Beale, Colin Michael orcid.org/0000-0002-2960-5666, Courtney-Mustaphi, Colin John, Morrison, Thomas A et al. (7 more authors) (2018) Pyrodiversity interacts with rainfall to increase bird and mammal richness in African savannas. Ecology Letters. pp. 557-567. ISSN 1461-023X
Abstract
Fire is a fundamental process in savannas and is widely used for management. Pyrodiversity, variation in local fire characteristics, has been proposed as a driver of biodiversity although empirical evidence is equivocal. Using a new measure of pyrodiversity (Hempson et al.), we undertook the first continent-wide assessment of how pyrodiversity affects biodiversity in protected areas across African savannas. The influence of pyrodiversity on bird and mammal species richness varied with rainfall: strongest support for a positive effect occurred in wet savannas (> 650 mm/year), where species richness increased by 27% for mammals and 40% for birds in the most pyrodiverse regions. Range-restricted birds were most increased by pyrodiversity, suggesting the diversity of fire regimes increases the availability of rare niches. Our findings are significant because they explain the conflicting results found in previous studies of savannas. We argue that managing savanna landscapes to increase pyrodiversity is especially important in wet savannas.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2018 The Authors. Ecology Letters published by CNRS and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. |
Keywords: | Bats,INLA,birds,conservation,fire,fire management,mammals,protected areas |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Sciences (York) > Biology (York) |
Depositing User: | Pure (York) |
Date Deposited: | 19 Jan 2018 12:40 |
Last Modified: | 26 Nov 2024 00:37 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12921 |
Status: | Published |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1111/ele.12921 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:126424 |
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Description: Colin Beale - Pyrodiversity-biodiversity
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