Can Butterflies Evade Fire? Pupa Location and Heat Tolerance in Fire Prone Habitats of Florida

Thom, Matthew D.; Daniels, Jaret C.; Kobziar, Leda N.; Colburn, Jonathan R.

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0126755

Cited by 33 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 41 publications

(42 reference statements)

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“…Pollinators may vary in their susceptibility to fire, depending on certain traits such as the degree of mobility, sociality, nesting behaviour and feeding habits (Kelly et al, ; Kral et al, ; Pausas, ). Many pollinators are good flyers and thus likely to recolonize or to forage in the burn area quickly as flowers are available (Carbone & Aguilar, ; García et al, ; Peralta et al, ; Thom, Daniels, Kobziar, & Colburn, ). In addition, ground‐nesting pollinators that survived the fire, as well as those with social organization may be benefited in burned environments due to lower competition for floral resources and lower predation levels (Koltz et al, ; Kral et al, ; Pausas & Parr, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A global synthesis of fire effects on pollinators

Carbone

Tavella

Pausas

et al. 2019

Global Ecol Biogeogr

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Aim Understanding fire effects on pollinators is critical in the context of fire regime changes and the global pollination crisis. Through a systematic and quantitative review of the literature, we provide the first global assessment of pollinator responses to fire. We hypothesize that pollinators increase after fire and during the early postfire succession stages; however, high fire frequency has the opposite effect, decreasing pollinators. Location Terrestrial ecosystems, excluding Antarctica. Time period Data collected from 1973 to 2017. Major taxa studied Insects (Coleoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera and Lepidoptera) and a few bird species. Methods We first compiled available studies across the globe that assessed fire effects on pollinator communities. Then, by means of hierarchical meta‐analyses, we evaluated how different fire regime parameters (fire frequency, postfire time and fire type) and habitat characteristics affect the abundance and richness of animals that act as pollinators. We also explored to what extent the responses vary among taxa groups and life history traits of pollinators (sociality system, nest location and feeding specialization), and among biomes. Results The overall effect size of fire on pollinator abundance and richness across all studies was positive. Fire effect was especially clear and significant in early postfire communities, after wildfires, and for Hymenoptera. Taxonomic resolution influenced fire effects, where only studies at the species/genus and family levels showed significant effects. The main exceptions were recurrent fires that showed a negative effect, and especially wildfire effects on Lepidoptera abundance that showed a significant negative response. Main conclusions Pollinators tend to be promoted after a wildfire event. However, short fire intervals may threat pollinators, and especially lepidopterans. Given the current fire regime changes at the global scale, it is imperative to monitor postfire pollinators across many ecosystems, as our results suggest that fire regime is critical in determining the dynamics of pollinator communities.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A global synthesis of fire effects on pollinators

Carbone

Tavella

Pausas

et al. 2019

Global Ecol Biogeogr

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“…Different insect taxa perceive and exploit the environment at different spatial scales, depending on their traits and requirements (Steffan-Dewenter et al 2002, Holland et al 2005, Petchey and Gaston 2006, Jauker et al 2009), and even ecologically and morphologically similar species may respond at different scales (Redhead et al 2016). However, regarding pollinator response to fire severity, our knowledge derives more indirectly from their response pattern over time (e.g., Petanidou and Ellis 1996, Ne'eman et al 2000, Potts et al 2003, Moretti et al 2006, Campbell et al 2007, Grundel et al 2010, Williams et al 2010, Cruz-S anchez et al 2014, or through studies investigating responses to other disturbances, such as grazing and habitat loss (L azaro et al 2016a, b, Kov acs-Hosty anszki et al 2017, than directly (but see Thom et al 2015, Ponisio et al 2016. These studies discuss the intermediate disturbance hypothesis.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moderate fire severity is best for the diversity of most of the pollinator guilds in Mediterranean pine forests

Lazarina

Devalez

Neokosmidis

et al. 2019

Ecology

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Fire, a frequent disturbance in the Mediterranean, affects pollinator communities. We explored the response of major pollinator guilds to fire severity, across a fire‐severity gradient at different spatial scales. We show that the abundance of all pollinator groups responded to fire severity, and that bees and beetles showed in addition a significant species‐diversity response. Bees, sawflies, and wasps responded to fire severity at relatively small spatial scales (250–300 m), whereas flies and beetles responded at larger spatial scales. The response of bees, sawflies, and wasps was unimodal, as predicted by the intermediate disturbance hypothesis, whereas flies and beetles showed a negative response. A possible explanation is that the observed patterns (spatial scale and type of response) are driven by taxa‐specific ecological and life‐history traits, such as nesting preference and body size, as well as the availability of resources in the postfire landscape. Our observational study provides an insight into the effect of fire severity on pollinators. However, future research exploring the explicit link between the pre‐ and postfire landscape structure and pollinator traits and responses is required for further establishment and understanding of cause–effect relationships.

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“…Insects may respond to fire disturbance with “survivor” traits, such as when butterflies bury pupae beneath soil duff (Thom et al. ) or when ants evacuate with their brood into cracks in the soil beneath host trees (Palmer et al. , Jaffe and Isbell ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Insects may respond to fire disturbance with "survivor" traits, such as when butterflies bury pupae beneath soil duff (Thom et al 2015) or when ants evacuate with their brood into cracks in the soil beneath host trees (Palmer et al 2008a, Jaffe andIsbell 2009). Alternatively, ant communities may exhibit classic competition-colonization trade-offs whereby subordinate species may respond to fire by adopting a "colonist" strategy through claiming vacant host plants once the fire disturbance has passed .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fire disturbance disrupts an acacia ant–plant mutualism in favor of a subordinate ant species

Sensenig

Kimuyu

Guajardo

et al. 2017

Ecology

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Although disturbance theory has been recognized as a useful framework in examining the stability of ant-plant mutualisms, very few studies have examined the effects of fire disturbance on these mutualisms. In myrmecophyte-dominated savannas, fire and herbivory are key drivers that could influence ant-plant mutualisms by causing complete colony mortality and/or decreasing colony size, which potentially could alter dominance hierarchies if subordinate species are more fire resilient. We used a large-scale, replicated fire experiment to examine long-term effects of fire on acacia-ant community composition. To determine if fire shifted ant occupancy from a competitive dominant to a subordinate ant species, we surveyed the acacia-ant community in 6-7 yr old burn sites and examined how the spatial scale of these burns influenced ant community responses. We then used two short-term fire experiments to explore possible mechanisms for the shifts in community patterns observed. Because survival of ant colonies is largely dependent on their ability to detect and escape an approaching fire, we first tested the evacuation response of all four ant species when exposed to smoke (fire signal). Then to better understand how fire and its interaction with large mammal herbivory affect the density of ants per tree, we quantified ant worker density in small prescribed burns within herbivore exclusion plots. We found clear evidence suggesting that fire disturbance favored the subordinate ant Crematogaster nigriceps more than the dominant and strong mutualist ant C. mimosae, whereby C. nigriceps (1) was the only species to occupy a greater proportion of trees in 6-7 yr old burn sites compared to unburned sites, (2) had higher burn/unburn tree ratios with increasing burn size, and (3) evacuated significantly faster than C. mimosae in the presence of smoke. Fire and herbivory had opposite effects on ant density per meter of branch for both C. nigriceps and C. mimosae, with fire decreasing ant densities per meter of branch and the presence of large herbivores increasing ant density. Taken together, these experiments suggest that major ecosystem disturbances like fire can disrupt mutualistic associations and maintain diversity in partner quality and identity despite a clear dominance hierarchy.

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Can Butterflies Evade Fire? Pupa Location and Heat Tolerance in Fire Prone Habitats of Florida

Cited by 33 publications

References 41 publications

A global synthesis of fire effects on pollinators

A global synthesis of fire effects on pollinators

Moderate fire severity is best for the diversity of most of the pollinator guilds in Mediterranean pine forests

Fire disturbance disrupts an acacia ant–plant mutualism in favor of a subordinate ant species

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