good
examples of wildlife
with varying habitat
needs. Their habi-
tat is also possibly
the most endangered
bird habitat in North
America. Each bird
species has a specific
suite of habitat needs,
and certain species,
such as the Mountain
Plover and Horned
bare areas left by fireto thicker areas that have not burned
in several years. Burned areas will
provide a place for them to nest and
forage for only a few years while
there is open space on the ground.
On the human side, wildfires
can be devastating, but wildfire is as
native to South Texas as the wildlife
found here. Our native wildlife spe-
cies evolved with periodic fire, even
periods of frequent, large fires. Most
species will survive, adapt, and flour-
ish in the changed landscape.
Wildfires are certainly dramatic
events, but they are not as devastat-
ing to wildlife populations as other
more covert threats, such as loss of
habitat to exotic species or urban
sprawl. Perhaps it is time we went
to extremes regarding them. ~CKWRI NEWS
Two New Researchers Added to
CKWRI Faculty
We are pleased to highlight
two researchers who were hired
within the past year here at the
CKWRI. Dr. Sandra Rideout-
Hanzak (whose article is featured
in this issue) is a Research Scientist
at the CKWRI and Assistant Profes-
sor in the Department of Animal,
Rangeland, and Wildlife Sciences
at TAMUK.
After completing her Ph.D. in
Forestry from Stephen F. Austin State
University in 2001, Sandra began a
post-doc position as a research for-
ester with the USDA Forest Service
at their Southern Research Station in
Athens, GA and later Clemson, SC.
She then went to
Texas Tech Uni-
versity in 2005
where she taught
Fire Ecology,
Prescribed Fire,
and Introductory
Wildlife.
Sandra is a
Dr. Sandra Rideout- founding member
Hanzak is one of of the Association
CKWRI's new
Research Scientists for Fire Ecology
that is specializing and former advi-
in fire ecology. sor of the Texas
Tech SAFE chap-
ter (Student Association for Fire
Ecology). She is a former Vice
President of the Association for Fire
Ecology and former member of the
Texas Prescribed Burn Board.
Currently, Sandra is studying the
effects of growing season burning
on the invasive grass tanglehead,
as well as restoration strategies for
endangered slender-rushpea habitat.2
By The Numbers
9 age in years of the oldest banded Mourning Dove recovered
in Texas (Texas Outdoors Journal, September 2011)
90 percent of all vehicle/animal collisions that include deer
(Texas Wildlife, November 2010)
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Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute. South Texas Wildlife, Volume 15, Number 3, Fall 2011, periodical, Autumn 2011; Kingsville, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth578881/m1/2/: accessed June 12, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.