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Kelly, Luke T., Dale G. Nimmo, Lisa M. Spence-Bailey, Michael F. Clarke, and Andrew F. Bennett. "The short-term responses of small mammals to wildfire in semiarid mallee shrubland, Australia." Wildlife Research 37, no. 4 (2010): 293. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wr10016.
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Context. Wildfire is a major driver of the structure and function of mallee eucalypt- and spinifex-dominated landscapes. Understanding how fire influences the distribution of biota in these fire-prone environments is essential for effective ecological and conservation-based management. Aims. We aimed to (1) determine the effects of an extensive wildfire (118 000 ha) on a small mammal community in the mallee shrublands of semiarid Australia and (2) assess the hypothesis that the fire-response patterns of small mammals can be predicted by their life-history characteristics. Methods. Small-mammal surveys were undertaken concurrently at 26 sites: once before the fire and on four occasions following the fire (including 14 sites that remained unburnt). We documented changes in small-mammal occurrence before and after the fire, and compared burnt and unburnt sites. In addition, key components of vegetation structure were assessed at each site. Key results. Wildfire had a strong influence on vegetation structure and on the occurrence of small mammals. The mallee ningaui, Ningaui yvonneae, a dasyurid marsupial, showed a marked decline in the immediate post-fire environment, corresponding with a reduction in hummock-grass cover in recently burnt vegetation. Species richness of native small mammals was positively associated with unburnt vegetation, although some species showed no clear response to wildfire. Conclusions. Our results are consistent with the contention that mammal responses to fire are associated with their known life-history traits. The species most strongly affected by wildfire, N. yvonneae, has the most specific habitat requirements and restricted life history of the small mammals in the study area. The only species positively associated with recently burnt vegetation, the introduced house mouse, Mus domesticus, has a flexible life history and non-specialised resource requirements. Implications. Maintaining sources for recolonisation after large-scale wildfires will be vital to the conservation of native small mammals in mallee ecosystems.
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Hutchen, Jenna, Logan A. Volkmann, and Karen E. Hodges. "Experimental designs for studying small-mammal responses to fire in North American conifer forests." International Journal of Wildland Fire 26, no. 6 (2017): 523. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf16223.
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Climate change is altering fire regimes. As fire regimes change, it is important to understand how mammals respond to these altered post-fire landscapes. Because fires vary in size, severity and landscape context, it is important to know the experimental designs and response variables used to address post-fire responses of mammals. We analysed 48 papers published from 1988 to 2015 that examined responses of small mammals to natural or prescribed fire in North American conifer forests. These papers used different experimental contrasts (e.g. burned vs unburned sites, time series, within-fire heterogeneity). Most studies (89.6%) presented species richness or index-derived abundances of common species as their response variable(s). Many studies did not fully describe the fires being examined; these omissions make it more difficult to interpret and compare results among studies. The limited scope of inference presented by the papers in this review leads us to recommend a minimal set of information that should be presented about each fire studied. We conclude by outlining how different experimental designs and response variables can be used for effective inference. We highlight major pathways forward for examining responses of small forest mammals to the important changes in fire regime that are occurring.
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Seville, R., Nancy Stanton, and David Spildie. "Long-Term Response of Small Mammal Communities to the 1988 Huckleberry Mountain Fire." UW National Parks Service Research Station Annual Reports 21 (January 1, 1997): 64–68. http://dx.doi.org/10.13001/uwnpsrc.1997.3329.
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Natural burns are common in the boreal forests of the Rocky Mountains. While a considerable amount of research has focused on post-burn responses of vegetation and, more recently, large mammals, there have been few studies on responses of small mammal communities in these forests. The primary objective of this study was to revisit study sites on Huckleberry Mountain established immediately following the 1988 Yellowstone fires (Stanton et al., 1991, 1992; Spildie, 1994) to assess small mammal population trends, community structure, and microhabitat preferences on adjacent burned and unburned study sites 9 years post-burn.
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Stevens, Mike, John White, and Raylene Cooke. "Short-term impact of a mega-fire on small mammal communities during prolonged drought." Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria 124, no. 1 (2012): 61. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/rs12061.
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Increased size, severity and frequency of wildfire is predicted as a consequence of prolonged droughts associated with climate change. In south-eastern Australia severe landscape-scale wildfires (mega-fires) have elicited a strong anthropocentric response due to the significant life and property impacts. However, the impact of mega-fires on fauna, habitat and subsequent management actions are poorly understood. Small mammals were surveyed to examine mega-fire impact using the post-2006 wildfire landscape of the Grampians National Park, Victoria, Australia. Long-term research sites were established with 9620 trap nights completed in autumn 2008 across thirty-six sampling units. Vegetation structure, floristics, fire severity, patch size and overall fuel hazard were measured to investigate correlations with changes in small mammal abundance.Two years post-wildfire, rapid resurgence of house mouse (Mus musculus) was detected, conversely the abundance of native small mammal species was severely impacted. No sampling category within the burnt perimeter provided superior refuge presenting potential conservation implications. A habitat vacancy model is introduced where small mammal recolonisation post-wildfire depends on a lack of isolation and connectivity of populations. Floristic and structural contributions of vegetation to higher overall fuel hazard areas are essential in maintaining diverse fauna assemblages. As such, prescribed burning or fire suppression tactics such as ‘patching out’ or ‘burning out’ require consideration when contributing to further reduction of complex habitat patches following fires.
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Doherty, Tim S., Robert A. Davis, Eddie J. B. van Etten, Neil Collier, and Josef Krawiec. "Response of a shrubland mammal and reptile community to a history of landscape-scale wildfire." International Journal of Wildland Fire 24, no. 4 (2015): 534. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf14115.
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Fire plays a strong role in structuring fauna communities and the habitat available to them in fire-prone regions. Human-mediated increases in fire frequency and intensity threaten many animal species and understanding how these species respond to fire history and its associated effect on vegetation is essential to effective biodiversity management. We used a shrubland mammal and reptile community in semiarid south-western Australia as a model to investigate interactions between fire history, habitat structure and fauna habitat use. Of the 15 species analysed, five were most abundant in recently burnt habitat (8–13 years since last fire), four were most abundant in long unburnt areas (25–50 years) and six showed no response to fire history. Fauna responses to fire history were divergent both within and across taxonomic groups. Fire management that homogenises large areas of habitat through either fire exclusion or frequent burning may threaten species due to these diverse requirements, so careful management of fire may be needed to maximise habitat suitability across the landscape. When establishing fire management plans, we recommend that land managers exercise caution in adopting species-specific information from different locations and broad vegetation types. Information on animal responses to fire is best gained through experimental and adaptive management approaches at the local level.
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Lindenmayer, D. B., C. MacGregor, A. Welsh, C. Donnelly, M. Crane, D. Michael, R. Montague-Drake, et al. "Contrasting mammal responses to vegetation type and fire." Wildlife Research 35, no. 5 (2008): 395. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wr07156.
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The response of terrestrial mammals and arboreal marsupials to past burning history as well as a year prior to, and then for 4 years after, a major wildfire in 2003 at Booderee National Park, Jervis Bay Territory was quantified. The present study encompassed extensive repeated surveys at a set of 109 replicated sites stratified by vegetation type and fire history. It was found that most species exhibited significant differences in presence and abundance between major vegetation types. Detections of long-nosed bandicoot (Perameles nasuta) increased significantly in all vegetation types surveyed, in both burnt and unburnt areas. Temporal patterns in captures of three species of small mammals (bush rat (Rattus fuscipes), swamp rat (Rattus lutreolus) and brown antechinus (Antechinus stuartii)) showed a trend for lower numbers of captures on burnt sites compared with unburnt sites. Three species of arboreal marsupials, common ringtail possum (Pseudocheirus peregrinus), greater glider (Petauroides volans) and common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula), were moderately common and all showed marked differences in abundance between vegetation types. Whereas P. peregrinus and P. volans exhibited a temporal decline between 2003 and 2006, T. vulpecula exhibited a general increase from 2003 levels. However, arboreal marsupial responses did not appear to be directly fire related.
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Perry, Justin J., Eric P. Vanderduys, and Alex S. Kutt. "More famine than feast: pattern and variation in a potentially degenerating mammal fauna on Cape York Peninsula." Wildlife Research 42, no. 6 (2015): 475. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wr15050.
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Context Global mammal populations continue to be threatened by environmental change, and recent decadal monitoring in northern Australia suggests a collapse in mammal abundance in key locations. Cape York Peninsula has globally significant natural values but there is very little published about the status and distribution of mammals in this region. Aims Following an extensive field survey we investigated two key questions: (i) what is the composition, spatial variation and change from previous regional surveys in the mid to late 1900s in the native terrestrial and arboreal mammal fauna recorded; and (ii) which landscape and site factors best predict mammal richness and abundance. Methods We sampled 202 one-hectare sites across seven locations from 2009 to 2012 in woodlands, closed forestand dune scrub and tussock grasslands. We collected landscape and site-based environmental data for each location, representing fire, weather and vegetation factors. We used generalised linear mixed models to examine the relationship between mammals and these factors. Key results Mammals were generally scarce across the sites and were more abundant and species rich in wet coastal grasslands or closed forests then tropical savanna woodlands. Fire frequency data and the surrounding vegetation complexity were consistent landscape-scale predictors of mammals; ground cover and woody complexity were significant at the site scale. Conclusions Notwithstanding interpretational constraints related to the limited evidence base of historic sampling, the mammal fauna recorded in this study for Cape York Peninsula was similar in composition to the mammal fauna described from 1948–1980 and surveys in 1985, with some species seemingly declining (e.g. Melomys burtoni, Dasyurus hallucatus, Sminthopsis virginiae) and others stable (e.g. Rattus sordidus) or more common (e.g. Rattus tunneyi); however, across all sites abundance was low, and many sites had few or no mammals. Implications In the absence of consistent long-term systematic monitoring it is difficult to determine if this survey and historical surveys represent pre-European patterns for mammals. The absence or low abundance of mammals in most sites suggest that cotemporary patterns may not represent an intact mammal fauna. Due to the equivocal nature of these findings a critical next step is to establish robust monitoring and experimental work to reveal the response of mammals to management interventions.
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Burt, M., R. Seville, Wayne Cummings, and Rebecca Zook. "Long-Term Response of Small Mammal Communities to the 1988 Huckleberry Mountain Fire." UW National Parks Service Research Station Annual Reports 32 (January 1, 2009): 81–87. http://dx.doi.org/10.13001/uwnpsrc.2009.3757.
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Biologists have long been interested in the response of small mammals and their habitat following natural disturbances. The Greater Yellowstone Area (GYA) fires of 1988 have provided opportunities to study short and long term responses. This study continues investigations conducted in the 1990âs following identical methodology at the same sites now 21 years post-fire. We live trapped 256 Clethrionomys gapperi (Red-backed Vole), 116 Peromyscus maniculatus (Deer Mouse), 44 Tamius minimus (Least Chipmunk), 28 Zapus princeps (Western Jumping Mouse), two Microtus montanus (Montane Vole), 1 Thomomys talpoides (Northern Pocket Gopher) and 37 shrews (Sorex ssp.). These results support findings from other investigations regarding the initial early dominance of P. maniculatus in burn areas and C. gapperi in control or non-burn areas, and as time has progressed since the burn, differences between burn and control sites (as measured by community diversity indices) has decreased. As expected calculated Shannon diversity indices (Hâ) in 2009 are higher for at least one of the burn sites than in previous years as the habitat recovers to pre-burn conditions.
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Fontaine, Joseph B., and Patricia L. Kennedy. "Meta-analysis of avian and small-mammal response to fire severity and fire surrogate treatments in U.S. fire-prone forests." Ecological Applications 22, no. 5 (July 2012): 1547–61. http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/12-0009.1.
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Stawski, Clare, Taylor Hume, Gerhard Körtner, Shannon E. Currie, Julia Nowack, and Fritz Geiser. "Post-fire recovery of torpor and activity patterns of a small mammal." Biology Letters 13, no. 5 (May 2017): 20170036. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2017.0036.
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To cope with the post-fire challenges of decreased availability of food and shelter, brown antechinus ( Antechinus stuartii ), a small marsupial mammal, increase the use of energy-conserving torpor and reduce activity. However, it is not known how long it takes for animals to resume pre-fire torpor and activity patterns during the recovery of burnt habitat. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that antechinus will adjust torpor use and activity after a fire depending on vegetation recovery. We simultaneously quantified torpor and activity patterns for female antechinus from three adjacent areas: (i) the area of a management burn 1 year post-fire, (ii) an area that was burned 2 years prior, and (iii) a control area. In comparison to shortly after the management burn, antechinus in all three groups displayed less frequent and less pronounced torpor while being more active. We provide the first evidence that only 1 year post-fire antechinus resume pre-fire torpor and activity patterns, probably in response to the return of herbaceous ground cover and foraging opportunities.
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Driessen, Michael M., Peter J. Jarman, Micah Visoiu, and Elise Dewar. "Mammal responses to moderate-intensity planned burning in a small, isolated woodland reserve." Wildlife Research 48, no. 6 (2021): 561. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wr20165.
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Abstract ContextFire management advice for fauna conservation in protected areas must often be based on expert opinion and extrapolation from very few scientific studies. More monitoring and research are needed to better inform land managers tasked with both managing for biodiversity and managing the threat of bushfires. AimsTo document changes in the activity of native and introduced mammal species in response to planned burns in a small, isolated woodland reserve in Tasmania. MethodsOver a 10-year period, mammal activity was monitored before and after two separate moderate-intensity planned burns in 20-ha management blocks and in unburnt blocks of similar size by using live-trapping and camera-trapping. Vegetation density was monitored concurrently, and we also searched burnt areas for animals killed by fire. Key resultsThe activity of most mammal populations was largely unaffected by the two planned burns. However, during one of the burns, over 20 rufous-bellied pademelons were directly killed as a result of a need to conduct a backburn. The population recovered after 3 years. The activity of red-necked wallabies, common brushtail possums and short-beaked echidnas generally increased across the whole study area during the 10-year monitoring period. Limited evidence suggests that eastern barred bandicoot and European rabbit activity increased after fire. No swamp rat activity was recorded in burnt areas following the planned burns. Unexpectedly they did not recolonise burnt areas and also ceased to be active in control areas for the last 3 years of the study; we hypothesise that this may be due to the increased dryness and thinning of vegetation. ConclusionsWe found that most of the mammal populations within this small, isolated reserve were resilient to the planned burning program, with no or limited short-term effect for all but one species. The absence of swamp rats from burnt or unburnt areas for the last 3 years of our study suggests that factors other than fire are also affecting this species. ImplicationsPlanned burning is an important tool for biodiversity conservation, but its use needs to be underpinned by empirical data because mammal fire responses are likely to be site-, time- and context-specific.
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Wilson, B. A., and G. R. Friend. "Responses of Australian Mammals to Disturbance: A Review." Australian Mammalogy 21, no. 1 (1999): 87. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/am99087.
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The Australian native mammal fauna has evolved in an environment where 'natural' or endogenous disturbance is ongoing and widespread, be it fire, flood, drought or cyclones. Since European settlement, however, the type, scale, frequency and intensity of disturbance has changed and added a new suite of exogenous impacts including introduced predators and herbivores, vegetation clearance, habitat fragmentation, altered fire regimes, grazing and timber harvesting. This has presented novel and significant adaptive challenges to native mammals over a compressed time-scale, resulting in major extinctions, population declines and disruption to community structure. In this paper we examine the ecology of Australian mammals in the context of these new disturbances, and compare the response patterns observed, and assess the processes operating. In general, Australian mammalian successional patterns are closely tied to vegetation regeneration, which is related to the degree of disruption. Disturbances such as predation do not fall within this pattern. Mammalian successional states vary between different disturbance types within an ecosystem, depending on the critical elements of vegetation structure and composition. Landscape and climatic factors also affect successional patterns and need to be further investigated.
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Inkster-Draper, Tamara E., Marcus Sheaves, Christopher N. Johnson, and Simon K. A. Robson. "Prescribed fire in eucalypt woodlands: immediate effects on a microbat community of northern Australia." Wildlife Research 40, no. 1 (2013): 70. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wr12133.
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Context Fire is a major ecological factor in many landscapes. Prescribed fires are often used in the management of vegetation for ecological values, wildlife habitat and reduction of risk of wildfire. However, debate continues over whether active fire management is beneficial to flora and fauna. Although bats comprise ~20% of the world’s extant mammal fauna, they have been largely ignored in studies investigating ecosystem response to fire, especially in Australia. Aims In the present study, we aim to investigate the immediate responses of microbats to prescribed fires in a tropical eucalypt woodland.Methods We used a replicated paired experimental design, consisting of burned and unburned treatment and control sites, to investigate how bat activity and community structure change following a prescribed fire. Key results Total bat activity increased significantly following fire. Fire also resulted in changes in the bat species assemblage. Changes in community structure were driven by the following five species: Saccolaimus spp., Chalinolobus nigrogriseus, Chaerephon jobensis, Rhinolophus megaphyllus and unidentified Species c35. Activity of C. nigrogriseus, Saccolaimus spp., C. jobensis and Species c35 increased in the burned sites, whereas changes in the activity of R. megaphyllus were uncorrelated with the effects of fire. Conclusions The effect of fire on these species is consistent with flight patterns and habitat use; species with higher wing aspect ratios, such as Saccolaimus spp., which are capable of fast flight but with limited manoeuvrability, became more active in the open conditions created by fire. Implications The results of the present study suggest that prescribed fire as an environmental management tool may be beneficial to bats, at least in the short term, because it increases habitat suitability for a wider range of species.
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Woinarski, J. C. Z., M. Armstrong, O. Price, J. McCartney, A. D. Griffiths, and A. Fisher. "The terrestrial vertebrate fauna of Litchfield National Park, Northern Territory: monitoring over a 6-year period and response to fire history." Wildlife Research 31, no. 6 (2004): 587. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wr03077.
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Forty-seven 50 m × 50 m quadrats were sampled systematically for vertebrates at Litchfield National Park, northern Australia, in both 1995–96 and 2001–02. A total of 184 vertebrate species was recorded from this sampling, of which 92 species were recorded from five or more quadrats. There was substantial change in the reported species composition of these quadrats between these two periods: the mean Bray–Curtis index for similarity in species composition from the baseline to subsequent sampling of a quadrat was only 22.1 (for an index that varies from 0 for complete turnover in species to 100 for unchanged composition). For individual species, correlations across quadrats in the abundance scores from baseline to resampling varied from –0.12 to 0.85. Matched-pairs testing showed that there was significant change in abundance for 18 species from the baseline to repeat sampling, and significant increase in total bird species richness and total native mammal abundance, but significant decrease in reptile species richness. Fire history was recorded biannually for 40 of the 47 quadrats. Fire was very frequent, with quadrats being burnt in an average of 3.65 years of the six years between fauna samples. Three aspects of this fire history (total number of years of fires, number of fires in the late dry season, and interval from the last fire to the date of resampling) were related to change in the fauna composition of quadrats. Neither the similarity in species composition, nor change in richness or total abundance of all vertebrates or of the four taxonomic classes considered (frogs, reptiles, birds and mammals) were significantly correlated with these components of the fire history of sampled quadrats. This lack of association was possibly because the monitoring period was too short to show pronounced directional change, because the system was responding to many factors other than fire, because the variations in abundance were too large and the number of samples too small to detect true associations, or because fire histories preceding baseline sampling were not considered. The apparent instability of fauna species and communities in this system provides a considerable challenge for broad-brush (that is, vertebrate community–wide) monitoring. Power analysis demonstrated that, for most species, more than 1000 sample sites are needed to be 90% certain of detecting a 20% change in abundance, and with a 10% chance of accepting a Type I error. This level of sampling effort is commensurate with the current level of vertebrate sampling in this region. Broad-brush monitoring approaches such as described here are valuable, but need also to be complemented by more targetted monitoring for individual threatened species or species of particular management interest.
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Namukonde, Ngawo, and Chuma Simukonda. "The response of small mammal communities to low and high fire recurrences in Kafue National Park, Zambia." Biodiversity & Ecology 6 (April 14, 2018): 460–65. http://dx.doi.org/10.7809/b-e.00360.
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Southgate, R., and P. Masters. "Fluctuations of rodent populations in response to rainfall and fire in a central Australian hummock grassland dominated by Plectrachne schinzii." Wildlife Research 23, no. 3 (1996): 289. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wr9960289.
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Fluctuations in the composition and abundance of a small-mammal assemblage were studied in a hummock grassland dominated by Plectrachne schinzii at Watarrka National Park from 1988 to 1993. During this period an experiment was conducted to examine the short-term effects of fire on the rodents. We caught three species of rodent (Pseudomys hermannsburgensis, Notomys alexis and Mus domesticus). All species reached their greatest density in spring 1989 during an exceptionally wet period that extended from mid- 1988 to 1990. P. hermannsburgensis was the most abundant species and showed a 10-fold fluctuation in numbers over the sample period; N. alexis was the next most abundant species and showed a 5-fold increase but the population took longer to decline. M. domesticus was recorded only during the period of high rainfall. The number of M. domesticus was significantly less on the burnt plots than on the unburnt plots. Neither P. hermannsburgensis nor N. alexis showed significant differences between burnt and unburnt plots. This study illustrates the impact of rainfall events on the composition and density of small-mammal populations in spinifex grasslands in central Australia. Our results lead to the prediction that rodent populations will achieve densities in the order of 10 individuals ha-' or more in regions that experience three consecutive 6-month periods each with rainfall at 150% of the long-term average. This sequence apparently needs to follow a dry period where rainfall is no more than 85% of the long-term annual average for two consecutive 12-month periods.
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Berry, L. E., D. B. Lindenmayer, T. E. Dennis, D. A. Driscoll, and S. C. Banks. "Fire severity alters spatio–temporal movements and habitat utilisation by an arboreal marsupial, the mountain brushtail possum (Trichosurus cunninghami)." International Journal of Wildland Fire 25, no. 12 (2016): 1291. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf15204.
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Understanding how severe wildfires influence faunal movement is essential for predicting how changes in fire regimes will affect ecosystems. We examined the effects of fire severity distribution on spatial and temporal variation in movement of an Australian arboreal mammal, the mountain brushtail possum (Trichosurus cunninghami). We used GPS telemetry to characterise the movements of 18 possums in landscapes burnt to differing extents by a large wildfire. We identified a temporal change in movement patterns in response to fire. In unburnt landscapes, individuals moved greater distances early and late in the night and had less overlap in the areas used for foraging and denning, than in high-severity burnt landscapes. Habitat selection was dependent on the spatial context of fire in the surrounding landscape. Forest recently burnt at high severity may provide suitable habitat for species such as the mountain brushtail possum, if protected from subsequent disturbance, such as salvage logging. However, spatial and temporal patterns of habitat use and selection differ considerably between burnt and undisturbed landscapes. The spatial outcomes of ecological disturbances such as wildfires have the potential to alter the behaviour and functional roles of fauna across large areas.
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Alho, CJR. "Biodiversity of the Pantanal: response to seasonal flooding regime and to environmental degradation." Brazilian Journal of Biology 68, no. 4 suppl (November 2008): 957–66. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/s1519-69842008000500005.
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Seasonal flooding is the most important ecological phenomenon in the Pantanal. Every year many parts of the biome change from terrestrial into aquatic habitats and vice-versa. The degree of inundation creates a range of major habitats. Flooding occupies about 80% of the whole Pantanal. In contrast, during the dry season, most of the flooded areas stay dry, when the water returns to the river beds or evaporates. The Pantanal is a large continental savanna wetland (147,574 km² in Brazil), touching Bolivia to the north and Paraguay to the south. The maze of fluctuating water levels, nutrients, and biota forms a dynamic ecosystem. The vegetation comprises 1,863 phanerogam plant species listed for the floodplain and 3,400 for the whole basin and 250 species of aquatic plants. The complex vegetation cover and seasonal productivity support a diverse and abundant fauna within the floodplain: 263 species of fish, 41 of amphibians, 113 of reptiles (177 for the basin), 463 of birds and 132 mammal species. Many endangered species occur, including jaguar (Panthera onca Linnaeus, 1758). Waterfowl are exceptionally abundant during the dry season. Analysis of the root causes of the threats to biodiversity indicated that deforestation (17% of the Pantanal and 63% of the surrounding uplands) with modification and loss of natural habitats due to cattle ranching, unsustainable agriculture, mining, environmental contamination (including mercury, pesticides, urban sewage), non organized tourism, fire, disturbances at the upstream region modifying hydrological flow, erosion, weak implementation and enforcement of legislation are the major issues to face conservation action and sustainable use. Under an evolutionary focus, local biodiversity seems to be well adapted to seasonal shrinking and expansion of natural habitats due to flooding. However, the conversion of natural vegetation due to human occupation is a real threat to biodiversity.
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Lees, Dylan M., Darcy J. Watchorn, Don A. Driscoll, and Tim S. Doherty. "Microhabitat selection by small mammals in response to fire." Australian Journal of Zoology 69, no. 3 (February 11, 2022): 67–79. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/zo21022.
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Understanding how fire influences animal behaviour, such as movement and resource selection, is important for ecosystem management because it can improve our capacity to predict how species will respond. We assessed microhabitat selection by two small mammals, the bush rat (Rattus fuscipes) and agile antechinus (Antechinus agilis), in response to a low intensity prescribed fire. We used spool and line tracking and touch pole vegetation surveys to quantify microhabitat selection along 21 trails for bush rats and 22 for antechinuses before and after fire. In unburnt areas, bush rats showed positive selection for sedges, logs, and habitat complexity, with selection further increasing in burnt areas for sedges, ferns, shrubs, habitat complexity and unburnt patches. Agile antechinuses showed no significant microhabitat selection in unburnt or burnt areas and no change in response to fire. Their lack of response to ground fires may be due, partially, to their scansorial behaviour and use of tree hollows as refuge sites. Strong selection by bush rats for small unburnt patches suggests that even low intensity, patchy fires such as planned burns can impact bush rats and that high burn patchiness may help bush rats persist in recently burnt areas. Future fire planning should consider both behavioural and population responses of animals to fire.
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Griffiths, Anthony D., and Barry W. Brook. "Effect of fire on small mammals: a systematic review." International Journal of Wildland Fire 23, no. 7 (2014): 1034. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf14026.
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Fire is a natural disturbance that exerts an important influence on global ecosystems, affecting vegetation distribution and structure, the carbon cycle and climate. However, human-induced changes to fire regimes may affect at-risk species groups such as small mammals. We examine the effect of fire on small mammals and evaluate the relative sensitivity to fire among different groups using a systematic review methodology that included critiquing the literature with respect to survey design and statistical analysis. Overall, small mammal abundance is slightly higher, and demographic parameters more favourable, in unburnt sites compared to burnt sites. This was more pronounced in species with body size range of 101–1000g and with habitat requirements that are sensitive to fire (e.g. dense ground cover): in 66.6 and 69.7% of pairwise comparisons, abundance or a demographic parameter were higher in unburnt than burnt sites. This systematic review demonstrates that there remains a continued focus on simple shifts in abundance with regards to effect of fire and small mammals, which limits understanding of mechanisms responsible for change. Body size and habitat preference were most important in explaining variation in small mammal species’ responses to fire.
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Bruggeman, Jason E., and Daniel S. Licht. "Drought-mediated changes in black-tailed prairie dog colonies in the Northern Great Plains." Journal of Mammalogy 101, no. 4 (July 23, 2020): 1189–204. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/gyaa070.
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Abstract Populations of many mammal species living in grassland ecosystems across North America have been reduced greatly over the past 200 years due to conversion of native prairie to human-related uses. Foremost among these species is the black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus), populations of which have declined an estimated 98% during that time. In addition to anthropogenic factors including plague, black-tailed prairie dog populations can vary in size in response to grazing by native ungulates, fire, and precipitation. Colonies in the Northern Great Plains have expanded and contracted during dry and wet periods, respectively. Drought reduces vegetation height; tall vegetation is known to limit colony expansion, possibly due to increased predation risk. We used mixed-effects models to analyze data sets of colony areas of black-tailed prairie dogs spanning 16–22 years and 983 total colony counts, from 142 unique colonies at Badlands National Park and Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota, United States, and Scotts Bluff National Monument, Nebraska, United States, to relate areal dynamics of colonies over time to total annual precipitation, drought stress, and plague. We also analyzed the relationship between active-burrow densities and precipitation and drought stress using 7 years of data from 271 colony counts at Badlands National Park. Black-tailed prairie dog colonies expanded in response to drought conditions in all three national parks, with colonies in Wind Cave National Park exhibiting a time-delayed response. In addition, colony area was negatively related to total accumulated precipitation for the preceding 12 months for Scotts Bluff National Monument. Active-burrow density at Badlands National Park decreased in response to drought stress with a time lag of 24–36 months. Plague first was reported at Badlands National Park in 2008 and colony areas decreased dramatically and rapidly during plague epizootic events. Our results support observations that black-tailed prairie dog colonies in the Northern Great Plains expand and contract in response to drought stress and wet weather. Furthermore, our findings provide new insights into the role of climate on a keystone species of conservation importance and demonstrate the value of collecting long-term ecological data.
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Lanier, Hayley C., Lynn M. Moore, Zachary P. Roehrs, Ami L. Wangeline, and R. Scott Seville. "The influence of fire interval on community structure in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem." UW National Parks Service Research Station Annual Reports 40 (December 15, 2017): 43–49. http://dx.doi.org/10.13001/uwnpsrc.2017.5567.
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With fires becoming more common in the intermountain West, understanding patterns of post-fire succession and the role of fire interval in shaping community responses has become critical. In 2016, the Berry Fire burned through 4 study grids which have been the focus of a long-term fire succession project started after the massive 1988 fire season. We investigated the effects of this fire with respect to the repeatability of post-fire succession patterns (i.e., does succession after the 2016 fire match patterns observed after the 1988 fire) and the role of burn interval in shaping community structure of small mammals, invertebrates, and plants. Preliminary results indicate that sites with short burn intervals had greater diversity and abundance across all three taxonomic groups, although these differences were not always significant. Whereas the dominant taxa (deer mice and ants) were the same 1 year after the 1988 and 2016 fires, we documented greater abundance of invertebrates and mammals and greater diversity of mammals after the 2016 fires. Taken together, these results highlight the importance of understanding fire regime (i.e., fire timing and intensity) in shaping these ecological communities into the future.
Featured photo by filarwilliams on Flickr. https://flic.kr/p/KYMiJF
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Moyo, Sydney. "Community Responses to Fire: A Global Meta-Analysis Unravels the Contrasting Responses of Fauna to Fire." Earth 3, no. 4 (October 27, 2022): 1087–111. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/earth3040063.
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Globally, wildfires and prescribed fires are becoming more prevalent and are known to affect plant and animals in diverse ecosystems. Understanding the responses of animal communities to fire is a central issue in conservation and a panacea to predicting how fire regimes may affect communities and food webs. Here, a global meta-analysis of 2581 observations extracted from 208 empirical studies were used to investigate the effect of fire on aboveground and belowground fauna (e.g., bacteria, fungi, small mammals, arthropods). Overall, results revealed that fire had a negative effect on biomass, abundance, richness, evenness, and diversity of all faunas. Similarly, when considering wildfires and prescribed fires the data revealed that both fire regimes have negative effects on fauna. Similarly, fire had negative impacts on aboveground and aboveground fauna across most biomes and continents of the world. Moreover, there was little evidence of changes in pH, moisture and soil depth on soil organisms suggesting that other factors may drive community changes following a fire disturbance. Future research in fire ecology should consider the effects of fire across several species and across larger geospatial scales. In addition, fire effects on faunal community structure must be studied under contrasting global fire regimes and in light of the effects of climate change.
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Radford, Ian J., and Richard Fairman. "Fauna and vegetation responses to fire and invasion by toxic cane toads (Rhinella marina) in an obligate seeder-dominated tropical savanna in the Kimberley, northern Australia." Wildlife Research 42, no. 4 (2015): 302. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wr14259.
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Context Changed fire regimes are an important threatening process to savanna biodiversity. Fire-sensitive vegetation such as pindan and its fauna may be particularly susceptible to fire impacts. Invasion by alien species is an additional threatening process. The toxic anuran Rhinella marina is a well publicised invader of savannas. Little is known of impacts in many habitats. Aims To test the hypotheses (1) that fire responses among pindan fauna are greater than general savanna responses, and (2) that cane toad-invasion impacts will be reduced relative to riparian habitats. Methods Reptiles, frogs, invertebrates and mammals were surveyed seven times from 2008 to 2012, four times before and three times following R. marina invasion. Time since last fire was recorded during each survey. Vegetation change was measured. Key results Pindan vegetation structural recovery took 4–5 years, whereas fauna recovery took only 1 year. Ground active agamids, combined Scincidae, fossorial skinks and ground-layer invertebrates responded positively to recent fire. Skinks of Ctenotus spp. declined in size after fire. Short-term fauna responses reflect rapid re-establishment of herbaceous cover. Fauna responses were detected following R. marina invasion, including increases in frogs of Uperoleia spp. and skinks of Carlia spp., and decreases in Lerista griffini and ground-layer invertebrates. Insufficient data were available to test for responses among large predators; however, >50% lower Varanus spp. trap success occurred post-invasion. No invasion response was detected among small mammals. Conclusions Pindan fauna fire responses were similar to those of savannas. Fauna responses to Rhinella marina invasion were relatively minor compared with those previously reported in riparian habitats and this may be related to the lower abundance of the invader here than in previous studies in riparian or more fertile habitats. Implications The dominant obligate seeding tree in pindan woodland, A. tumida, requires >4 years with no high-intensity fires for re-establishment of the dominant tree. Fire management should aim to minimise extensive fires to reduce impacts on fire-sensitive fauna. Persistence of large predators after cane-toad invasion suggests possible refuge value of low-productivity pindan savannas.
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Leahy, Lily, Sarah M. Legge, Katherine Tuft, Hugh W. McGregor, Leon A. Barmuta, Menna E. Jones, and Christopher N. Johnson. "Amplified predation after fire suppresses rodent populations in Australia’s tropical savannas." Wildlife Research 42, no. 8 (2015): 705. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wr15011.
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Context Changes in abundance following fire are commonly reported for vertebrate species, but the mechanisms causing these changes are rarely tested. Currently, many species of small mammals are declining in the savannas of northern Australia. These declines have been linked to intense and frequent fires in the late dry season; however, why such fires cause declines of small mammals is unknown. Aims We aimed to discover the mechanisms causing decline in abundance of two species of small mammals, the pale field rat, Rattus tunneyi, and the western chestnut mouse, Pseudomys nanus, in response to fire. Candidate mechanisms were (1) direct mortality because of fire itself, (2) mortality after fire because of removal of food by fire, (3) reduced reproductive success, (4) emigration, and (5) increased mortality because of predation following fire. Methods We used live trapping to monitor populations of these two species under the following three experimental fire treatments: high-intensity fire that removed all ground vegetation, low-intensity fire that produced a patchy burn, and an unburnt control. We also radio-tracked 38 R. tunneyi individuals to discover the fates of individual animals. Key results Abundance of both species declined after fire, and especially following the high-intensity burn. There was no support for any of the first four mechanisms of population decline, but mortality owing to predation increased after fire. This was related to loss of ground cover (which was greater in the high-intensity fire treatment), which evidently left animals exposed to predators. Also, local activity of two predators, feral cats and dingoes, increased after the burns, and we found direct evidence of predation by feral cats and snakes. Conclusions Fire in the northern savannas has little direct effect on populations of these small mammals, but it causes declines by amplifying the impacts of predators. These effects are most severe for high-intensity burns that remove a high proportion of vegetation cover. Implications To prevent further declines in northern Australia, fire should be managed in ways that limit the effects of increased predation. This could be achieved by setting cool fires that produce patchy burns, avoiding hot fires, and minimising the total area burnt.
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Legge, Sarah, Stephen Murphy, Joanne Heathcote, Emma Flaxman, John Augusteyn, and Marnie Crossman. "The short-term effects of an extensive and high-intensity fire on vertebrates in the tropical savannas of the central Kimberley, northern Australia." Wildlife Research 35, no. 1 (2008): 33. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wr07016.
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We report the effects of an extensive (>7000 km2), high-intensity late-dry-season fire in the central Kimberley, Western Australia, on the species richness and abundance of mammals, reptiles and birds. Five weeks after the fire we surveyed 12 sites (six burnt, six unburnt); each pair of sites was closely matched for soil type and vegetation. The species richness and abundance of mammals and reptiles was greater at unburnt sites, especially for mammals (with a 4-fold difference in abundance between burnt and unburnt sites). There was an indication that reptiles immigrated into unburnt patches, but mammals did not. There were also species-specific responses to the fire: Rattus tunneyi and Pseudomys nanus were much more abundant in unburnt sites, whereas Pseudomys delicatulus was caught in equal numbers at burnt and unburnt sites. Diurnal reptiles were more abundant at unburnt sites, but nocturnal reptiles were equally common at burnt and unburnt sites. Avian species richness and overall abundance was similar between burnt and unburnt patches, although a few species showed preferences for one state or the other. The overall high trapping success for mammals (18% across all sites; 28% in unburnt patches) contrasts with the well documented mammal collapse in parts of northern Australia and seems paradoxical given that our study area has experienced the same increase in fire frequency and extent that is often blamed for species collapse. However, our study area has fewer pressures from other sources, including grazing by large herbivores, suggesting that the effects of these pressures, and their interaction with fire, may have been underestimated in previous studies.
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Williams, Richard J., Carl-Henrik Wahren, Arn D. Tolsma, Glenn M. Sanecki, Warwick A. Papst, Bronwyn A. Myers, Keith L. McDougall, Dean A. Heinze, and Ken Green. "Large fires in Australian alpine landscapes: their part in the historical fire regime and their impacts on alpine biodiversity." International Journal of Wildland Fire 17, no. 6 (2008): 793. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf07154.
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The fires of summer 2003 in south-eastern Australia burnt tens of thousands of hectares of treeless alpine landscape. Here, we examine the environmental impact of these fires, using data from the Bogong High Plains area of Victoria, and the Snowy Mountains region of New South Wales. Historical and biophysical evidence suggests that in Australian alpine environments, extensive fires occur only in periods of extended regional drought, and when severe local fire weather coincides with multiple ignitions in the surrounding montane forests. Dendrochronological evidence indicates that large fires have occurred approximately every 50–100 years over the past 400 years. Post-fire monitoring of vegetation in grasslands and heathlands indicates that most alpine species regenerate rapidly after fire, with >90% of species present 1 year after fire. Some keystone species in some plant communities, however, had not regenerated after 3 years. The responses of alpine fauna to the 2003 fires were variable. The core habitat (closed heathland) of several vulnerable small mammals was extensively burnt. Some mammals experienced substantial falls in populations, others experienced substantial increases. Unburnt patches of vegetation are critical to faunal recovery from fire. There was, however, no evidence of local extinction. We conclude that infrequent extensive fires are a feature of alpine Australia. For both the flora and fauna, there is no quantitative evidence that the 2003 fires were an ecological disaster, and we conclude that the flora and fauna of alpine Australia are highly resilient to infrequent, large, intense fires.
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Nkwabi, Ally K., Kris Metzger, Rene Beyers, Flora Magige, Simon A. R. Mduma, J. Grant C. Hopcraft, and Anthony R. E. Sinclair. "Bird community responses to changes in vegetation caused by increasing large mammal populations in the Serengeti woodlands." Wildlife Research 46, no. 3 (2019): 256. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wr18001.
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Context The increase in density of large tree species, Vachellia robusta and V. tortilis, in the Serengeti Ecosystem of Tanzania has resulted in a decline of small tree species Senegalia senegal, V. hockii, Commiphora spp. This change has occurred since the late 1970s, a consequence of an increase in wildebeest following the extirpation of rinderpest, which reduced the dry grass fuel for fires, resulting in low fire frequencies. Change in tree species raises the question of whether there are indirect consequences for the avifauna that depend on the large trees for food and nesting. Aims To determine how an increase in large mammals could influence diversity and distribution of avifauna communities in the Serengeti ecosystem woodlands. Methods Data used to estimate changes in density of large and small trees were measured by Point Centre Quarter (PCQ). Bird species were recorded in 19 small-tree sites and 18 large-tree sites in the Serengeti National Park. Richness of bird guilds was calculated in the two habitat complexes (small and large trees), and the ‘rarefaction’ method was used to assess the difference in richness in habitats of the study area. Mean abundance for each species was calculated over the total number of sites for each habitat and compared using the Wilcoxon Rank Sum test to examine how the abundance of avifauna changes with each habitat type. Key results There was an increase in the density of large trees in some areas in which they have replaced the original small trees. Such changes have resulted in greater richness of hole nesters and bark feeders, and a greater abundance of large-hole nesters and gleaner bird species. Conclusions Because the increase in tree density was caused by an increase in large mammals, we conclude that this increasing mammal population is indirectly increasing richness and abundance of birds using the trees. Implications Understanding the influence of large mammal populations on bird distributions has important conservation implications because the Serengeti ecosystem is classified as an important, endemic bird area.
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Ojeda, R. A. "Small-Mammal Responses to Fire in the Monte Desert, Argentina." Journal of Mammalogy 70, no. 2 (May 25, 1989): 416–20. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1381531.
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Puig-Gironès, Roger, and Pere Pons. "Mice and Habitat Complexity Attract Carnivorans to Recently Burnt Forests." Forests 11, no. 8 (August 6, 2020): 855. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/f11080855.
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Faunal responses to wildfire depend on the fire effects on direct mortality, habitat structure, and resource availability for animals. Despite the importance of large predators in terrestrial trophic webs, little is still known about how fire affects carnivorans (the mammalian order Carnivora). To evaluate the responses of the carnivoran community to fire, we studied three recently burnt forest areas in the western Mediterranean basin. Line transects were used to quantify evidence of carnivorans (mainly feces) and to measure environmental variables and resources (small mammal abundance, fleshy fruit availability, and plant cover). Throughout the study, we found 212 carnivoran field signs, 93% of them produced by red fox and stone marten. Immediately after fire, carnivoran occurrence was more frequent close to the perimeter of the burnt area, where fire severity was low, and in places with greater small mammal abundance. Small mammal abundance and plant cover had the greatest effect on the frequency of occurrence of red fox in the burnt area surroundings, and this increased with time-since-fire in the burnt area. Furthermore, the presence of red fox did not affect stone marten occurrence. Stone martens were found around the burnt area perimeter, probably because of their preference for high plant cover, and they were not significantly affected by small mammal abundance. The scat frequency of occurrence of both species was not significantly related to fleshy fruit availability. Accordingly, rodents and carnivorans were more abundant where the habitat was more complex. Our results show that the responses of some carnivorans to fire are influenced, directly and indirectly, by habitat structure and resource availability.
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Lindenmayer, David B., Wade Blanchard, Christopher MacGregor, Philip Barton, Sam C. Banks, Mason Crane, Damian Michael, et al. "Temporal trends in mammal responses to fire reveals the complex effects of fire regime attributes." Ecological Applications 26, no. 2 (March 2016): 557–73. http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/15-0575.
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Kraaij, Tineke, Richard M. Cowling, Brian W. van Wilgen, Diba R. Rikhotso, and Mark Difford. "Vegetation responses to season of fire in an aseasonal, fire-prone fynbos shrubland." PeerJ 5 (August 10, 2017): e3591. http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.3591.
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Season of fire has marked effects on floristic composition in fire-prone Mediterranean-climate shrublands. In these winter-rainfall systems, summer-autumn fires lead to optimal recruitment of overstorey proteoid shrubs (non-sprouting, slow-maturing, serotinous Proteaceae) which are important to the conservation of floral diversity. We explored whether fire season has similar effects on early establishment of five proteoid species in the eastern coastal part of the Cape Floral Kingdom (South Africa) where rainfall occurs year-round and where weather conducive to fire and the actual incidence of fire are largely aseasonal. We surveyed recruitment success (ratio of post-fire recruits to pre-fire parents) of proteoids after fires in different seasons. We also planted proteoid seeds into exclosures, designed to prevent predation by small mammals and birds, in cleared (intended to simulate fire) fynbos shrublands at different sites in each of four seasons and monitored their germination and survival to one year post-planting (hereafter termed ‘recruitment’). Factors (in decreasing order of importance) affecting recruitment success in the post-fire surveys were species, pre-fire parent density, post-fire age of the vegetation at the time of assessment, and fire season, whereas rainfall (for six months post-fire) and fire return interval (>7 years) had little effect. In the seed-planting experiment, germination occurred during the cooler months and mostly within two months of planting, except for summer-plantings, which took 2–3 months longer to germinate. Although recruitment success differed significantly among planting seasons, sites and species, significant interactions occurred among the experimental factors. In both the post-fire surveys and seed planting experiment, recruitment success in relation to fire- or planting season varied greatly within and among species and sites. Results of these two datasets were furthermore inconsistent, suggesting that proteoid recruitment responses are not related to the season of fire. Germination appeared less rainfall-dependent than in winter-rainfall shrublands, suggesting that summer drought-avoiding dormancy is limited and has less influence on variation in recruitment success among fire seasons. The varied response of proteoid recruitment to fire season (or its simulation) implies that burning does not have to be restricted to particular seasons in eastern coastal fynbos, affording more flexibility for fire management than in shrublands associated with winter rainfall.
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Dawson, James P., Andrew W. Claridge, Barbara Triggs, and David J. Paull. "Diet of a native carnivore, the spotted-tailed quoll (Dasyurus maculatus), before and after an intense wildfire." Wildlife Research 34, no. 5 (2007): 342. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wr05101.
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The relationship between the diet of the spotted-tailed quoll (Dasyurus maculatus) and the abundance of its prey was investigated in rain-shadow woodland habitat in southern New South Wales for one year before and two years after a high-intensity, broad-scale wildfire. Scats were variously collected from quoll latrines and live-trapped animals during winter for each of the three years and analysed to determine prey items. Estimates of abundance of key ground-dwelling and arboreal medium-sized mammals were simultaneously obtained using plot-based survey techniques and spotlighting. Over the duration of the study, quoll diet was dominated by medium-sized mammals, particularly brushtail possums (Trichosurus spp.) and lagomorphs (rabbit and hare), followed by small and large-sized mammals. After the fire there was a shift in utilisation of food resources in response to significant changes in prey availability. Monitoring revealed that brushtail possums, lagomorphs and bandicoots were all significantly less abundant in the winter following the fire, and populations of lagomorphs, but not possums, then increased in the second winter after the fire. Quolls adapted to this by taking significantly more lagomorphs in each of the two years after the fire and by taking advantage of a short-term increase in the availability of carrion. The results of this study reaffirm that the spotted-tailed quoll is adaptable in its utilisation of available food, and that fires are not necessarily detrimental to the species and its prey base.
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Clark, Bryon K., and Donald W. Kaufman. "Short-term responses of small mammals to experimental fire in tallgrass prairie." Canadian Journal of Zoology 68, no. 11 (November 1, 1990): 2450–54. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z90-340.
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Short-term responses of small mammals to experimental fire were examined in a 13-ha site on the Konza Prairie Research Natural Area, Kansas. A 6.1-ha portion was burned in spring 1987, whereas the 6.9-ha control site was left unburned in 1987, as was the entire 13 ha in spring 1986. In the absence of fire, < 1% of all small mammals (n = 130) caught in both March and April 1986 completely shifted from one area to the opposite area. No differences occurred in appearance of new individuals between the two areas in April 1986. In April 1987, all Reithrodontomys megalotis (n = 14) and Microtus ochrogaster (n = 6) caught in the burned area before fire and recaught after fire moved to the unburned area, but no individual from either species moved the opposite way. Most Synaptomys cooperi (75%, n = 4) moved away from the burned area, but no animals were available to test for movements into the burned area. Most new individuals for fire-negative species were captured in the unburned area after fire: 93% of R. megalotis (n = 46), 96% of Blarina hylophaga (n = 27), 100% of M. ochrogaster (n = 4), and 100% of S. cooperi (n = 1). In contrast, Peromyscus maniculatus exhibited a fire-positive response, with one of four moving from unburned to burned and none of five moving the opposite way, and most new individuals recorded after fire were in the burned area (88%, n = 24).
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Loggins, Anne A., Ara Monadjem, Laurence M. Kruger, Brian E. Reichert, and Robert A. McCleery. "Vegetation structure shapes small mammal communities in African savannas." Journal of Mammalogy 100, no. 4 (June 7, 2019): 1243–52. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/gyz100.
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Abstract Disturbance by large herbivores, fires, and humans shapes the structure of savannas, altering the amount of woody vegetation and grass. Due to change in the intensity and frequency of these disturbances, savannas are shifting toward grass-dominated or shrub-dominated systems, likely altering animal communities. Small mammals are critical components of savannas, and their distributions likely are affected by these ecosystem-wide changes in vegetative cover. We assessed the responses of small mammals to a gradient of woody cover in low-lying savannas of southeastern Africa. In Kruger National Park (South Africa) and in three nearby reserves (Eswatini), we livetrapped for over 2 years to build multispecies occupancy models that assessed the responses of the small mammal community to grass and woody cover. Overall, whole-community occupancy increased with grass biomass. More species responded positively to woody cover than to grass biomass, but woody cover was associated with reduced occurrence of one species (Mastomys natalensis). Our results suggest that an increase in grass biomass enhances whole-community occupancy of small mammals, but regional diversity is likely to be higher in areas that contain patches of high grass biomass as well as patches of woody cover.
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Perry, Justin J., Eric P. Vanderduys, and Alex S. Kutt. "Shifting fire regimes from late to early dry-season fires to abate greenhouse emissions does not completely equate with terrestrial vertebrate biodiversity co-benefits on Cape York Peninsula, Australia." International Journal of Wildland Fire 25, no. 7 (2016): 742. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf15133.
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Carbon farming initiatives have rapidly developed in recent years, influencing broad scale changes to land management regimes. In the open carbon market a premium can be secured if additional benefits, such as biodiversity conservation or social advancement, can be quantified. In Australia, there is an accepted method for carbon abatement that requires shifting fire frequency from predominantly late, defined as fires occurring after August 1, to early dry-season fires or by reducing overall fire frequency. There is an assumption and some evidence that this might accrue co-benefits for biodiversity. We tested this assumption by comparing terrestrial vertebrate biodiversity patterns (richness and abundance of reptiles, birds and mammals) against increasing fire frequency in the early and late dry-season at the same spatial resolution as the fire management for emission abatement method. We systematically sampled 202 sites on Cape York Peninsula, and examined the relationship between vertebrate fauna, fire and environmental metrics. We found that within the approved vegetation type, open woodlands in tropical savanna woodland, early and late dry-season fire frequency had the same weak linear relationship with only some elements of the observed fauna. Additionally, the response of each taxa to fire frequency were different across broad vegetation structural categories, suggesting that a more nuanced species-specific monitoring approach is required to expose links between savanna burning for carbon abatement and burning for biodiversity benefit.
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Stanton, N., R. Seville, S. Buskirk, S. Miller, D. Spildie, and J. Fowler. "Captures and Recaptures of Small Mammals to Assess Responses to Fire in a Coniferous Forest in the Greater Yellowstone Area." UW National Parks Service Research Station Annual Reports 22 (January 1, 1998): 71–77. http://dx.doi.org/10.13001/uwnpsrc.1998.3371.
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Natural fires are common in coniferous forests in the Rocky Mountains, and one of the largest fires in recent history occurred in the Greater Yellowstone Area (GYA) in 1988 when over a million acres of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta), subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa) and Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii) burned. In the summers of 1989, 1990 and 1991 and again in 1997 and 1998, we trapped small mammals in two burned and two adjacent unburned forests in the Huckleberry Mountain fire in the Rockefeller Memorial Parkway, 0.5 km north of Grand Teton National Park (GTNP). Here we report on the captures and recaptures of the two most common species of small mammals, the deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus) and the southern red-backed vole (Clethrionomys gapperi); and analyze retrapping frequency for each species in the burned and unburned forest. Our intent was to test the hypothesis that the probability of recapture is the same for both species in burned and unburned habitats. These capture/recapture data will be used by other co-investigators in additional publications to report on estimated population sizes and microhabitat associations.
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Converse, Sarah J., Gary C. White, Kerry L. Farris, and Steve Zack. "SMALL MAMMALS AND FOREST FUEL REDUCTION: NATIONAL-SCALE RESPONSES TO FIRE AND FIRE SURROGATES." Ecological Applications 16, no. 5 (October 2006): 1717–29. http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/1051-0761(2006)016[1717:smaffr]2.0.co;2.
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Delaney, Lauren, Julian Di Stefano, and Holly Sitters. "Mammal responses to spatial pattern in fire history depend on landscape context." Landscape Ecology 36, no. 3 (January 27, 2021): 897–914. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10980-020-01186-3.
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Stawski, Clare, Jaya K. Matthews, Gerhard Körtner, and Fritz Geiser. "Physiological and behavioural responses of a small heterothermic mammal to fire stimuli." Physiology & Behavior 151 (November 2015): 617–22. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2015.09.002.
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Converse, Sarah J., William M. Block, and Gary C. White. "Small mammal population and habitat responses to forest thinning and prescribed fire." Forest Ecology and Management 228, no. 1-3 (June 2006): 263–73. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2006.03.006.
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Swan, Matthew, Carolina Galindez-Silva, Fiona Christie, Alan York, and Julian Di Stefano. "Contrasting responses of small mammals to fire and topographic refugia." Austral Ecology 41, no. 4 (April 22, 2016): 437–45. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/aec.12331.
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Larsen, Karl W., Ian T. Adams, and Diane L. Haughland. "Small mammal communities in a pyrogenic habitat mosaic." International Journal of Wildland Fire 16, no. 6 (2007): 728. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf05106.
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We studied the small mammal community across a mosaic of habitats created by a large wildfire in the mixed-wood boreal forest of Alberta, Canada, 5 years after the fire occurred. We focussed on four habitat types within this landscape mosaic, namely burnt stands, stands of unburnt forest within the burn, unburnt forest on the periphery of the fire, and areas harvested before the fire (and subsequently burnt). The abundance of the two most common species – red-backed voles (Clethrionomys gapperi) and deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) – often differed inside v. outside the burn’s perimeter; however, reproduction, survival and abundance showed little to no correlation with habitat. Year-to-year changes in the relative abundance of these two species appeared greater within the burn’s periphery; the heterogeneity of the burnt landscape also supported a higher diversity of small mammal species than seen at the periphery. Comparison of our results with those collected by a coincidental study of forest harvesting suggests that the responses of the communities and populations of the animals to the two disturbance types were relatively similar. The value of long-term and chronosequence studies notwithstanding, detailed study of the wildlife communities shaped by individual wildfires improves our overall understanding of the ecological effects of natural and anthropogenic disturbances.
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Goldingay, Ross L., Katherine A. Harrisson, Andrea C. Taylor, Tina M. Ball, David J. Sharpe, and Brendan D. Taylor. "Fine-Scale Genetic Response to Landscape Change in a Gliding Mammal." PLoS ONE 8, no. 12 (December 26, 2013): e80383. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0080383.
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Lunney, D., B. Cullis, and P. Eby. "Effects of logging and fire on small mammals in Mumbulla State Forest, near Bega, New South Wales." Wildlife Research 14, no. 2 (1987): 163. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wr9870163.
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This study of the effects of logging on small mammals in Mumbulla State Forest on the south coast of New South Wales included the effects of a fire in November 1980 and a drought throughout the study period from June 1980 to June 1983. Rattus fuscipes was sensitive to change: logging had a significant impact on its numbers, response to ground cover, and recapture rate; fire had a more severe effect, and drought retarded the post-fire recovery of the population. The three species of dasyurid marsupials differed markedly in their response to ground cover, canopy cover, logging and fire. Antechinus stuartii was distributed evenly through all habitats and was not affected by logging, but fire had an immediate and adverse effect which was sustained by the intense drought. A. swainsonii markedly preferred the regenerating forest, and was not seen again after the fire, the failure of the population being attributed to its dependence on dense ground cover. Sminthopsis leucopus was found in low numbers, appeared to prefer forest with sparse ground cover, and showed no immediate response to logging or fire; its disappearance by the third year post-fire suggests that regenerating forest is inimical to the survival of this species. Mus musculus showed no response to logging. In the first year following the fire its numbers were still very low, but in the next year there was a short-lived plague which coincided with the only respite in the 3-year drought and, importantly, occurred in the intensely burnt parts of the forest. The options for managing this forest for the conservation of small mammals include minimising fire, retaining unlogged forest, extending the time over which alternate coupes are logged and minimising disturbance from heavy machinery.
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Burke, Angela M., Nicholas A. Barber, and Holly P. Jones. "Early Small Mammal Responses to Bison Reintroduction and Prescribed Fire in Restored Tallgrass Prairies." Natural Areas Journal 40, no. 1 (January 14, 2020): 35. http://dx.doi.org/10.3375/043.040.0105.
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Burke, Angela M., Nicholas A. Barber, and Holly P. Jones. "Early Small Mammal Responses to Bison Reintroduction and Prescribed Fire in Restored Tallgrass Prairies." Natural Areas Journal 40, no. 2 (April 6, 2020): 120. http://dx.doi.org/10.3375/043.040.0202.
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Lunney, Daniel, Alison Matthews, Peggy Eby, and Angela M. Penn. "The long-term effects of logging for woodchips on small mammal populations." Wildlife Research 36, no. 8 (2009): 691. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wr08028.
Full textAbstract:
Context. Long-term studies are internationally recognised as an essential component of achieving ecologically sustainable forest management with respect to fauna. Aims. This study aimed to assess longer-term responses of small mammals to logging by returning in 1998 to our 1980–83 study sites in south-eastern New South Wales, Australia. Methods. Three age-classes of forest were surveyed: unlogged; 18–19-year-old regrowth; and 26–34-year-old regrowth. Key results. Rattus fuscipes remained affected by logging, and there were significantly fewer R. fuscipes males in logged, north-west-facing sites than at other sites, although the effect was less pronounced in 1998 than in 1980–83. Antechinus agilis females were significantly less numerous in south-east-facing, unlogged forest. This was not expected from the 1980–83 results. Antechinus swainsonii, which had disappeared following a fire in 1980, had returned to the forest by 1998. A. swainsonii females showed a significant preference for south-east-facing slopes and this relationship was consistent between logged and unlogged forest. No members of Mus musculus or Sminthopsis leucopus, which were present in 1980–83, were caught in 1998. Conclusions. As in the 1980s study, the responses of small mammal species to logging history were varied and species specific. Implications. In our study area, we predict that sustained logging for woodchips will continue to deplete its populations of small mammals. This adds to the case for a more robust and sustained approach to researching and managing our forest fauna.
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Graham, Russell W. "Response of North American mammal communities to late Quaternary environmental fluctuations." Paleontological Society Special Publications 6 (1992): 112. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s2475262200006729.
Full textAbstract:
The late Quaternary was a time of rapid environmental fluctuations. The last glacial maximum was reached about 20 ka with continental glaciers covering most of Canada as well as the northeastern and upper midwestern United States (U.S.). Glacial ice physically displaced entire terrestrial biomes and the cooler climates altered distributions of species outside of the glacial limits. About 14 ka, the climate began to warm rapidly and glacial ice retreated northward, opening new landscapes for colonization by terrestrial biotas. Maximum warmth was reached between 9–5 ka with a time transgressive progression from west to east.Radiocarbon chronologies allow for fine scale (100's to 1000's of years) resolution of mammal responses to these changes. Mammal communities did not respond as intact units but individual species shifted diachronically along environmental gradients. As a result, many late Pleistocene mammal communities contain associations of extant species that do not occur together today and appear to be ecologically incompatible. Pleistocene mammal communities also had a greater diversity of species than either Holocene or modern ones. This greater diversity was, in part, due to the existence of a diverse megafauna that became extinct at the end of the Pleistocene (10 ka). However, Pleistocene small mammal guilds with extant species, especially insectivores and microtine rodents, were also more diverse. Rapid changes in small mammal species distributions, diversity patterns, and clinal shifts around 10 ka strengthens environmental models for the end-Pleistocene extinction.Modern mammal communities began to appear at the end of the Pleistocene and into the Holocene. In the eastern U.S., the species composition of these communities has been stable for the last 10 ka, although vegetational communities have shown change throughout the Holocene. In other parts of the U.S., middle Holocene warming caused some species to shift their geographic ranges. However, species composition of communities was not significantly altered. Understanding these changes not only provides a better perspective for viewing mammal communities of the past but it may also give insight into those of the future as climate will continue to vacillate, whether induced naturally or anthropogenically.
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Clarke, Donna J., Kate A. Pearce, and John G. White. "Powerline corridors: degraded ecosystems or wildlife havens?" Wildlife Research 33, no. 8 (2006): 615. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wr05085.
Full textAbstract:
Management of powerline corridors in Australia has traditionally focused on the complete removal of vegetation using short rotation times owing to the perceived hazard of fire associated with corridor vegetation. Because of the intense management associated with fire hazards, little thought has been given to use of powerline corridors by wildlife. This has resulted in corridors traditionally being viewed as a source of fragmentation and habitat loss within forested ecosystems. We investigated the responses of small mammal communities living in a powerline corridor to management-induced vegetation changes at different successional stages, to determine whether a compromise could be reached between managing corridors for fire and biodiversity. Habitat modelling in the corridor and adjacent forest for three native and one introduced small mammal species demonstrated that species responded to changes in vegetation structural complexity, rather than time-since-management per se. Early seral stages of vegetation recovery after corridor management encouraged the introduced house mouse (Mus domesticus) into corridors and contributed little to biodiversity. Mid-seral-stage vegetation, however, provided habitat for native species that were rare in adjacent forest habitats. As the structural complexity of the vegetation increased, the small mammal community became similar to that of the forest so that corridor vegetation contributed fewer biodiversity benefits while posing an unacceptable fire risk. If ecologically sensitive management regimes are implemented to encourage mid-seral vegetation and avoid complete vegetation removal, powerline corridors have the potential to improve biodiversity. This would maintain landscape connectivity and provide habitat for native species uncommon in the forest while still limiting fuel loads in the corridor.