Thibault J.-C., Prodon R., Moneglia P. (2004). Estimating the impact of the fires of summer 2000 on the number of a threatened endemic bird : the Corsican Nuthatch (Sitta whiteheadi). Ecologia mediterranea vol. 30, n°2, pp. 195-203.
Abstract
The Corsican Nuthatch is a passerine endemic to Corsica island. Its habitat mostly consists in old stands of Corsican pine and locally of Maritime pine. Large fires affected several mountain forests during the summer of 2000. Our objective is to estimate the impact of these fires on Corsican nuthatches population. Among the forest stands occupied by this bird, 848 ha of Corsican pines and 275 ha of Maritime pines were either totally charred or simply browned. The ranges considered as charred amounted to 20.1 % for the Corsican pine and 14.6 % for the Maritime pine. Considering densities measurements obtained from several mapping censuses in unburned forests, we estimate at 25-38 the number of territories eliminated because the stands were completely burned, and at 47-80 the number of territories more or less affected by fire or salvage cutting, the total representing about 4 % of the Corsican nuthatch population. However, data on burnt surfaces did not take into account forest mosaic where nuthatches are able to survive. We then discuss the direct effects of fires on the nuthatches (disappearance from territories owing to the fires itself, or to postfire logging) and the secondary effects (delayed mortality of pines, difficulties for the birds to find new nesting sites and/or to obtain food from the cones during the following winter).
