The distribution of woody species in relation to climate and fire in Yosemite National Park, California, USA

Abstract Background The effects of climate on plant species ranges are well appreciated, but the effects of other processes, such as fire, on plant species distribution are less well understood. We used a dataset of 561 plots 0.1 ha in size located throughout Yosemite National Park, in the Sierra Nevada of California, USA, to determine the joint effects of fire and climate on woody plant species. We analyzed the effect of climate (annual actual evapotranspiration [AET], climatic water deficit [Deficit]) and fire characteristics (occurrence [BURN] for all plots, fire return interval departure [FRID] for unburned plots, and severity of the most severe fire [dNBR]) on the distribution of woody plant species. Results Of 43 species that were present on at least two plots, 38 species occurred on five or more plots. Of those 38 species, models for the distribution of 13 species (34%) were significantly improved by including the variable for fire occurrence (BURN). Models for the distribution of 10 species (26%) were significantly improved by including FRID, and two species (5%) were improved by including dNBR. Species for which distribution models were improved by inclusion of fire variables included some of the most areally extensive woody plants. Species and ecological zones were aligned along an AET-Deficit gradient from cool and moist to hot and dry conditions. Conclusions In fire-frequent ecosystems, such as those in most of western North America, species distribution models were improved by including variables related to fire. Models for changing species distributions would also be improved by considering potential changes to the fire regime.

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Optimization of forest sampling strategies for woody plant species distribution modelling at the landscape scale

Forest Ecology and Management ◽

10.1016/j.foreco.2017.12.046 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 410 ◽

pp. 104-113 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Rubén G. Mateo ◽

Aitor Gastón ◽

María José Aroca-Fernández ◽

Santiago Saura ◽

Juan Ignacio García-Viñas

Keyword(s):

Plant Species ◽

Species Distribution ◽

Woody Plant ◽

Species Distribution Modelling ◽

Landscape Scale ◽

Sampling Strategies ◽

Distribution Modelling ◽

Woody Plant Species

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Quantifying the fire regime distributions for severity in Yosemite National Park, California, USA

International Journal of Wildland Fire ◽

10.1071/wf09060 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 20 (2) ◽

pp. 223 ◽

Cited By ~ 26

Author(s):

Andrea E. Thode ◽

Jan W. van Wagtendonk ◽

Jay D. Miller ◽

James F. Quinn

Keyword(s):

Sierra Nevada ◽

National Park ◽

Fire Regime ◽

Fire Severity ◽

Fire Regimes ◽

Montane Forest ◽

Subalpine Forest ◽

Yosemite National Park ◽

Forest Zone ◽

Frequency Distributions

This paper quantifies current fire severity distributions for 19 different fire-regime types in Yosemite National Park, California, USA. Landsat Thematic Mapper remote sensing data are used to map burn severity for 99 fires (cumulatively over 97 000 ha) that burned in Yosemite over a 20-year period. These maps are used to quantify the frequency distributions of fire severity by fire-regime type. A classification is created for the resultant distributions and they are discussed within the context of four vegetation zones: the foothill shrub and woodland zone; the lower montane forest zone; the upper montane forest zone and the subalpine forest zone. The severity distributions can form a building block from which to discuss current fire regimes across the Sierra Nevada in California. This work establishes a framework for comparing the effects of current fires on our landscapes with our notions of how fires historically burned, and how current fire severity distributions differ from our desired future conditions. As this process is refined, a new set of information will be available to researchers and land managers to help understand how fire regimes have changed from the past and how we might attempt to manage them in the future.

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Threats and conservation status of woody plant species in different ecological zones of Taraba State, Nigeria

Advances in Plants & Agriculture Research ◽

10.15406/apar.2018.08.00364 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 8 (6) ◽

Author(s):

Meer Bernard Bunde

Keyword(s):

Plant Species ◽

Woody Plant ◽

Conservation Status ◽

Ecological Zones ◽

Woody Plant Species

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Determinants of Termite Assemblages’ Characteristics within Natural Habitats of a Sudano-Guinean Savanna (Comoe National Park, Côte d’Ivoire)

Insects ◽

10.3390/insects9040189 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 9 (4) ◽

pp. 189

Author(s):

N’golo Koné ◽

Kolotchèlèma Silué ◽

Souleymane Konaté ◽

Karl Linsenmair

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Plant Species ◽

Environmental Variables ◽

National Park ◽

Woody Plant ◽

Habitat Type ◽

Plant Species Richness ◽

Natural Habitats ◽

Termite Species ◽

Woody Plant Species

Termites are one of the major components of tropical ecosystems. However, the ecological and biological variables determining the structure of their communities within natural habitats are less documented in general and especially in the Comoe National Park, a Sudano-Guinean savanna zone located in the north-eastern part of Côte d’Ivoire (West Africa). Using a standardized method of belt transects, the structure of termite’s communities was estimated within habitats differing in the structure of their vegetation, soil characteristics, and the disturbance level caused by annual occurrences of bushfires. The effect of a set of environmental variables (habitat type, occurrence of annual bushfire, woody plant density, woody plant species richness, and soil physicochemical parameters) was tested on the habitat-specific recorded termite species. Sixty species of termites belonging to 19 genera, seven subfamilies and two families, namely Rhinotermitidae (Coptotermitinae and Rhinotermitinae) and Termitidae (Apicotermitinae, Cubitermitinae, Macrotermitinae, Nasutitermitinae, and Termitinae) were sampled. These species were assigned to the four feeding groups of termites: fungus growers (18 species), wood feeders (17 species), soil feeders (19 species) and the grass feeders (6 species). The highest diversity of termites was encountered in forest habitats, with 37 and 34, respectively, for the gallery forest and the forest island. Among savanna habitats, the woodland savanna was identified as the most diversified habitat with 32 recorded species, followed by the tree savanna (28 species) and the grassy savanna (17 species). The distribution of termite species and their respective feedings groups was determined by the habitat type and a set of environmental variables such as Woody Plant Diversity (WPD), Woody plant Families Diversity (WPFD), and Organic Carbon (OC). The annual Fire Occurrence (FO) was found to indirectly impact the characteristics of termite assemblages within natural habitats via their respective Herbaceous Species Richness (HSR) and Woody Plant Species Richness (WPSR). In summary, the spatial heterogeneity of the Comoe National Park, modeled by the uncontrolled annual bushfire, offers a diversified natural habitat with an important variety of termite-habitat-specific species, probably due to the food preference of these organisms and its relatively good conservation status.

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