Direct and Short-Term Effects of Fire on Lizard Assemblages from a Neotropical Savanna Hotspot

Costa, Bernardo Miglio; Pantoja, Davi Lima; Vianna, Mariana Caixeta Milhome; Colli, Guarino R.

doi:10.1670/12-043

Cited by 24 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 79 publications

(93 reference statements)

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“…Mulanje Biosphere Reserve, Quirimbas National Park of coastal northeastern Mozambique, the xeric savannas of Namibia, and the largely unprotected Katanga miombo savannas (Sodhi et al, 2007; Herrmann and Branch, 2012). However, many species of lizards in savannas are resilient after fires (Andersen et al, 2012; Costa et al, 2013; Gorissen et al, 2015) and other anthropogenic disturbances (Smart et al, 2005). Indeed, several specimens in our study were found in disturbed areas, including mining concessions (Table 1), agricultural plots (DMP, pers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Molecular phylogeny of Panaspis and Afroablepharus skinks (Squamata: Scincidae) in the savannas of sub-Saharan Africa

Medina

Bauer

Branch

et al. 2016

Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution

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African snake-eyed skinks are relatively small lizards of the genera Panaspis and Afroablepharus. Species allocation of these genera frequently changed during the 20th century based on morphology, ecology, and biogeography. Members of these genera occur primarily in savanna habitats throughout sub-Saharan Africa and include species whose highly conserved morphology poses challenges for taxonomic studies. We sequenced two mitochondrial (16S and cyt b) and two nuclear genes (PDC and RAG1) from 95 Panaspis and Afroablepharus samples from across eastern, central, and southern Africa. Concatenated gene-tree and divergence-dating analyses were conducted to infer phylogenies and biogeographic patterns. Molecular data sets revealed several cryptic lineages, with most radiations occurring during the mid-Miocene to Pliocene. We infer that rifting processes (including the formation of the East African Rift System) and climatic oscillations contributed to the expansion and contraction of savannas, and caused cladogenesis in snake-eyed skinks. Species in Panaspis and Afroablepharus used in this study, including type species for both genera, formed a monophyletic group. As a result, the latter genus should be synonymized with the former, which has priority. Conservatively, we continue to include the West African species P. breviceps and P. togoensis within an expanded Panaspis, but note that they occur in relatively divergent clades, and their taxonomic status may change with improved taxon sampling. Divergence estimates and cryptic speciation patterns of snake-eyed skinks were consistent with previous studies of other savanna vertebrate lineages from the same areas examined in this study.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Molecular phylogeny of Panaspis and Afroablepharus skinks (Squamata: Scincidae) in the savannas of sub-Saharan Africa

Medina

Bauer

Branch

et al. 2016

Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution

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“…) mammals, ants (Frizzo, Campos & Vasconcelos ; Maravalhas & Vasconcelos ), avifauna (Cavalcanti & Alves ) and herpetofauna (Costa et al . ), among others. In general, animal species in savannas are resilient to fire, except under extreme fire regimes (Andersen, Woinarski & Parr ).…”

Section: Cerrado Ecology and Its Relationship With Firementioning

confidence: 94%

“…Besides the influences on plant populations and community structure (Hoffmann 1996;Munhoz & Amaral 2010;Sato, Miranda & Maia 2010), these studies have demonstrated the fire factor controlling ecological processes such as gas emissions (Pinto & Bustamante 2010), mineral cycling (Oliveras et al 2013) and plant reproduction (Ara ujo et al 2013). The effects of fire on distinct faunal groups have also been studied, including large (Prada 2001) and small (Briani et al 2004) mammals, ants (Frizzo, Campos & Vasconcelos 2012;Maravalhas & Vasconcelos 2014), avifauna (Cavalcanti & Alves 1997) and herpetofauna (Costa et al 2013), among others. In general, animal species in savannas are resilient to fire, except under extreme fire regimes (Andersen, Woinarski & Parr 2012).…”

Section: Cerrado Ecology and Its Relationship With Firementioning

confidence: 99%

The need for a consistent fire policy for Cerrado conservation

Durigan

Ratter

2015

Journal of Applied Ecology

257

240

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Summary1. The Cerrado is a fire-dependent savanna requiring a clear and urgent fire management policy. The extensive misuse of fire for deforestation or pasture management in Brazil has created an overall perception that its use is always deleterious. This view, reinforced by threats of global warming and climatic change, has lead to current policies of fire suppression. 2. Cerrado ecosystems depend on the historical fire regime to maintain their structure, biodiversity and functioning. The suppression of fire has transformed savanna vegetation into forests, causing biodiversity losses and drastic changes in ecological processes. 3. Policy implications. The National Fire Policy required by law must be urgently implemented in Brazil, including use of fire for Cerrado conservation in public and private lands on the basis of existing knowledge of indigenous people and scientists. Objective regulations on prescribed burning, land manager training, incentives for fire research and experimentation and a broad campaign to disseminate the benefits of fire for Cerrado conservation should be the cornerstones of the policy. If implemented, the policy can give the biodiversity of the Cerrado a future that has previously been severely threatened by fire suppression.

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“…Schoener & Spiller, 1996;Campbell et al, 2012;Wolf et al, 2013). We have no data on the role of diseases, but food supply seems to be abundant and fires have negligible direct effects on lizard populations in the study site (Colli, Peres & Zatz, 1997;Costa et al, 2013). BaSTA uses Bayesian analyses coupled with Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods to model age-specific survival from capture-recapture data in the presence of covariates (Colchero & Clark, 2012).…”

Section: Statistical Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Blue tales of a blue‐tailed lizard: ecological correlates of tail autotomy in Micrablepharus atticolus (Squamata, Gymnophthalmidae) in a Neotropical savannah

Sousa¹,

Costa

Morais³

et al. 2016

Journal of Zoology

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Tail autotomy and regeneration are perhaps the most dramatic adaptations to enhance survival among lizards. In spite of much work on the subject, the ecological significance of tail autotomy rates in natural populations remains elusive, due to difficulties in controlling several confounding factors and the paucity of accurate demographic data. On the basis of a capture-recapture study, we investigate the ecological determinants of tail autotomy rates in Micrablepharus atticolus, a bluetailed lizard from the South American Cerrado. We tested whether habitat (as a proxy of predation intensity), seasonality (as a proxy of intensity of social interactions), ontogeny and sex affected autotomy rates, and also whether autotomy rates affected body condition. We found that tail autotomy rates in M. atticolus are lower than in many other species with brightly colored tails, likely resulting from a small body size and fossorial habits. Autotomy rates were lower than expected by chance in the plot with lower mortality rates, suggesting a more prominent role of predation intensity instead of predator efficiency, and increased with age, suggesting cumulative effects of predation attempts along the ontogeny or age-specific differences in predation intensity. We also found no intersexual differences or any effect of breeding activity on autotomy rates. Our results indicate that energetic costs of tail autotomy are low, or that animals compensate tail loss with increased foraging rates. These characteristics of M. atticolus seem tightly associated with its small body size, fossorial lifestyle and very short life span, and suggest that the costs of tail regeneration should be low.

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Direct and Short-Term Effects of Fire on Lizard Assemblages from a Neotropical Savanna Hotspot

Cited by 24 publications

References 79 publications

Molecular phylogeny of Panaspis and Afroablepharus skinks (Squamata: Scincidae) in the savannas of sub-Saharan Africa

Molecular phylogeny of Panaspis and Afroablepharus skinks (Squamata: Scincidae) in the savannas of sub-Saharan Africa

The need for a consistent fire policy for Cerrado conservation

Blue tales of a blue‐tailed lizard: ecological correlates of tail autotomy in Micrablepharus atticolus (Squamata, Gymnophthalmidae) in a Neotropical savannah

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