In the Wake of Fire, Wildlife Will Come Back, Ecologists Say : Animals: Some died and some burrowed to safety, but many species will rebound in greater numbers.

On thousands of charred acres in the Santa Monica Mountains, wildlife will be scarce in coming months. But within five years, species from cottontail rabbits to mule deer and coyotes should rebound in larger numbers than before.

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Although the burned canyons may seem eerily quiet now, wildlife biologists say there are already signs that coyotes have doubled back into the ashen area, and small burrowing animals are emerging from their holes.

As vegetation slowly returns--starting with wildflowers and grass in the spring--so will the small rodents, such as mice and ground squirrels. Although many of those animals perished in the fire, unable to outrun the fast-moving flames, others survived by burrowing into the cooler soil, ecologists say.

Populations of deer and larger carnivores such as coyotes and foxes will re-emerge in the damaged area in several years as sagebrush begins to carpet the hillsides.

“Over the next several years, we may actually see an increase in biomass,” said Ray Sauvajot, an ecologist with the National Park Service. “The food will be greater three to five years down the line than it was with (the older) chaparral.”

Some species, however, may not return as quickly. Gray foxes, which thrive in the dense older brush, may be more scarce in the new growth area, where predators can find them more easily.

And large numbers of wood rats, also known as pack rats, probably died in the fire. Unlike ground squirrels and other burrowing animals that could have escaped the intense heat, the rats would have retreated to their nestlike homes above ground.

Tim Thomas, a biologist with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, said that as deer and other animals filter back into the damaged area, the habitat will become more favorable for mountain lions. Only about six to a dozen are believed to live in the entire stretch of the Santa Monica Mountains.

“Of all the sites that burned, the Point Mugu-Boney Ridge complex is one of the safest areas for mountain lions in the whole range,” he said.

But how quickly the wildlife returns depends on how many islands of unburned land are left, creating refuges for the displaced animals.

Animals who live in those islands can then spread more quickly into the burned area as the foliage returns.

Stream beds--where oaks and sycamores provide shelter for animals--are also important to the re-emergence of wildlife. Those riparian areas provide water, cover and daytime shelter for animals.

In Mugu Lagoon, a sensitive habitat for harbor seals and several endangered species of birds, 20 to 30 acres of brush burned along the Pacific Coast Highway.

But Ron Dow, head of the environmental division at Point Mugu, said the damaged area should have little long-term effect on marine life in the lagoon.

“Other than maybe some temporary loss of cover for wildlife, I don’t really see it as a major problem to the lagoon,” he said.

Dow said he is worried that runoff and erosion from the charred areas of the Santa Monica Mountains could deposit a lot of sediment in Calleguas Creek, which feeds the lagoon.

“That could reduce the size and complexity in terms of the biological community,” he said.

No one knows exactly how many islands of uncharred land the fire left in its race to the ocean Wednesday, or how much foliage is left in the stream beds.

Wildlife biologists with the National Park Service and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy plan to study this week how the fire affected wildlife.

But there already are some signs that life will return to normal.

The night after flames raced to the ocean through the mountains, state park rangers reported seeing coyotes running up charred hillsides and hearing them yelping at night in the stream bed in Big Sycamore Canyon.

“It’s heartening at least from my perspective to see there are some mammals using the site,” said Sauvajot. “We’ll see what happens in the spring.”