Pyrodiversity interacts with rainfall to increase bird and mammal richness in African savannas

TY - JOUR

T1 - Pyrodiversity interacts with rainfall to increase bird and mammal richness in African savannas

AU - Beale, Colin Michael

AU - Courtney-Mustaphi, Colin John

AU - Morrison, Thomas A

AU - Archibald, Sally

AU - Anderson, T Michael

AU - Dobson, Andrew P

AU - Donaldson, Jason E

AU - Hempson, Gareth P

AU - Probert, James

AU - Parr, Catherine L

N1 - © 2018 The Authors. Ecology Letters published by CNRS and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

PY - 2018/4/1

Y1 - 2018/4/1

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

KW - Bats

KW - INLA

KW - birds

KW - conservation

KW - fire

KW - fire management

KW - mammals

KW - protected areas

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85041992595&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1111/ele.12921

DO - 10.1111/ele.12921

M3 - Letter

C2 - 29441661

SN - 1461-023X

VL - 21

SP - 557

EP - 567

JO - Ecology Letters

JF - Ecology Letters

IS - 4

ER -