Wildfires and avian communities

Wildfires and windstorms are dynamic processes that can heavily impact habitats and alter their species compositions. Especially species of open and semi-open habitats can benefit from such disturbances, among them several bird species. In this project, we investigated the short- and mid-term changes of the breeding bird community in the burnt forest of Leuk and Visp. Looking at species-specific reactions helps understanding the on-going underlying ecological processes and highlights the importance of forest fires for avian biodiversity

Uni Bern supervisors

Alain Jacot, Raphaël Arlettaz

External collaboration

Swiss Ornithological Institute, Valais Field Station

Publications

Rey, L., M. Kéry, A. Sierro, B. Posse, R. Arlettaz & A. Jacot. 2019. Effects of forest wildfire on inner-Alpine bird community dynamics. PLoS ONE 14: e0214644. (PDF, 1.1 MB)

Rey, L. & A. Jacot. 2018. Die Entwicklung der Brutvögel in der Waldbrandfläche bei Leuk. Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Forstwesen 169: 299-307. PDF

Related Master thesis

Rey, L. 2015. The effects of forest wildfire on bird communities in an inner-alpine valley: fire as a future management tool for rare avifauna? Master Thesis, University of Bern. PDF