Characteristics of small rodent populations in post-fire silvicultural management stands within pine forest

Abstract

We examined changes in habitat and densities of three small rodent species, Korean field mice Apodemus peninsulae, Korean large-toothed red-backed voles Eothenornys regulus, and black-striped field mice A. agrarius, in forest burned 4 years earlier with damaged trees removed and with pine Pinus densiflora left unharvested, and in unburned forest. Forest structure was dramatically changed by post-fire silvicultural practices. Coverage of vegetation, number of stand trees, volume of downed coarse woody debris, and number of downed trees were significantly different among study areas. We captured 584 individual small rodents during 90 trap-nights. Mean number of small rodents captured in the unburned forests was significantly higher than burned forests with or without trees removed. Stand-structure was simplified in burned with damaged trees removed stand by post-fire practices. Also, there were more rodents in burned stands which were not harvested than in those in which damaged trees were removed. Because of differences in stand-structure and forest-floor small rodents, post-fire practices in burned stands should be reevaluated. Longterm experiments are needed to elucidate the potential effects of pine forest management strategies after forest fires. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.