Animals are a product of their habitat, which is often the product of a fire. Historically, natural fires have always influenced wildlife habitats. Fire is not always beneficial to wildlife, nor is it beneficial to all species. Such habitat provides maximum edge for feeding, escape, loafing, and nesting. Immediately after the burn, their numbers may drop 50 to 84 percent, but after the first growing season, they remain constant on grassland burns and increase on shrub and forest burns.
Ground squirrels Increase in density after burning.
8-fold on a severe burn when the areas were inventoried 2 years after a major fire. 13-lined ground squirrel also showed increase following fire. Rabbits Cottontails generally exist in high density in open areas that contain large amounts of dead brush or other dense shrubby and herbaceous undergrowth. Thus moderate burns, which leave portions of the area unburned, may not be harmful to populations of cottontails. The absence of fire in forest communities will be accompanied by a decrease in bird niche diversity and carrying capacity.