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Project ID:

24-1-01-2

Year:

2024

Date Started:

09/01/2024

Date Completed:

Title:

Evaluating How Wildfire Severity Shapes Genetic Diversity for Species Inhabiting Fire Refugia

Project Proposal Abstract:

1. Problem Statement
Wildfires are rapidly increasing in size, frequency, and severity largely due to contemporary climate change and accumulating fuels. In an era of enhanced wildfire risk, managers require more information on how higher severity fires will influence species in their regions. In particular, it remains relatively unknown how wildfires shape genetic diversity, especially for species that survive fires in refugia. In this project, we will evaluate the direct and indirect effects of fire severity on amphibians and their genetic diversity across the Northern Rockies ecoregion.

2. Objectives
Objective 1. Determine if genetic diversity of the MHC class II locus in long-toed salamanders and Columbia spotted frogs decreases in ponds that recently experienced wildfires. By surveying 25 paired sites (i.e., 25 burned, 25 control), we predict allelic diversity will decrease post-fire due to demographic declines and isolation. Objective 2. Evaluate how fire-specific characteristics influence genetic responses. Here we predict that diversity will be negatively correlated with fire severity but positively correlated with time-since-burn. Further, we predict that greater pond depth and greater surface area will decrease the impacts of fire. Objective 3. Assess how differing life history traits might cause divergent responses to wildfire between species. We predict that Columbia spotted frogs can recover genetic diversity quicker than long-toed salamanders given their greater dispersal ability to (re)colonize post-fire, larger egg clutches, and greater affinity to living near water (possibly increasing adult survival during fire events).

3. Benefits
Disturbances like wildfire play a pivotal role in shaping biodiversity and landscape structuring, but we still know little about how these events alter genetic diversity at the population scale. Studies have found that species responses to fire vary significantly across taxonomic groups, with some benefitting and others suffering substantial demographic declines Fire can influence populations directly via mortality and indirectly by altering landscape connectivity and resource availability. Our research will now inform managers on where to allocate resources before, during, and after future fires to protect genetic diversity. To do so, we will disseminate results broadly and continue discussions with fire, land, and wildlife managers about solutions for preserving genetic diversity and enhancing refugia capacity moving forward. Upon completing this work, we will publish two peer-reviewed papers and one dissertation chapter, communicate findings at the ESA and IFEMC conferences (2025), host two webinars with the Northern Rockies and Northwest Fire Exchange Networks, and create a decision support framework with managers to provide guidance on when and where fire refugia may be of management priority.

Principal Investigator:

Mark C Urban

Agency/Organization:

University of Connecticut

Branch or Dept:

Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Other Project Collaborators

Type	Name	Agency/Organization	Branch or Dept
Agreements Contact	Tanja M deMauro	University of Connecticut	Sponsored Programs Services
Budget Contact	Tanja M deMauro	University of Connecticut	Sponsored Programs Services
Student Investigator	Peter D Billman	University of Connecticut	Ecology and Evolutionary Biology