Habitat selection by a predator of rodent pests is resilient to wildfire in a vineyard agroecosystem

• Published in: Ecology and evolution Vol. 11; no. 24; pp. 18216 - 18228
• Main Authors: Huysman, Allison E., Johnson, Matthew D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.12.2021; John Wiley and Sons Inc; Wiley
• Subjects: Agricultural ecosystems; Agricultural practices; Aridity; Barn Owl; Boxes; Control methods; Ecosystem services; Foraging behavior; Forest & brush fires; Grasses; Grasslands; Habitat selection; Habitats; Home range; Hunting; Integrated pest management; Land cover; Land use; Nest boxes; Nesting; Owls; Pest control; Pests; resource utilization function; Rodent control; Rodents; Strigidae; Tyto alba furcata; Valleys; Vegetation; vineyard; Vineyards; wildfire; Wildfires; Wineries & vineyards; Wines; United States > US; Napa Valley; California; vineyard; wildfire; ecosystem services; resource utilization function; Barn Owl
• ISSN: 2045-7758; 2045-7758
• DOI: 10.1002/ece3.8416

Conservation of uncultivated habitats can increase the potential for ecosystem services in agroecosystems, but these lands are also susceptible to wildfires in the arid western United States. In Napa Valley, California, abundant rodent pests and an interest in integrated pest management have led wine producers to use nest boxes to attract Barn Owls (Tyto furcata) to winegrape vineyards. The viability of this practice as a method to control rodent pests depends heavily on the amount of hunting effort that Barn Owls expend in vineyards, which is known to be influenced by the amount of uncultivated land cover types surrounding the nest box. Wildfires burned nearly 60,000 ha of mainly urban and uncultivated lands surrounding Napa Valley in 2017, altering Barn Owl habitats. We compared GPS tracking data from 32 Barn Owls nesting in 24 individual nest boxes before and after the fires to analyze their hunting habitat selection. Owls with burned areas available to them after the fires had home ranges that shifted toward the fires, but selection was not strongly associated with burned areas. Though there was some spatial use of burned areas, selection of land cover types was similar for birds before and after the fires and in burned and unburned areas. The strongest selection was for areas closest to the nest box, and most recorded locations were in grassland, though selection indicated that owls used land cover types in proportion to their availability. Overall, habitat selection was resilient to changes caused by wildfires. These results are important for farmers who use nest boxes as a means of rodent control, which may be affected after dramatic disturbance events, especially as wildfires increase in the western United States. Uncultivated habitats in Napa Valley, California can help attract Barn Owls to nest boxes in agroecosystems, though these habitats are also at risk of wildfire. After several large wildfires in the region, GPS tracking of Barn Owls revealed that their habitat selection is resilient to fire, though they show some spatial preference for fire edges. This is important for farmers who use nest boxes as a means of rodent control as wildfires increase in the western United States.