Vegetation characteristics and bighorn sheep use on burned and unburned areas in Alberta
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Published source details
Bentz J.A. & Woodard P.M. (1988) Vegetation characteristics and bighorn sheep use on burned and unburned areas in Alberta. Wildlife Society Bulletin, 16, 186-193.
Published source details Bentz J.A. & Woodard P.M. (1988) Vegetation characteristics and bighorn sheep use on burned and unburned areas in Alberta. Wildlife Society Bulletin, 16, 186-193.
Actions
This study is summarised as evidence for the following.
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Use prescribed burning Action Link |
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Use prescribed burning
A replicated, site-comparison study in 1980 of forest in Alberta, Canada (Bentz & Woodard 1988) found that previously burned areas were used more by Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep Ovis canadensis canadensis than were unburned areas. In all five comparisons, at different distances below the treeline, more sheep pellets were found in burned areas (14–424 pellet groups/ha) than in unburned areas (0–108 pellet groups/ha). Three fire-modified sites (burned in 1919–1970) and three unburned sites (average forest age of 81–256 years old) were studied. At each site, three transects ran downslope from the treeline, to the valley bottom. Relative use by sheep of each area was assessed by counting pellet-groups in randomly located plots along these transects in 1980.
(Summarised by: Nick Littlewood)
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