Post-fire succession of avifauna in the Olympic Mountains, Washington.

The lower montane zone in the Olympic Mountains (Olympic National Park) was selected to study fire effects in west-slope_western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) forests. Birds were examined along a postfire chronosequence: years 1 to 3, 19, 110, 181, and 515. The objectives of this research were to document the successional patterns of a moist temperate coniferous forest following large lightning fires and to determine the broad ecological effects of fire in these forests. Avifauna that commonly breed in disturbance or mature-type forests were present in postfire years 1 to 3. In year 1, the breeding density and diversity were similar to the nearby old-growth (preburn) forest. Breeding density and diversity decreased in years 2 and 3. The 19-year-old site maintained the highest number of species and second highest density throughout the study areas. Diversity and density were lower at the closed canopy forest, except in the old-growth forest (year 515), where the highest avian density was recorded.