Avian biodiversity in bogs after the 2023 Barrington wildfire

With the projected increase of wildfires in the Atlantic Provinces, understanding the impacts of fire on avian communities is extremely important for conservation and management. Wetland communities are especially important, as they are biodiversity hotspots, hosting a wide range of species including multiple species at risk. The Barrington wildfire was one of the largest wildfires in the history of Nova Scotia, destroying approximately 25 000 ha of land. Point counts were conducted and autonomous recording units were placed in four wetlands of the Barrington fire, two burned and two unburned, during the breeding season for birds. The objectives of this study are to examine the bird species composition of burned and unburned bogs, and to determine differences in point counts and ARU methods for determining bird community composition. Results showed bird community compositions in the burned bogs were different to the unburned bogs, with multiple aerial insectivore and cavity-nesting species being present only in the burned sites. These results have important implications for wildfires and bird interactions within bogs in Nova Scotia, but future work should be done to confirm these findings.