scholarly journals Avian Response to Wildfire Severity in a Northern Boreal Region

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 1330
Author(s):  
Michelle Knaggs ◽  
Samuel Haché ◽  
Scott E. Nielsen ◽  
Rhiannon F. Pankratz ◽  
Erin Bayne
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Species Richness ◽  
Functional Diversity ◽  
Vegetation Type ◽  
Fire Severity ◽  
Natural Disturbance ◽  
Burn Severity ◽  
Vegetation Types ◽  
Generalist Species ◽  
High Severity

Research Highlights: The effects of fire on birds in the most northern parts of the boreal forest are understudied. We found distinct differences in bird communities with increasing fire severity in two vegetation types with naturally different burn severity. The highest severity burns tended to have communities dominated by generalist species, regardless of the original vegetation type. Background and Objectives: Wildfire is the primary natural disturbance in the boreal ecosystems of northwestern Canada. Increased wildfire frequency, extent, and severity are expected with climate change in this region. In particular, the proportion of burns that are high severity and the area of peatlands burned are increasing, and how this influences birds is poorly understood. Materials and Methods: We quantified the effects of burn severity (low, moderate, and high severity) in uplands and peatlands on occupancy, density, richness, community composition, and functional diversity using point counts (n = 1158) from the first two years post-fire for two large fires in the Northwest Territories, Canada. Results: Burn severity had a significant effect on the occupancy and density of 86% of our focal species (n = 20). Responses to burn severity depended on vegetation type for four of the 18 species using occupancy and seven of the 18 using density, but were typically in a similar direction. Species richness and functional diversity were lower in areas of high severity burns than unburned areas and low severity burns in peatlands. Richness was not related to severity in uplands, but functional diversity was. Peatlands had higher species richness than uplands in all burn severities, but as burn severity increased the upland and peatland communities became more similar. Conclusions: Our results suggest that high severity burns in both vegetation types support five generalist species and two fire specialists that may benefit from alterations in vegetation structure as a result of climate induced changes to fire regimes. However, eight species avoided burns, particularly birds preferring peatlands, and are likely to be more susceptible to fire-driven changes to their habitat caused by climate change. Understanding the long-term risks to these species from climate change requires additional efforts that link fire to bird populations.

scholarly journals Arctiinae moths (Lepidoptera, Erebidae) of the Emas National Park, Goiás, Brazil

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolina Moreno ◽  
Viviane G Ferro
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
National Park ◽  
New Records ◽  
Vegetation Type ◽  
Sensu Stricto ◽  
Vegetation Types ◽  
Semideciduous Forest ◽  
Cerrado Biome ◽  
Center Of Diversity ◽  
High Species Richness

Arctiinae are a species-rich subfamily of moth, with approximately 1,400 species in Brazil and 723 recorded in the Cerrado biome. A list of species of these moths was compiled during three years of sampling in four vegetation types within the Emas National Park. A total of 5,644 individuals belonging to 149 species were collected. About 67% of these species are new records for the Emas National Park, 31% for the State of Goiás and 9% for the Cerrado biome. Cerrado sensu stricto and semideciduous forests have higher species richness, followed by campo cerrado and campo sujo. The vegetation type with the highest number of exclusive species was the semideciduous forest, followed by cerrado sensu stricto, campo cerrado and campo sujo. The high species richness and the high proportion of new species records for Goiás and Cerrado reinforce the importance of the Emas National Park region as a center of diversity for this group of moths. The conservation of areas not yet cleared around the Park, including the creation of new protected areas, and the establishment of ecological corridors between these areas and the Park would be strategies to preserve the fauna of these moths.

Remote Sensing of Forest Fire Severity and Vegetation Recovery

1996 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 125 ◽  
Author(s):  
JD White ◽  
KC Ryan ◽  
CC Key ◽  
SW Running
Keyword(s):  
Satellite Data ◽  
Fire Severity ◽  
Canopy Cover ◽  
Burn Severity ◽  
Vegetation Recovery ◽  
Electromagnetic Spectrum ◽  
Vegetation Types ◽  
Burned Areas ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Forested Areas

Burned forested areas have patterns of varying burn severity as a consequence of various topographic, vegetation, and meteorological factors. These patterns are detected and mapped using satellite data. Other ecological information can be abstracted from satellite data regarding rates of recovery of vegetation foliage and variation of burn severity on different vegetation types. Middle infrared wavelengths are useful for burn severity mapping because the land cover changes associated with burning increase reflectance in this part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Simple stratification of Landsat Thematic Mapper data define varying classes of burn severity because of changes in canopy cover, biomass removal, and soil chemical composition. Reasonable maps of burn severity are produced when the class limits of burn severity reflectance are applied to the entire satellite data. Changes in satellite reflectance over multiple years reveal the dynamics of vegetation and fire severity as low burn areas have lower changes in reflectance relative to high burn areas. This results as a consequence of how much the site was altered due to the burn and how much space is available for vegetation recovery. Analysis of change in reflectance across steppe, riparian, and forested vegetation types indicate that fires potentially increase biomass in steppe areas, while riparian and forested areas are slower to regrow to pre-fire conditions. This satellite-based technology is useful for mapping severely burned areas by exploring the ecological manifestations before and after fire.

scholarly journals Spatial Heterogeneity of Burn Severity and First-Year Vegetation Responses Following Fire on Subalpine Plateaus in Yellowstone National Park

1989 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 217-224
Author(s):  
Monica Turner ◽  
Robert Gardner ◽  
William Romme
Keyword(s):  
Yellowstone National Park ◽  
National Park ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Tree Mortality ◽  
Vegetation Type ◽  
Fire Severity ◽  
Fire Effects ◽  
Time Of Day ◽  
Burn Severity ◽  
Natural Fire

The 1988 fires that burned in Yellowstone National Park presented ecologists with a unique opportunity to investigate ecological responses to large-scale fires (Christensen et al. 1989, Knight and Wallace 1989). The Yellowstone fires created an extremely heterogeneous landscape in terms of both the overall burning patterns and the variable fire severity within burned areas. Large fires rarely consume the entire forest because of the influence of wind variations, topography, vegetation type, natural fire breaks, and the time of day that the fire passed through (Rowe and Scotter 1973, Wright and Heinselman 1973, Van Wagner 1983). Direct fire effects such as tree mortality and organic matter consumption are related to locally variable parameters such as moisture content (Brown et al. 1985, Peterson and Ryan 1986, Ryan et al. 1988), and fire severity and return intervals are often strongly influenced by topographic and edaphic variability (Habeck and Mutch 1973, Romme and Knight 1981, Hemstrom and Franklin 1982, Whitney 1986). Therefore, burned landscapes generally contain areas of low as well as high intensity fire, usually in a complex mosaic (Van Wagner 1983). These variable fire intensities result in a heterogeneous pattern of burn severities (effects of fire on the ecosystem), as well as islands of unburned vegetation. The influence of burn severity on plant reestablishment following fire is well documented (e.g., Lyon and Stickney 1976, Rowe and Scotter 1973, Viereck 1983, Ryan and Noste 1985), and the importance of the effects of limited burns and low-intensity fires on the vegetation mosaic has been recognized (Habeck and Mutch 1973, Rowe 1983). However, few studies have dealt explicitly with the spatial variation of fire effects in a systematic and quantitative way.

scholarly journals Efficacy of eastern Australian rainforests and topography as fire refugia under anthropogenic climate change

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Myles Jay Bennell ◽  
Philip Le C. Stewart ◽  
Patrick T. Moss
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Fire Frequency ◽  
Climate Feedback ◽  
Burn Severity ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Feedback Systems ◽  
High Severity ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Vegetation Expansion

Abstract Background: The 2019-20 Australian bushfire season was the most environmentally detrimental bushfire season on record. The extreme heat and drought exposed normally fire-resistant communities to uncharacteristically dry fuel loads and abnormally high severity burning. In eastern Australia this included mesic rainforest environments (including the World Heritage listed Gondwana Rainforests of Australia), which are often highly sensitive to fire, contain high biodiversity values, are critical habitat for threatened species, embody distinct endemism, provide valuable ecosystem services and are critical for terrestrial carbon storage. East coast rainforests are also highly fragmented, with less than half of pre-European levels remaining. Increases in fire frequency and intensity associated with climate change may threaten these already fragmented rainforest environments. This study considers the efficacy of rainforest refugia under a heightened bushfire climate, via spatial analysis of burn extent, burn severity and topographic characteristics for rainforests during the 2019-20 bushfire season within the Eastern Australian Temperate and Subtropical Forests Conservation Management Zone.Results: Burn severity, vegetation and elevation datasets were merged and analysed across mid-eastern Australia. A significant portion of rainforest was fire affected across the study area (~17%), with ~5% burnt to a high or very high severity. Elevation, topographic position (i.e. valleys), slope and aspect all contributed to maintaining rainforest fire refugia. The study resulted in a mapping product that can be utilised by researchers and protected area managers to locate and assess burnt rainforest in mid-eastern Australia.Conclusions: This study enables the identification of rainforest fire refugia and threatened rainforest communities for future research and conservation efforts in eastern Australia. The results also demonstrate the potential of climate change to enact widespread rainforest declines, with potentially dire consequences for biodiversity and ecosystem services. This event and recurrent fire events may enact positive climate feedback systems by enabling pyrophytic vegetation expansion and converting rainforest carbon pools into a carbon source.

Nutrient addition in a Mediterranean grassland decreases species diversity, increases productivity but does not affect stability

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Caldeira ◽  
Carla Nogueira
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Species Richness ◽  
Functional Diversity ◽  
Block Design ◽  
Climatic Variability ◽  
Nutrient Addition ◽  
Global Changes ◽  
Nutrient Inputs ◽  
Mediterranean Grasslands ◽  
Grassland Productivity

<p>Increased nutrient inputs and climate change are affecting ecosystems worldwide. However, there is a dearth of knowledge on how the interacting effects of multiple nutrient inputs and climatic variability may affect ecosystem functioning including grassland species and functional diversity, productivity or resilience to disturbances. This is particularly important in the Mediterranean Basin, a hotspot of climate change, where the frequency of autumn and spring droughts is projected to increase.</p><p> </p><p>We conducted a 6-year nutrient addition experiment in an annual grassland site, in Portugal, that is part of a globally distributed experiment called the Nutrient Network (http://www.nutnet.org/). We added high rates of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium to 5 × 5 m plots, following a full factorial combination in a complete randomized three block design. We established three treatments of one, two and three added nutrients and maintained control plots without addition of nutrients. We examined how a decrease in nutrient limitation and inter-annual climatic variability affected grassland productivity and diversity. We determined the community functional structure (e.g., Community Weighted Mean) and functional diversity (e.g., Function Dispersion) of key morphological and physiological leaf traits associated with the leaf economics spectrum, resource acquisition and water use strategies.</p><p> </p><p>Our 6-year study period was characterized by contrasting climatological years, including two dry years (2017 and 2019). We found that grassland productivity was co-limited by multiple nutrients and that species richness decreased with nutrient enrichment. Dry years reduced productivity and species richness and were a critical factor reducing functional diversity of most of the studied traits. Species with competitive characteristics dominated nutrient enriched communities and were related to ecosystem stability by increasing mean biomass production relative to the standard deviation of biomass over time. Contrary to expectations species richness was not related to stability.</p><p> </p><p>This study shows that mechanisms underlying ecological functioning of Mediterranean grasslands depend on interactions of multiple nutrient addition and precipitation variability. Understanding these mechanisms is crucial to anticipate potential effects of global changes on Mediterranean grasslands.</p><p> </p><p> </p>

scholarly journals Species richness changes lag behind climate change

2006 ◽  
Vol 273 (1593) ◽  
pp. 1465-1470 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosa Menéndez ◽  
Adela González Megías ◽  
Jane K Hill ◽  
Brigitte Braschler ◽  
Stephen G Willis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Species Richness ◽  
Northern Hemisphere ◽  
Climate Warming ◽  
Time Lag ◽  
Species Assemblages ◽  
Generalist Species ◽  
Biological Communities ◽  
Recent Climate ◽  
Energy Theory

Species-energy theory indicates that recent climate warming should have driven increases in species richness in cool and species-poor parts of the Northern Hemisphere. We confirm that the average species richness of British butterflies has increased since 1970–82, but much more slowly than predicted from changes of climate: on average, only one-third of the predicted increase has taken place. The resultant species assemblages are increasingly dominated by generalist species that were able to respond quickly. The time lag is confirmed by the successful introduction of many species to climatically suitable areas beyond their ranges. Our results imply that it may be decades or centuries before the species richness and composition of biological communities adjusts to the current climate.

scholarly journals Global Impacts of Climate Change on Avian Functional Diversity

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter S. Stewart ◽  
Alke Voskamp ◽  
Matthias F. Biber ◽  
Christian Hof ◽  
Stephen G. Willis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Species Richness ◽  
Functional Diversity ◽  
Geographical Location ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Distinct Species ◽  
Ecosystem Functions ◽  
Tropical Regions ◽  
Continental Scale ◽  
Projected Changes

AbstractClimate change is predicted to drive geographical range shifts in many taxa, leading to the formation of novel species assemblages and fluctuations in species richness worldwide. However, the effect of these changes on functional diversity is not yet fully understood, in part because comprehensive species-level trait data are generally lacking at global scales. Here we use morphometric and ecological trait data for 8269 terrestrial bird species to compare functional diversity (FD) of current and future bird assemblages under a medium emissions scenario. We show that future assemblages are likely to undergo substantial shifts in trait structure, with the direction and magnitude of these shifts varying with geographical location and trophic guild. Specifically, invertivore FD is projected to increase at higher latitudes with concurrent losses at mid-latitudes, reflecting poleward shifts in range, whereas frugivore FD is projected to fluctuate in many tropical regions with major declines in much of South America and New Guinea. We show that these projected changes in FD are generally greater than expected from changing species richness alone, indicating that projected FD changes are primarily driven by the loss or gain of functionally distinct species. Our findings suggest that climate change will drive continental-scale shifts in avian functional diversity, with potentially far-reaching implications for ecosystem functions and resilience.

scholarly journals Flower-mediated plant-butterfly interactions in an heterogeneous tropical coastal ecosystem

PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e5493 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristian A. Martínez-Adriano ◽  
Cecilia Díaz-Castelazo ◽  
Armando Aguirre-Jaimes
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Protected Area ◽  
Vegetation Type ◽  
Interspecific Interactions ◽  
Flowering Plants ◽  
Interaction Networks ◽  
Butterfly Species ◽  
Vegetation Types ◽  
Plant Interactions ◽  
Plant Interaction

Background Interspecific interactions play an important role in determining species richness and persistence in a given locality. However at some sites, the studies, especially for interaction networks on adult butterflies are scarce. The present study aimed the following objectives: (1) determine butterfly species richness and diversity that visit flowering plants, (2) compare species richness and diversity in butterfly-plant interactions among six different vegetation types and (3) analyze the structure of butterfly-flowering plant interaction networks mediated by flowers. Methods The study was developed in six vegetation types within the natural reserve of La Mancha, located in Veracruz, Mexico. In each vegetation type, we recorded the frequency of flower visits by butterflies monthly in round plots (of radius 5 m) for 12 months. We calculated Shannon diversity for butterfly species and diversity of interactions per vegetation type. We determined the classic Jaccard similarity index among vegetation types and estimated parameters at network and species-level. Results We found 123 species of butterflies belonging to 11 families and 87 genera. The highest number of species belonged to Hesperiidae (46 species), followed by Nymphalidae (28) and Pieridae (14). The highest butterfly diversity and interaction diversity was observed in pioneer dune vegetation (PDV), coastal dune scrub (CDS) and tropical deciduous flooding forest and wetland (TDF-W). The same order of vegetation types was found for interaction diversity. Highest species similarity was found between PDV-CDS and PDV-TDF. The butterfly-plant interaction network showed a nested structure with one module. The species Ascia monuste, Euptoieta hegesia and Leptotes cassius were the most generalist in the network, while Horama oedippus, E. hegesia, and L. cassius were the species with highest dependencies per plant species. Discussion Our study is important because it constitutes a pioneer study of butterfly-plant interactions in this protected area, at least for adult butterflies; it shows the diversity of interactions among flowering plants and butterflies. Our research constitutes the first approach (at a community level) to explore the functional role of pollination services that butterflies provide to plant communities. We highlighted that open areas show a higher diversity and these areas shared a higher number of species that shaded sites. In the interaction networks parameters, our results highlighted the higher dependence of butterflies by the flowers on which they feed than vice versa. In conclusion, the plant species (as a feeding resource) seem to limit the presence of butterfly species. Thus, this protected area is highly relevant for Lepidoptera diversity and the interaction between these insects and flowering plants. We suggest that studying plant and butterfly diversity in tropical habitats will provide insight into their interspecific interactions and community structure.

scholarly journals Genetic and functional diversity of soil bacteria and fungi from different microhabitats in a karst region in Southern China

2021 ◽  
Vol 83 (3) ◽  
pp. 120-132
Author(s):  
Xinru Li ◽  
Min Zhou ◽  
Yidong Mi ◽  
Haiyan Chen ◽  
Hailei Su ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Community Structure ◽  
Bacterial Community ◽  
Functional Diversity ◽  
Bacterial Community Structure ◽  
Nature Reserve ◽  
Vegetation Type ◽  
Karst Region ◽  
Vegetation Types ◽  
Soil Microbial ◽  
Bacteria And Fungi

Little is known about the difference between bacterial and fungal genetic and functional diversity in karst regions of south China. In this study, the genetic and functional diversity of bacteria and fungi in nine types of soil microenvironments in the karst region in Maolan National Nature Reserve in Guizhou were investigated by PCR-DGGE (Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis) and BIOLOG EcoPlates. Maolan National Nature Reserve is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and plays an important role in protecting the karst forest ecosystem and rare and endangered wild animals and plants in central Asia. The results showed that the diversity of both bacteria and fungi was high and the main factors influencing the diversity of bacteria and fungi were different. The bacterial community structure from different microhabitats under the same vegetation type had higher similarity than similar microhabitats in different vegetation types, which could indicate that the bacterial community structure was mainly controlled by vegetation. For fungi, similar microhabitat species under different vegetation types had higher similarities than different microhabitats species under the same vegetation type, which could indicate that the fungal community structure is mainly controlled by microhabitats. In addition, the metabolic patterns of similar microhabitats in different vegetation were different, while the metabolic patterns of different microhabitats in the same vegetation were not obviously different. In conclusion, the effect of vegetation types on soil microbial functional diversity was greater than that of microhabitats, and this difference was reflected by the different degrees of influence on soil microbial genetic diversity and community structure.

scholarly journals Is fire severity increasing in the Sierra Nevada, California, USA?

2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chad T. Hanson ◽  
Dennis C. Odion
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sierra Nevada ◽  
Fire Suppression ◽  
Biological Effects ◽  
Fire Severity ◽  
Fire Regimes ◽  
High Severity ◽  
Current Trends ◽  
In Fire ◽  
Fire Extent

Research in the Sierra Nevada range of California, USA, has provided conflicting results about current trends of high-severity fire. Previous studies have used only a portion of available fire severity data, or considered only a portion of the Sierra Nevada. Our goal was to investigate whether a trend in fire severity is occurring in Sierra Nevada conifer forests currently, using satellite imagery. We analysed all available fire severity data, 1984–2010, over the whole ecoregion and found no trend in proportion, area or patch size of high-severity fire. The rate of high-severity fire has been lower since 1984 than the estimated historical rate. Responses of fire behaviour to climate change and fire suppression may be more complex than assumed. A better understanding of spatiotemporal patterns in fire regimes is needed to predict future fire regimes and their biological effects. Mechanisms underlying the lack of an expected climate- and time since fire-related trend in high-severity fire need to be identified to help calibrate projections of future fire. The effects of climate change on high-severity fire extent may remain small compared with fire suppression. Management could shift from a focus on reducing extent or severity of fire in wildlands to protecting human communities from fire.

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