WILDFIRE RESILIENCE: A CASE STUDY OF THE MOSQUITO FIRE AND THE CALIFORNIA RED-LEGGED FROG

Maresa Scofield; Westervelt Ecological Services; mscofield@westervelt.com; Jeff A. Alvarez, Jeffrey T. Wilcox, Francesca Cannizzo, Marina L. Olson, Matt Coyle, Kimberly Comer

In California, fire is a natural disturbance factor to which native species have evolved. However, changes in fire management strategies, historical land uses, and confounding effects from climate change have significantly altered the intensity and frequency of large-scale fires in recent decades. The response of wildlife to high severity fire events is still being studied and species in decline may be more vulnerable to such events due to their isolation and low numbers. In 2021, the Mosquito Fire burned through Westervelt Ecological Services’ (WES) Big Gun Conservation Bank in Michigan Bluff, California which contains the largest known population of federally threatened California red-legged frogs (Rana draytonii) (CRLF) in the Northern Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. This talk will look at the management activities taken prior to the fire, the steps WES took to coordinate with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and fire agencies prior to, during, and after the fire, and finally the results of post-fire CRLF surveys and what that could mean for the species as we look towards a future with climate change.

Ecology and Conservation of Amphibians and Reptiles - II