Short-term effects of fire on small rodents in the Brazilian Cerrado and their relation with feeding habits

2013 ◽  
Vol 22 (8) ◽  
pp. 1063 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emerson M. Vieira ◽  
Denis C. Briani
Keyword(s):  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
Feeding Habits ◽  
Fire Effects ◽  
Brazilian Cerrado ◽  
Small Rodents ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Plant Resources ◽  
Burned Areas ◽  
Central Brazil ◽  
Plant Matter

We investigated the short-term (up to 60 days) fire effects on small rodents and their relation to feeding habitats in the fire-prone Cerrado of central Brazil, the most species-rich savanna in the world. We conducted prescribed-fire experiments with pre- and post-fire simultaneous sampling in burned and unburned areas to investigate the hypothesis that the effects of fire on the abundance of small rodents is related to changes in food availability and consequently the feeding habits of the animals. The findings revealed a higher availability of invertebrates in just-burned areas compared with plant resources. Stomach analyses indicated that invertebrate consumption increased after fire for the four most common rodents, but Calomys tener and especially Calomys expulsus, consumed more invertebrates in the burned areas than Necromys lasiurus or Cerradomys scotti. These Calomys rodents were also the post-fire dominant species. Thus, even within the group of rodents that are generalist feeders, distinctive short-term responses to fire were associated with changes in resource availability and with resultant differences in the abundance of plant matter and invertebrates in the rodent diets.

Prescribed fire effects on the herbaceous layer of mixed-oak forests

2005 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 877-890 ◽  
Author(s):  
Todd F Hutchinson ◽  
Ralph EJ Boerner ◽  
Steve Sutherland ◽  
Elaine Kennedy Sutherland ◽  
Marilyn Ortt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
Fire Effects ◽  
Common Species ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Oak Forests ◽  
Compositional Variation ◽  
Herbaceous Layer ◽  
Moisture Index ◽  
Burned Areas ◽  
Species Frequencies

In 1994, a multidisciplinary project was established to study the effects of prescribed fire on oak forests in southern Ohio. Here we describe the herbaceous layer response to fires over a 5-year period. In four study sites, treatments imposed were unburned, periodic (1996 and 1999), and annual (1996–1999) fires. Sample plots (n = 108) were stratified by an integrated moisture index. Species' frequencies were recorded annually, and a total of 452 species (97% native) were documented. Though species composition was significantly affected by fire, the effects were shown by ordination to be small in magnitude relative to overall compositional variation. Burned areas developed greater small-scale species richness as grasses, summer forbs, and seed-banking species increased in frequency; however, these changes were also not large in magnitude. Though a few species increased substantially via germination after fire, most common species exhibited frequency increases or decreases of <10% on burned units. Fire effects on vegetation were largely similar between annual and periodic burns and also among integrated moisture index classes. Direct fire effects on vegetation were limited by the dormant-season timing of burns and the resprouting of woody plants. Indirect effects were limited, as fires caused relatively minor changes in forest structure and resource availability in these long-unburned forests.

scholarly journals Characterizing Growing Season Length of Subtropical Coniferous Forests with a Phenological Model

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 95
Author(s):  
Yuan Gong ◽  
Christina L. Staudhammer ◽  
Susanne Wiesner ◽  
Gregory Starr ◽  
Yinlong Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
Water Availability ◽  
Longleaf Pine ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Soil Water Availability ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Phenological Model

Understanding plant phenological change is of great concern in the context of global climate change. Phenological models can aid in understanding and predicting growing season changes and can be parameterized with gross primary production (GPP) estimated using the eddy covariance (EC) technique. This study used nine years of EC-derived GPP data from three mature subtropical longleaf pine forests in the southeastern United States with differing soil water holding capacity in combination with site-specific micrometeorological data to parameterize a photosynthesis-based phenological model. We evaluated how weather conditions and prescribed fire led to variation in the ecosystem phenological processes. The results suggest that soil water availability had an effect on phenology, and greater soil water availability was associated with a longer growing season (LOS). We also observed that prescribed fire, a common forest management activity in the region, had a limited impact on phenological processes. Dormant season fire had no significant effect on phenological processes by site, but we observed differences in the start of the growing season (SOS) between fire and non-fire years. Fire delayed SOS by 10 d ± 5 d (SE), and this effect was greater with higher soil water availability, extending SOS by 18 d on average. Fire was also associated with increased sensitivity of spring phenology to radiation and air temperature. We found that interannual climate change and periodic weather anomalies (flood, short-term drought, and long-term drought), controlled annual ecosystem phenological processes more than prescribed fire. When water availability increased following short-term summer drought, the growing season was extended. With future climate change, subtropical areas of the Southeastern US are expected to experience more frequent short-term droughts, which could shorten the region’s growing season and lead to a reduction in the longleaf pine ecosystem’s carbon sequestration capacity.

scholarly journals Using the Landsat Burned Area Products to Derive Fire History Relevant for Fire Management and Conservation in the State of Florida, Southeastern USA

Fire ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 26
Author(s):  
Casey Teske ◽  
Melanie K. Vanderhoof ◽  
Todd J. Hawbaker ◽  
Joe Noble ◽  
John Kevin Hiers
Keyword(s):  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
Spatial Data ◽  
Fire History ◽  
Fire Management ◽  
Fire Behavior ◽  
Fire Risk ◽  
Behavior Modeling ◽  
Burned Area ◽  
Burned Areas ◽  
Burn Probability

Development of comprehensive spatially explicit fire occurrence data remains one of the most critical needs for fire managers globally, and especially for conservation across the southeastern United States. Not only are many endangered species and ecosystems in that region reliant on frequent fire, but fire risk analysis, prescribed fire planning, and fire behavior modeling are sensitive to fire history due to the long growing season and high vegetation productivity. Spatial data that map burned areas over time provide critical information for evaluating management successes. However, existing fire data have undocumented shortcomings that limit their use when detailing the effectiveness of fire management at state and regional scales. Here, we assessed information in existing fire datasets for Florida and the Landsat Burned Area products based on input from the fire management community. We considered the potential of different datasets to track the spatial extents of fires and derive fire history metrics (e.g., time since last burn, fire frequency, and seasonality). We found that burned areas generated by applying a 90% threshold to the Landsat burn probability product matched patterns recorded and observed by fire managers at three pilot areas. We then created fire history metrics for the entire state from the modified Landsat Burned Area product. Finally, to show their potential application for conservation management, we compared fire history metrics across ownerships for natural pinelands, where prescribed fire is frequently applied. Implications of this effort include increased awareness around conservation and fire management planning efforts and an extension of derivative products regionally or globally.

scholarly journals Soil-vegetation relationships in Mediterranean forests after fire

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Víctor Fernández-García ◽  
Elena Marcos ◽  
Sara Huerta ◽  
Leonor Calvo
Keyword(s):  
Soil Properties ◽  
Mediterranean Ecosystems ◽  
Fire Effects ◽  
Mediterranean Forests ◽  
Vegetation Growth ◽  
Burned Areas ◽  
Vegetation Height ◽  
P Content ◽  
Study Sites ◽  
Soil Status

Abstract Background Wildfires are one of the major environmental concerns in Mediterranean ecosystems. Thus, many studies have addressed wildfire impacts on soil and vegetation in Mediterranean forests, but the linkages between these ecosystem compartments after fire are not well understood. The aim of this work is to analyze soil-vegetation relationships in Mediterranean burned forests as well as the consistency of these relationships among forests with different environmental conditions, at different times after fire, and among vegetation with different functional traits. Results Our results indicate that study site conditions play an important role in mediating soil-vegetation relationships. Likewise, we found that the nature of soil-vegetation relationships may vary over time as fire effects are less dominant in both ecosystem compartments. Despite this, we detected several common soil-vegetation relationships among study sites and times after fire. For instance, our results revealed that available P content and stoichiometry (C:P and N:P) were closely linked to vegetation growth, and particularly to the growth of trees. We found that enzymatic activities and microbial biomass were inversely related to vegetation growth rates, whereas the specific activities of soil enzymes were higher in the areas with more vegetation height and cover. Likewise, our results suggest that resprouters may influence soil properties more than seeders, the growth of seeders being more dependent on soil status. Conclusions We provide pioneer insights into how vegetation is influenced by soil, and vice-versa, in Mediterranean burned areas. Our results reflect variability in soil-vegetation relationships among study sites and time after fire, but consistent patterns between soil properties and vegetation were also detected. Our research is highly relevant to advance in forest science and could be useful to achieve efficient post-fire management.

scholarly journals Short-term effects of herbicides and a prescribed fire on restoration of a shrub-encroached pine savanna

2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (6) ◽  
pp. 909-917 ◽  
Author(s):  
William J. Platt ◽  
Alex K. Entrup ◽  
Emily K. Babl ◽  
Cody Coryell-Turpin ◽  
Viet Dao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Pine Savanna ◽  
Short Term Effects

PENILAIAN DAMPAK KEBAKARAN PADA TEGAKAN AKASIA DI BKPH PARUNG PANJANG KPH BOGOR, PERUM PERHUTANI UNIT III JAWA BARAT DAN BANTEN Fire Severity Assessment on Akasia stand at BKPH Parung Panjang KPH Bogor, Perum Perhutani III West Java and Banten

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-62
Author(s):  
Lailan Syaufina ◽  
Vera Linda Purba
Keyword(s):  
Growth Performance ◽  
Forest Fire ◽  
Health Monitoring ◽  
Fire Severity ◽  
Forest Health ◽  
Chemical Properties ◽  
Fire Effects ◽  
Burned Areas ◽  
Forest Health Monitoring ◽  
Physical And Chemical

Forest fire is one of the problem in forest management. The objectives of the study was to measure the forest fire severity based on soil physical and chemical properties. The forest fire effects were assessed using fire severity method and forest health monitoring plot. The study indicated that the burned areas at BKPH Parung Panjang after two years included in low fire severity. The site properties and growth performance analysis showed that the fire has only affected on pH, Mg and tree diameter significantly, whereas the other parameters such as bulk density, P, N, Na, K, Ca and height were not significantly affected. In addition, both burned and unburned areas are classified as in health condition.Key words : fire severity, forest health monitoring, growth performance, site properties

scholarly journals Fire severity and ecosystem resilience – lessons from the Wombat Fire Effects Study (1984-2003)

2012 ◽  
Vol 124 (1) ◽  
pp. 30
Author(s):  
Kevin G. Tolhurst
Keyword(s):  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
Fire Severity ◽  
Fire Effects ◽  
Royal Commission ◽  
Mixed Species ◽  
Terrestrial Mammals ◽  
Low Intensity ◽  
Eucalypt Forest ◽  
Fire Characteristics ◽  
Understorey Plants

The Wombat Fire Effects Study was established to address a number of questions in relation to the effects of repeated low-intensity fires in mixed species eucalypt forest in the foothills of Victoria. This study has now been going for 25 years and has included the study of understorey plants, fuels, bats, terrestrial mammals, reptiles, invertebrates, fungi, birds, soils, tree growth, fire behaviour and weather. This forest system has shown a high resilience to fire that is attributed here to the patchiness and variability in the fire characteristics within a fire and the relatively small proportion of the landscape being affected. A means of comparing the level of “injury” caused by low-intensity prescribed fire with high intensity wildfire is proposed so that the debate about leverage benefits (the reduction in wildfire area compared to the area of planned burning) can be more rational. There are some significant implications for assessing the relative environmental impacts of wildfire compared with the planned burning program being implemented in Victoria since the Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission recommendations (Teague et al. 2010).

Short-term changes in soil properties after prescribed fire and mulching with fern in Mediterranean forests

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruno Gianmarco Carra ◽  
Giuseppe Bombino ◽  
Manuel Esteban Lucas-Borja ◽  
Adele Muscolo ◽  
Federico Romeo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Properties ◽  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
Mediterranean Forests ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Changes In Soil Properties

Wildfire and Postfire Restoration Action Effects on Microclimate and Seedling Pine Tree Survivorship

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 174-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald J. Brown ◽  
Ivana Mali ◽  
Michael R.J. Forstner
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Wind Speed ◽  
Soil Temperature ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Loblolly Pine ◽  
Absolute Humidity ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Burned Areas ◽  
High Severity ◽  
Postfire Management

Abstract Through modification of structural characteristics, ecological processes such as fire can affect microhabitat parameters, which in turn can influence community composition dynamics. The prevalence of high-severity forest fires is increasing in the southern and western United States, creating the necessity to better understand effects of high-severity fire, and subsequent postfire management actions, on forest ecosystems. In this study we used a recent high-severity wildfire in the Lost Pines ecoregion of Texas to assess effects of the wildfire and postfire clearcutting on six microclimate parameters: air temperature, absolute humidity, mean wind speed, maximum wind speed, soil temperature, and soil moisture. We also assessed differences between burned areas and burned and subsequently clearcut areas for short-term survivorship of loblolly pine Pinus taeda seedling trees. We found that during the summer months approximately 2 y after the wildfire, mean and maximum wind speed differed between unburned and burned areas, as well as burned and burned and subsequently clearcut areas. Our results indicated air temperature, absolute humidity, soil temperature, and soil moisture did not differ between unburned and burned areas, or burned and burned and subsequently clearcut areas, during the study period. We found that short-term survivorship of loblolly pine seedling trees was influenced primarily by soil type, but was also lower in clearcut habitat compared with habitat containing dead standing trees. Ultimately, however, the outcome of the reforestation initiative will likely depend primarily on whether or not the trees can survive drought conditions in the future, and this study indicates there is flexibility in postfire management options prior to reseeding. Further, concerns about negative wildfire effects on microclimate parameters important to the endangered Houston toad Bufo (Anaxyrus) houstonensis were not supported in this study.

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