{"id":105,"date":"2018-01-19T14:37:36","date_gmt":"2018-01-19T14:37:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dereklee.peachpuff-wolverine-566518.hostingersite.com\/?p=105"},"modified":"2018-01-19T14:37:36","modified_gmt":"2018-01-19T14:37:36","slug":"post-fire-logging-but-not-severe-fire-harms-spotted-owls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/105\/post-fire-logging-but-not-severe-fire-harms-spotted-owls\/","title":{"rendered":"Post-fire Logging, But Not Severe Fire, Harms Spotted Owls"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

Wildlife ecologists studying the rare spotted owl in the forests of California have discovered that large, intense wildfires are not responsible for abandonment of breeding territories. Instead, the researchers found that post-fire logging operations, which are common on both private and National Forest lands, most likely caused declines in territory occupancy of this imperiled wildlife species. In the absence of post-fire logging, they found no significant effect of large forest fires on spotted owl territory occupancy.\u00a0Post-fire logging damages important spotted owl foraging areas in “snag forest habitat” that is created by patches of intense fire. This habitat is rich in the small mammal prey species that the owls feed upon, but post-fire logging largely removes this habitat, thereby causing higher rates of territory abandonment.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Post-fire salvage logging in the Rim fire area, California removed important spotted owl habitat.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
“This is good news for declining California spotted owls because this is something that we can control\u2014we can make policy decisions to stop post-fire logging operations in spotted owl habitat,” said Dr. Chad Hanson, a research ecologist with the John Muir Project of Earth Island Institute, who is one of the study’s authors. The article was published this week in the peer-reviewed, open-access scientific journal Nature Conservation<\/i>.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n
\"Spotted<\/a>
Spotted Owl in a severely burned forest.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

The study sheds light on recent large fires, such as the 99,000-acre King fire of 2014 on the Eldorado National Forest in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Spotted owl occupancy was reported to have declined<\/a> in the King fire area, but the new study found that this was most likely due to post-fire logging. In addition, many of the spotted owl territories in the King fire which were previously described as lost due to the fire had in fact been unoccupied for years prior to the fire.<\/p>\n

“Most studies<\/a> of spotted owls and fires in California found little to no effect of fires on owl site occupancy, but the King Fire study results contradicted these. Now we have a better idea where the King Fire results came from\u2014it was post-fire logging and pre-fire abandonment,” said Monica Bond, a wildlife ecologist with the Wild Nature Institute, and a co-author of the study. Bond added, “Our results were not surprising considering that spotted owls evolved with forest fires, but logging is a new disturbance to which they are not adapted”<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Aerial view of post-fire logging in Rim Fire area, California.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

The scientists’ findings also expand upon previous research<\/a> that found very high spotted owl occupancy after the 257,000-acre Rim fire of 2013 in the Sierra Nevada prior to post-fire logging. The current study found a decline in owl territory occupancy in the same area after post-fire logging occurred. A co-author on both studies, Dr. Derek Lee, also of Wild Nature Institute, said, “It is time to stop thinking logging will help the forest; we need to take a much more hands-off approach to forest management so natural processes can re-establish.”<\/p>\n

The study’s results coincide with the strong consensus among hundreds of U.S. scientists opposing post-fire logging operations due to a wide range of ecological harms<\/a>. Pro-logging members of the U.S. Congress have recently pointed to large forest fires as a justification for proposed logging bills that would override most environmental laws and dramatically increase logging, including post-fire logging, on U.S. National Forests and other public lands. The results of this study indicate that such legislative proposals would be contrary to science, and harmful to spotted owls. Other studies<\/a> also indicate that increased logging would substantially reduce forest carbon storage, and increase greenhouse gas emissions, exacerbating climate change.<\/p>\n

More information:<\/b> Hanson CT, Bond ML, Lee DE (2018) Effects of post-fire logging on California spotted owl occupancy. Nature Conservation<\/i>, https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3897\/natureconservation.24.20538<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wildlife ecologists studying the rare spotted owl in the forests of California have discovered that large, intense wildfires are not responsible for abandonment of breeding territories. Instead, the researchers found that post-fire logging operations, which are common on both private and National Forest lands, most likely caused declines in territory occupancy of this imperiled wildlife … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":284,"featured_media":57,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2,10,26,3],"tags":[12,28,13,7,23],"class_list":["post-105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ecology","category-forest-management","category-spotted-owl","category-wildlife-conservation","tag-forest","tag-forest-fire","tag-forest-management","tag-wild-nature-institute","tag-wildlife-conservation"],"yoast_head":"\nPost-fire Logging, But Not Severe Fire, Harms Spotted Owls - Derek Lee<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/105\/post-fire-logging-but-not-severe-fire-harms-spotted-owls\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Post-fire Logging, But Not Severe Fire, Harms Spotted Owls\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Wildlife ecologists studying the rare spotted owl in the forests of California have discovered that large, intense wildfires are not responsible for abandonment of breeding territories. Instead, the researchers found that post-fire logging operations, which are common on both private and National Forest lands, most likely caused declines in territory occupancy of this imperiled wildlife ... Read more\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/105\/post-fire-logging-but-not-severe-fire-harms-spotted-owls\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Derek Lee\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-01-19T14:37:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/05\/female-owl-burnFunk.jpg?fit=507%2C362&ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"507\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"362\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Derek Lee\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Derek Lee\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/105\\\/post-fire-logging-but-not-severe-fire-harms-spotted-owls\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/105\\\/post-fire-logging-but-not-severe-fire-harms-spotted-owls\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Derek Lee\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/41b42fba55c50c75d88b1a44c47d067c\"},\"headline\":\"Post-fire Logging, But Not Severe Fire, Harms Spotted Owls\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-01-19T14:37:36+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/105\\\/post-fire-logging-but-not-severe-fire-harms-spotted-owls\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":655,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/105\\\/post-fire-logging-but-not-severe-fire-harms-spotted-owls\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2017\\\/05\\\/female-owl-burnFunk.jpg?fit=507%2C362&ssl=1\",\"keywords\":[\"forest\",\"forest fire\",\"forest management\",\"wild nature institute\",\"wildlife conservation\"],\"articleSection\":[\"ecology\",\"forest management\",\"spotted owl\",\"wildlife conservation\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/105\\\/post-fire-logging-but-not-severe-fire-harms-spotted-owls\\\/#respond\"]}],\"copyrightYear\":\"2018\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/105\\\/post-fire-logging-but-not-severe-fire-harms-spotted-owls\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/105\\\/post-fire-logging-but-not-severe-fire-harms-spotted-owls\\\/\",\"name\":\"Post-fire Logging, But Not Severe Fire, Harms Spotted Owls - Derek Lee\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/105\\\/post-fire-logging-but-not-severe-fire-harms-spotted-owls\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/105\\\/post-fire-logging-but-not-severe-fire-harms-spotted-owls\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2017\\\/05\\\/female-owl-burnFunk.jpg?fit=507%2C362&ssl=1\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-01-19T14:37:36+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/105\\\/post-fire-logging-but-not-severe-fire-harms-spotted-owls\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/105\\\/post-fire-logging-but-not-severe-fire-harms-spotted-owls\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/105\\\/post-fire-logging-but-not-severe-fire-harms-spotted-owls\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2017\\\/05\\\/female-owl-burnFunk.jpg?fit=507%2C362&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2017\\\/05\\\/female-owl-burnFunk.jpg?fit=507%2C362&ssl=1\",\"width\":507,\"height\":362,\"caption\":\"Spotted Owl in a severely burned forest.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/105\\\/post-fire-logging-but-not-severe-fire-harms-spotted-owls\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Post-fire Logging, But Not Severe Fire, Harms Spotted Owls\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/\",\"name\":\"Derek Lee\",\"description\":\"Wild Nature Institute\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Derek Lee\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/cropped-WNI-Three-Line-Logo.jpg?fit=2303%2C1149&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/cropped-WNI-Three-Line-Logo.jpg?fit=2303%2C1149&ssl=1\",\"width\":2303,\"height\":1149,\"caption\":\"Derek Lee\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/41b42fba55c50c75d88b1a44c47d067c\",\"name\":\"Derek Lee\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/795f1f3e792a49d904ae6ad8e9f57bb1db46f9b16a8a56beb88756e38c9650ba?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/795f1f3e792a49d904ae6ad8e9f57bb1db46f9b16a8a56beb88756e38c9650ba?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/795f1f3e792a49d904ae6ad8e9f57bb1db46f9b16a8a56beb88756e38c9650ba?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Derek Lee\"},\"description\":\"Derek Lee\ufeff, PhD, is a quantitative wildlife biologist with expertise in conservation demography and population ecology. Current research investigates Masai Giraffe and other large mammal populations within a fragmented landscape in Tanzania. This work examines how births, deaths, and movements of ungulates are impacted by increasingly fragmented wildlife habitat, and what conservation actions are most effective. He spent 10 years researching the impacts of climate and ocean conditions on survival, reproduction, and population growth rates of marine predators such as northern elephant seals, Common Murres, and Cassin's Auklets at the South Farallon Islands, California. His work was included in a conservation and management plan for seabirds in the California Current. He also studied migration of Black Brant in Humboldt Bay as well as fire ecology of small mammals in California's oak woodlands and California Spotted Owls in the Sierra Nevada.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.wildnatureinstitute.org\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/dereklee\\\/author\\\/dereklee\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Post-fire Logging, But Not Severe Fire, Harms Spotted Owls - Derek Lee","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/105\/post-fire-logging-but-not-severe-fire-harms-spotted-owls\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Post-fire Logging, But Not Severe Fire, Harms Spotted Owls","og_description":"Wildlife ecologists studying the rare spotted owl in the forests of California have discovered that large, intense wildfires are not responsible for abandonment of breeding territories. Instead, the researchers found that post-fire logging operations, which are common on both private and National Forest lands, most likely caused declines in territory occupancy of this imperiled wildlife ... Read more","og_url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/105\/post-fire-logging-but-not-severe-fire-harms-spotted-owls\/","og_site_name":"Derek Lee","article_published_time":"2018-01-19T14:37:36+00:00","og_image":[{"width":507,"height":362,"url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/05\/female-owl-burnFunk.jpg?fit=507%2C362&ssl=1","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Derek Lee","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Derek Lee","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/105\/post-fire-logging-but-not-severe-fire-harms-spotted-owls\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/105\/post-fire-logging-but-not-severe-fire-harms-spotted-owls\/"},"author":{"name":"Derek Lee","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/#\/schema\/person\/41b42fba55c50c75d88b1a44c47d067c"},"headline":"Post-fire Logging, But Not Severe Fire, Harms Spotted Owls","datePublished":"2018-01-19T14:37:36+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/105\/post-fire-logging-but-not-severe-fire-harms-spotted-owls\/"},"wordCount":655,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/105\/post-fire-logging-but-not-severe-fire-harms-spotted-owls\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/05\/female-owl-burnFunk.jpg?fit=507%2C362&ssl=1","keywords":["forest","forest fire","forest management","wild nature institute","wildlife conservation"],"articleSection":["ecology","forest management","spotted owl","wildlife conservation"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/105\/post-fire-logging-but-not-severe-fire-harms-spotted-owls\/#respond"]}],"copyrightYear":"2018","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/105\/post-fire-logging-but-not-severe-fire-harms-spotted-owls\/","url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/105\/post-fire-logging-but-not-severe-fire-harms-spotted-owls\/","name":"Post-fire Logging, But Not Severe Fire, Harms Spotted Owls - Derek Lee","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/105\/post-fire-logging-but-not-severe-fire-harms-spotted-owls\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/105\/post-fire-logging-but-not-severe-fire-harms-spotted-owls\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/05\/female-owl-burnFunk.jpg?fit=507%2C362&ssl=1","datePublished":"2018-01-19T14:37:36+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/105\/post-fire-logging-but-not-severe-fire-harms-spotted-owls\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/105\/post-fire-logging-but-not-severe-fire-harms-spotted-owls\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/105\/post-fire-logging-but-not-severe-fire-harms-spotted-owls\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/05\/female-owl-burnFunk.jpg?fit=507%2C362&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/05\/female-owl-burnFunk.jpg?fit=507%2C362&ssl=1","width":507,"height":362,"caption":"Spotted Owl in a severely burned forest."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/105\/post-fire-logging-but-not-severe-fire-harms-spotted-owls\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Post-fire Logging, But Not Severe Fire, Harms Spotted Owls"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/#website","url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/","name":"Derek Lee","description":"Wild Nature Institute","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/#organization","name":"Derek Lee","url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/04\/cropped-WNI-Three-Line-Logo.jpg?fit=2303%2C1149&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/04\/cropped-WNI-Three-Line-Logo.jpg?fit=2303%2C1149&ssl=1","width":2303,"height":1149,"caption":"Derek Lee"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/#\/schema\/person\/41b42fba55c50c75d88b1a44c47d067c","name":"Derek Lee","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/795f1f3e792a49d904ae6ad8e9f57bb1db46f9b16a8a56beb88756e38c9650ba?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/795f1f3e792a49d904ae6ad8e9f57bb1db46f9b16a8a56beb88756e38c9650ba?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/795f1f3e792a49d904ae6ad8e9f57bb1db46f9b16a8a56beb88756e38c9650ba?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Derek Lee"},"description":"Derek Lee\ufeff, PhD, is a quantitative wildlife biologist with expertise in conservation demography and population ecology. Current research investigates Masai Giraffe and other large mammal populations within a fragmented landscape in Tanzania. This work examines how births, deaths, and movements of ungulates are impacted by increasingly fragmented wildlife habitat, and what conservation actions are most effective. He spent 10 years researching the impacts of climate and ocean conditions on survival, reproduction, and population growth rates of marine predators such as northern elephant seals, Common Murres, and Cassin's Auklets at the South Farallon Islands, California. His work was included in a conservation and management plan for seabirds in the California Current. He also studied migration of Black Brant in Humboldt Bay as well as fire ecology of small mammals in California's oak woodlands and California Spotted Owls in the Sierra Nevada.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.wildnatureinstitute.org"],"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/author\/dereklee\/"}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/05\/female-owl-burnFunk.jpg?fit=507%2C362&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pgtNOJ-1H","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":149,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/149\/comprehensive-meta-analysis-reveals-spotted-owls-are-not-significantly-affected-by-forest-fires\/","url_meta":{"origin":105,"position":0},"title":"Comprehensive meta-analysis reveals Spotted Owls are not significantly affected by forest fires","author":"Derek Lee","date":"July 24, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"A complete meta-analysis of every published study that examined Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis) responses to wildfire was recently published. Contrary to current perceptions and recovery activities, mixed-severity forest fire does not appear to be a serious threat to owl populations. On the contrary, wildfire was found to create more benefits\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "animal"","block_context":{"text":"animal","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/category\/animal\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Spotted Owl in a severely burned forest.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/05\/female-owl-burnFunk.jpg?fit=507%2C362&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":56,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/56\/the-science-of-forest-fire-and-spotted-owls\/","url_meta":{"origin":105,"position":1},"title":"The Science of Forest Fire and Spotted Owls","author":"Derek Lee","date":"May 23, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Fifteen years of research about severely burned Snag Forests in the western U.S.A. and their important value as wildlife habitat and ecological services has produced a healthy body of scientific literature. These papers, and others, have opened the eyes of many to the now-obvious fact that burned forests create wildlife\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "animal"","block_context":{"text":"animal","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/category\/animal\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Spotted Owl in a severely burned forest.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/05\/female-owl-burnFunk.jpg?fit=507%2C362&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":311,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/311\/spotted-owls-benefit-from-wildfires-forest-fire-suppression-should-focus-on-homes\/","url_meta":{"origin":105,"position":2},"title":"Spotted Owls Benefit from Wildfires, Forest Fire Suppression Should Focus on Homes","author":"Derek Lee","date":"December 10, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"As record-breaking wildfires continue burning across U.S. western states, a group of pro-logging scientists and activists reignited the debate about Spotted Owls and wildfires by publishing an article critical of a 2018 synthesis of all scientific evidence on the topic. Federal and state authorities are pushing plans to increase logging\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "animal"","block_context":{"text":"animal","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/category\/animal\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Spotted Owl in a severely burned forest.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/05\/female-owl-burnFunk.jpg?fit=507%2C362&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":70,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/70\/new-documentary-gives-smokey-bear-a-new-positive-message-about-forest-fire\/","url_meta":{"origin":105,"position":3},"title":"New Documentary Gives Smokey Bear A New, Positive Message About Forest Fire","author":"Derek Lee","date":"June 9, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"A new video documentary released this week describes the important positive ecological effects of high-severity forest fires. High-severity forest fires, also called stand-replacing or crown fires, create rare and important wildlife habitat, and many species of plants and animals reach their highest abundances only in these blackened \u2018snag forests\u2019. Fear\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "animal"","block_context":{"text":"animal","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/category\/animal\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A black-backed woddpecker emerges from his nest cavity in a severely-burned forest patch created by the Sugarloaf Fire of California.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/06\/Lewis-01FUNK.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/06\/Lewis-01FUNK.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/06\/Lewis-01FUNK.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/06\/Lewis-01FUNK.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/06\/Lewis-01FUNK.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":128,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/128\/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-wildland-forest-fires-but-were-afraid-to-ask\/","url_meta":{"origin":105,"position":4},"title":"Everything you wanted to know about wildland forest fires but were afraid to ask","author":"Derek Lee","date":"April 9, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"A team of fire ecologists released a report this week titled \"Everything You Wanted To Know About Wildland Fires\" summarizing the state of knowledge about forest fires on public lands. This report comes just days after the US Congress passed the Wildfire Suppression Funding and Forest Management Activities Act as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "ecology"","block_context":{"text":"ecology","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/category\/ecology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Regrowth after a high-severity forest fire. The past three decades of science that has found fires, including large high-severity fires, are an ecologically essential part of forest ecosystems and create highly biodiverse wildlife habitat.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/post-fire-regeneration.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/post-fire-regeneration.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/post-fire-regeneration.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/04\/post-fire-regeneration.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":34,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/34\/proposed-forest-thinning-will-sabotage-natural-forest-climate-adaptation-and-resistance-to-drought-fire-and-insect-outbreaks\/","url_meta":{"origin":105,"position":5},"title":"Proposed Forest Thinning Will Sabotage Natural Forest Climate Adaptation and Resistance to Drought, Fire, and Insect Outbreaks","author":"Derek Lee","date":"January 14, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The USDA Forest Service is proposing widespread forest thinning on our public lands across the West in a misguided attempt to reduce the impact of drought, fire, and insects (see National Forest Restoration Projects, Sierra Nevada National Forest Land Management Plan Revisions, news articles). These logging schemes are the latest\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "ecology"","block_context":{"text":"ecology","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/category\/ecology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/01\/4FRI_thinning_t670.jpg?fit=670%2C448&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/01\/4FRI_thinning_t670.jpg?fit=670%2C448&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/01\/4FRI_thinning_t670.jpg?fit=670%2C448&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/284"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/dereklee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}