Graduation Date
Summer 2026
Document Type
Thesis
Program
Master of Science degree with a major in Natural Resources, option Wildlife
Committee Chair Name
Ho Yi Wan
Committee Chair Affiliation
Cal Poly Humboldt Faculty or Staff
Second Committee Member Name
Micaela Szykman Gunther
Second Committee Member Affiliation
Cal Poly Humboldt Faculty or Staff
Third Committee Member Name
Katie Moriarty
Third Committee Member Affiliation
Community Member or Outside Professional
Keywords
Gray fox, Megafire, Fire, Wildfire, Mesopredator, Carnivore, Northern California, Lassen, Plumas, Occupancy, Camera trap, Dixie Fire, Forest characteristics
Subject Categories
Wildlife
Abstract
In western North American forests, predator communities are faced with changing fire regimes and increased fire severity and size, particularly with megafires (>10,000 ha). As some wildlife communities may restructure following the loss of apex consumers, understanding post-fire space use of mid-trophic carnivores may inform species composition in these forests. I compared gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) occupancy in and around the 2021 Dixie Fire, the largest single-ignition fire in California state history, to examine which spatially variable burn and forest characteristics affected the space use of a widespread generalist mesopredator. Using 210 camera traps placed in 2023, I found evidence that gray fox occupancy was associated with six measures of burn and forest characteristics across five spatial scales and both second and third order selection levels. Gray foxes were more likely to occur at cameras with increased burn severity, post-fire change in vegetation greenness, and live shrub cover, and decreased live tree cover, edge density of live shrubs, and edge density of unburned forest patches. Gray foxes may be using high severity burns to increase prey catchability but might also use fine-scale shrub cover for shelter. With a positive relationship between foxes and many of the examined fire impacts, and only modest simulated burn probability in higher severity burns, gray foxes may be resistant to the effects of megafires. However, the impacts of potential repeated megafires are poorly understood and require further investigation to understand distributional trends of gray foxes in northeastern California.
Citation Style
Journal of Wildlife Management
Recommended Citation
Verhey, Amida Zohar, "Multiple burn and forest characteristics affect gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) occurrence following a California megafire" (2026). Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects. 2615.
https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/etd/2615
Included in
Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology Commons, Zoology Commons