Presentation Type
Poster
Presentation Type
Poster
Department
Biology
Abstract
Wildfires in Southern California are increasing in frequency and intensity, causing devastating effects on flora and fauna. Previous studies have shown that wildfires increased the most over chaparral ecosystems. An important element of the Santa Monica mountain (SMM) chaparral is the riparian zone surrounding streams. We examined the impact of wildfires on amphibians and aquatic insects in riparian ecosystem streams in the SMM by determining the biodiversity of different species before and after the 2018 Woolsey Fire. We hypothesized that the streams in burned areas would contain higher biodiversity overall because succession and lack of competition often occur with natural disturbances such as wildfire. Six streams in the coastal SMMs were surveyed monthly from February to June 2022. Three streams in burn zones served as the experimental group and three streams in unburned zones served as the control group. Within each stream we categorized sections according to water flow, measured with a flowmeter as: riffle, run, or pool based on fastest to slowest flow rate. We recorded species occurrence and abundance at each section of each stream and measured stream section metrics using a meterstick and a DistoTM E7500i Rangefinder. We found that biodiversity overall in the burned sites was not significantly different from that in the unburned sites. However, there were several species of amphibians and aquatic insects whose abundances were affected, including the near-threatened California Newt. These findings suggest that the population dynamics of several riparian animal species may change in response to wildfire in chaparral ecosystems.
Faculty Mentor
Lee Kats
Location
Waves Cafeteria
Start Date
24-3-2023 2:00 PM
End Date
24-3-2023 4:00 PM
Previous Versions
Effects of Wildfire on Amphibian and Aquatic Insect Biodiversity in Riparian Ecosystems in the Santa Monica Mountains
Waves Cafeteria
Wildfires in Southern California are increasing in frequency and intensity, causing devastating effects on flora and fauna. Previous studies have shown that wildfires increased the most over chaparral ecosystems. An important element of the Santa Monica mountain (SMM) chaparral is the riparian zone surrounding streams. We examined the impact of wildfires on amphibians and aquatic insects in riparian ecosystem streams in the SMM by determining the biodiversity of different species before and after the 2018 Woolsey Fire. We hypothesized that the streams in burned areas would contain higher biodiversity overall because succession and lack of competition often occur with natural disturbances such as wildfire. Six streams in the coastal SMMs were surveyed monthly from February to June 2022. Three streams in burn zones served as the experimental group and three streams in unburned zones served as the control group. Within each stream we categorized sections according to water flow, measured with a flowmeter as: riffle, run, or pool based on fastest to slowest flow rate. We recorded species occurrence and abundance at each section of each stream and measured stream section metrics using a meterstick and a DistoTM E7500i Rangefinder. We found that biodiversity overall in the burned sites was not significantly different from that in the unburned sites. However, there were several species of amphibians and aquatic insects whose abundances were affected, including the near-threatened California Newt. These findings suggest that the population dynamics of several riparian animal species may change in response to wildfire in chaparral ecosystems.