2025/01/01 by Rost, Samantha, Meghna Tirumalai, Emme Tran +1
Environmental Science · #Fire effects on ecosystems #Wildlife Ecology and Conservation #Wildlife-Road Interactions and Conservation #ecosystem engineer #fire #population recovery #riparian ecosystem #woodrat
paper · doi:10.21973/n3495j
openalex publication_date 2025/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/12/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/15
A key ecosystem engineer in riparian oak woodland ecosystems is the big-eared woodrat (Neotoma macrotis). They physically modify resource availability and nutrient flow in their environments through the construction of their nests, also known as middens, which are carefully constructed conical structures made of twigs, logs, branches, and accumulated debris. The woody nature of these middens makes the big-eared woodrat vulnerable to wildfires, which have only grown more intense and frequent with fire suppression and global warming. We surveyed big-eared woodrat middens in Hastings Natural History Reservation, Monterey County, California, along a creek bed, which experienced a low-intensity burn by the 2024 Piney fire. We noted the number of woodrat middens in each bed, their composition, size, and tested for occupancy. We found greater midden density per unit area in the unburned site vs. the burned but a greater midden occupancy in the burned site vs. the unburned. The individual volume of the middens did not differ between the sites. Our results suggest that the big-eared woodrat population is in the process of recovering successfully from a low-intensity wildfire, with changes in resource allocation and nesting behavior, which may reflect the ecosystem’s overall resilience in the face of a disturbance.