OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY

Kimberly House

Kimberly House. MSc | 2014. Bird and beetle assemblages in mountain pine beetle killed forests and those subsequently burned: evidence for an effect of compound natural disturbances in British Columbia.

 


 

 

 

Wildfires and insect outbreaks can cause considerable ecological disturbance, yet they are an important part of healthy, functioning ecosystems. During the past 15 years, a record-breaking mountain pine beetle (MPB) outbreak has swept across British Columbia killing millions of trees and leaving unanswered questions about its impact to ecological systems. During her Masters, Kim examined songbird and beetle communities in MPB-killed forests, and explored the possible compound effect that can arise when these disturbed areas are burned over by wildfires. From her field-based research she found that songbird diversity was higher in burned areas, when compared against unburned MPB-only affected areas. Kim also found that bird species abundance patterns were related to how severe the MPB outbreak and fires were in different forest patches. Kim’s work suggests that when underlying MPB-kill severity is high, novel changes to resources following wildfire may be impacting bird communities.