An arthropod survival strategy in a frequently burned forest

Dell, Jane E.; O’Brien, Joseph J.; Doan, Lydia; Richards, Lora A.; Dyer, Lee A.

doi:10.1002/ecy.1939

Cited by 23 publications

(15 citation statements)

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“…Many non-flying invertebrates (e.g. ants, stick insects, wingless nymphs of grasshoppers, spiders) appear to be able to detect fires well in advance of the front, presumably from smoke or sound; they attempt to shelter from fires by either moving into the soil, or by climbing to the tops of trees (Sensenig et al 2017;Dell et al 2017). Some animals in fire-prone ecosystems do not appear to show stressed behaviour in the presence of fire, but move calmly and search for a safe site or for a low flammability patch (Whelan 1995).…”

Section: Fauna Adapted To Fire-prone Habitatsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards an understanding of the evolutionary role of fire in animals

2018

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Wildfires underpin the dynamics and diversity of many ecosystems worldwide, and plants show a plethora of adaptive traits for persisting recurrent fires. Many fire-prone ecosystems also harbor a rich fauna; however, knowledge about adaptive traits to fire in animals remains poorly explored. We review existing literature and suggest that fire is an important evolutionary driver for animal diversity because (1) many animals are present in fire-prone landscapes and may have structural and phenotypic characters that contribute to adaptation to these open landscapes; and (2) in some cases, animals from fire-prone ecosystems may show specific fire adaptations. While there is limited evidence on morphological fire adaptations in animals, there is evidence suggesting that different behaviors might provide a rich source of putative fire adaptations; this is because, in contrast to plants, most animals are mobile, unitary organisms, have reduced survival when directly burnt by fire and can move away from the fire. We call for research on fire adaptations (morphological, behavioral, and physiological) in animals, and emphasize that in the animal kingdom many fire adaptations are likely to be behavioral. While it may be difficult to discern these adaptations from other animal behaviors, making this distinction is fundamental if we want to understand the role of fire in shaping biodiversity. Developing this understanding is critical to how we view and manage our ecosystems in the face of current global and fire regime changes.

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Section: Fauna Adapted To Fire-prone Habitatsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards an understanding of the evolutionary role of fire in animals

2018

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“…However, late-season fires at Kapalga caused 30% mortality in frill-necked lizards (Griffiths & Christian, 1996), and my unpublished observations of insects climbing up trees in response to smoke from experimental fires at the Territory Wildlife Park (cf. Dell et al, 2017) indicate an evolutionary response to direct fire-induced mortality.…”

Section: Insight 2 the Main Effects Of Fire On Fauna Are Indirect mentioning

confidence: 99%

Faunal responses to fire in Australian tropical savannas: Insights from field experiments and their lessons for conservation management

Andersen

2020

Diversity and Distributions

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Aim: Fire is particularly frequent, complex and contentious in the vast tropical savannas of northern Australia, where declines in many threatened species are associated with fire, and substantial areas are under fire management for greenhouse gas abatement. Controlled field experiments are crucial for understanding biodiversity responses, and here I present key insights into faunal responses to fire that have been revealed by them, along with their lessons for fire management. Location: Australian monsoonal tropics.Methods: Results are synthesized from six replicated fire experiments that have been conducted in Australian savannas and include multispecies assessments of fauna.The synthesis also draws on other fire studies and is presented in the form of five key insights into faunal responses. Results:The key insights are as follows: (a) most faunal groups are extremely resilient to fire, with highly contrasting fire regimes often having little or no detectable impact on species abundances, at least in the medium term; (b) the most important effects of fire are typically indirect through habitat modification, even when there is substantial direct mortality; (c) fire intensity is not as important a factor as is widely thought; rather, fire frequency is particularly important; (d) there will always be winners and losers with any fire; and (e) fire is required for the maintenance of diversity.Main conclusions: These insights have important implications for conservation management in Australian savannas: management needs to focus on fire-induced changes to habitat suitability, and to consider faunal outcomes at the landscape scale; a combination of frequently (every 2-3 years) and less frequently (every ≥5 years) burned habitat may adequately conserve the great majority of animal species without a need for complex fire mosaics; special management attention is required for frequent-fire losers because of an extremely low representation of longer-unburnt habitat; and fire needs to be actively managed to promote diversity, not excluded. The insights are widely applicable to tropical grassy ecosystems more generally, and some appear to be universal to fire-prone biomes.

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“…Foraging success in black‐backed woodpeckers Picoides arcticus , for example, increases following severe fire due to increased availability of preferred arthropod prey (Rota et al ., 2015). Similarly, arthropods available to bark‐foraging birds in southern pine forests frequently move from the understory onto pine boles (Hanula & Franzreb, 1998), and low‐intensity prescribed fire may stimulate this type of vertical movement of RCW arthropod prey (Dell et al ., 2017) thereby increasing foraging success. Our finding that area treated with prescribed fire within the past 2 years had direct positive effects on RCWs aligns with several studies on cavity‐nesting and bark‐foraging birds that found fire effects on bird productivity were related to direct effects of chemical cues that attracted preferred arthropod prey to burned areas, independent of direct effects of fire on forest structure (Lyons et al ., 2008; Nappi & Drapeau, 2009; Russell et al ., 2009).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Group size mediates effects of intraspecific competition and forest structure on productivity in a recovering social woodpecker population

Garabedian

Moorman

Peterson

et al. 2021

Animal Conservation

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Conservation of endangered social wildlife in disturbance‐prone forests is challenging because direct and indirect effects of management strategies developed at the time of species’ listing when population density is low may change under high‐density conditions in locally recovered populations. Here, we used piecewise structural equation modeling to evaluate direct and indirect drivers of productivity in the federally endangered cooperatively breeding red‐cockaded woodpecker Dryobates borealis (RCW) on Savannah River Site, South Carolina, USA. We estimated direct and indirect relationships among group size, neighboring group sizes, fledgling production, density of cavity tree clusters occupied by RCWs, area satisfying threshold criteria of ≥22 stems ha−1 of pines ≥35.6 cm diameter at breast height (dbh), <1.4 m2 ha−1 basal area (BA) of hardwoods 7.6–22.9 cm dbh, and <6% hardwood canopy cover, and area treated with prescribed fire, and tested whether group size mediated indirect effects of area satisfying threshold criteria on fledgling production. Increases in area with ≥22 stems ha−1 of pines ≥35.6 cm dbh and <1.4 m2 ha−1 BA of hardwoods 7.6–22.9 cm dbh, and area treated with prescribed fire, but not area with <6% hardwood canopy cover, had direct positive effects on group size. Group size and area treated with prescribed fire, but not area satisfying threshold criteria, had direct positive effects on fledgling production. The direct effect of neighboring group sizes on fledgling production was negative and smaller relative to the direct positive effect of group size on fledgling production. Overall, our results indicate positive direct effects of group size on fledgling production outweighed negative direct effects of neighboring group sizes, and that group size mediated positive indirect effects of area satisfying structural threshold criteria on fledgling production. These findings indicate that ongoing forest management aimed to increase area with ≥22 pines ha−1 ≥35.6 cm dbh and <1.4 m2 ha−1 BA of hardwoods 7.6–22.9 cm dbh will promote large group sizes, which in turn improve fledgling production and offset costs of heightened competition with neighboring groups under high‐density conditions. Additionally, positive effects of area treated with prescribed fire on RCW group size and fledgling production indicate prescribed fire has unique contributions to woodpecker productivity, likely via direct effects on forest structure and potentially indirect effects on arthropod prey available to foraging RCWs. By simultaneously accounting for multiple drivers of productivity in social wildlife, our study contributes to the understanding of how increases in social wildlife population sizes can alter previously documented habitat‐fitness relationships.

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An arthropod survival strategy in a frequently burned forest

Abstract: This is the author manuscript accepted for publication and has undergone full peer review but has not been through the copyediting, typesetting, pagination and proofreading process, which may lead to differences between this version and the Version of Record. Please cite this article as

Cited by 23 publications

References 0 publications

Towards an understanding of the evolutionary role of fire in animals

Towards an understanding of the evolutionary role of fire in animals

Faunal responses to fire in Australian tropical savannas: Insights from field experiments and their lessons for conservation management

Group size mediates effects of intraspecific competition and forest structure on productivity in a recovering social woodpecker population

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