Wildlife experts concerned about Bird Springs Fire impact on desert tortoise habitat
The Bird Springs Fire burning in the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area is a known habitat for the desert tortoise that has been listed as a threatened The Bird Springs Fire in the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area is causing concern among wildlife experts about its impact on the desert tortoise habitat. The fire started on Monday morning and is expected to be fully contained by noon on Wednesday. Matthew Flores, a wildlife biologist with the Nevada Department of Wildlife, said that any loss of a desert habitat is a big deal. He also expressed concern about the destruction of vegetation, which can protect desert tortoises from summer heat and potentially lead to them leaving the burned habitat. Flores also questioned the healing of the Mojave Desert after a fire, noting that invasive weeds tend to grow more quickly after the desert landscape. The desert Tortoise was listed as a threatened species in 1990 due to various threats including loss, degradation, and fragmentation of habitat due to development.
Pubblicato : un mese fa di https://www.facebook.com/news3lasvegas, Cristen Drummond in Science
The Bird Springs Fire burning in the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area is a known habitat for the desert tortoise that has been listed as a threatened species since 1990, according to the U.S. Fish and Wild Service.
The fire started on Monday around 11:30 a.m., about two miles south of the Late Night Trailhead and State Route 160 in the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. It was 70 percent contained as of Tuesday around 4 p.m. and expected to be fully contained by noon on Wednesday. Fire investigators determined the cause of the fire was target shooting, which is illegal in Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.
"That is definitely a tortoise habitat," Matthew Flores, a wildlife biologist with the Nevada Department of Wildlife, said. "A tortoise habitat usually is pretty much anywhere within the Mojave Desert scrub. Any loss of a desert tortoise habitat is a big deal."
It remains unknown how many desert tortoises may be impacted by the fire, but Flores said this is typically an active time of year for Nevada's state reptile. He said tortoises can potentially stay safe from a fire if they're inside a burrow.
"As long as the fire burns with a relatively low intensity, they should be okay, assuming their burrows are large enough," Flores said. "They spend 80 percent of their time in their burrows. They're very, very much at home in there. If they're trapped outside of their burrow and they can't get back the burrow, then yes, they can be burned out right by the fire, unfortunately."
A concern for Flores is how much vegetation the fire is destroying because shrubs can help protect desert tortoises from the summer heat.
"For them to be out and about, they need to be able to control their internal body temperatures, and the way they do that is by sort of hunkering in shade spots provided by shrubs," Flores said. "Shrubs that burned, that thermal cover is no longer there. So they have to sort of make do."
If the landscape is charred, it also takes away possible food sources and can cause the desert tortoises to leave the burned habitat.
"They will push the edge and move outside of it. However, those areas are probably occupied by other desert tortoises that kind of, you know, chase them off or compete for resources for the same reasons that these guys need," Flores said.
Flores also questions how the landscape will heal. He said invasive weeds typically grow more quickly after a fire in the desert landscape.
"The Mojave Desert can come back, but it generally comes back with much lower botanical biodiversity, and that's a much more degraded system that takes a very long time for it to heal itself," Flores said.
The desert tortoise was listed as a threatened species in 1990 and continues to be impacted by various threats, including loss, degradation, and fragmentation of habitat due to development. They are affected by an increase in wildfire due to non-native invasive vegetation, along with dying by getting hit by a vehicle on the road and predation of their eggs as well as hatchlings.
Temi: Wildlife