Reptile and Amphibian Emigration and Immigration

Little is known about amphibian and reptile emigration and immigration after fire. A study of low-severity prescribed fires in hardwood-pine stands of the South Carolina Piedmont found no evidence that herpetofauna emigrated in response to fire (Russell 1999). Western fence lizards in chaparral take refuge under surface objects at the time of fire; after the fire, they invade the burned site from unburned patches (Lillywhite and North 1974). Komarek (1969) reports seeing southern diamondback rattlesnakes sunning themselves in areas blackened by recent fire. Frequent lightning-season fires promote growth of the bunchgrasses that flatwoods salamanders seek out for laying their eggs. Fire exclusion reduces the grasses in favor of closed slash or pond pine forest (Carlile 1997).