Effects of Fire on the Abundance of Xenarthrans in Mato Grosso, Brazil

Abstract

Fire is an important ecological factor in Cerrado vegetation of central Brazil, and in other savanna ecosystems. The effect of fire on the abundance of some Xenarthran mammal species Priodontes maximus Kerr, 1792 (giant armadillo), Euphractus sexcinctus Linnaeus, 1758 (yellow armadillo) and Myrmecophaga tridactyla Linnaeus, 1758 (giant anteater)) was studied at Reserva Xavante do Rio das Mortes, a 329 000 ha Xavante Indian reserve in the Cerrado of Mato Grosso, Brazil. Track counts were used to compare the abundance of these mammals along seven burned and seven unburned transects, on seven occasions between August 1995 and August 1996. The number of tracks in burned and unburned areas did not differ. Xenarthrans probably use burned areas to obtain food resources, basically termites and ants. Xavante traditional fire hunts may reduce fuel accumulation and function as a mechanism to prevent more destructive fires. Fire management at Reserva Xavante is recommended because the burning system of Brazilian farmers is already influencing the Xavante community. Xavante traditional knowledge about fire could be an important instrument for this management.

No Net Loss of Species Diversity After Prescribed Fires in the Brazilian Savanna

“…Our results are in accordance with most studies quantifying the effects of fire on tropical savanna biodiversity, which found little or no effect (van Wilgen et al, 2007;Frizzo et al, 2011), corroborating the adaptation of Cerrado biodiversity to fire, both among plants (e.g., Coutinho, 1982Coutinho, , 1990Simon and Pennington, 2012) or animals (e.g. Vieira and Marinho-Filho, 1998;Layme et al, 2004;Prada and Marinho-Filho, 2004). Recent studies, however, have shown fire influences other than changes in richness, such as body conditions of lizards, which depend on habitat preferences of different species (Costa et al, 2019).…”

“…Although changes in vegetation structure represent modifications in habitat for plants and animals, fire-driven changes in plant communities of tropical savannas due to fire are much more about structure than species composition or biodiversity (Higgins et al, 2007;van Wilgen et al, 2007;Lebbink et al, 2018), since fire does not eliminate typical savanna species. No biodiversity losses due to fire have been consistently observed in savannas for most animal groups, such as arthropods (but see Morais and Benson, 1988;Andersen and Müller, 2000;Maravalhas and Vasconcelos, 2014;Vasconcelos et al, 2017), birds (Cavalcanti and Alves, 1997;Corbett et al, 2003;Mills, 2004;Reis et al, 2016), mammals (Vieira, 1999;Prada and Marinho-Filho, 2004;Beale et al, 2018), reptiles (Griffiths and Christian, 1996;Corbett et al, 2003;Langford et al, 2007;Morais et al, 2011;Costa et al, 2013), and amphibians (Corbett et al, 2003;Langford et al, 2007;Morais et al, 2011). Despite the pattern of low impact on richness observed in most studies, however, there are some exceptions when fire effects are analyzed at a small scale, comparing different pieces of the vegetation mosaic.…”

“…Furthermore, herbivorous insects also may stay in burned areas because the vegetation begins to sprout or germinate in just a few days after fire. Indeed, the massive flowering (Prada et al, 1995;Vieira et al, 1996) and seed production after fire attract insects and represent a considerable food increase to reptiles, birds, and mammals in post fire areas (Prada and Marinho-Filho, 2004;Frizzo et al, 2011;Vieira and Briani, 2013). Thus, food shortage may not be a problem for insectivorous animals after fire (Lepesqueur et al, 2012).…”

Influence of vegetation physiognomy, elevation and fire frequency on medium and large mammals in two protected areas of the Espinhaço Range

“…Although the immediate effect of a fire is a drastic change in the landscape, the mobility of medium and large mammals would allow most of them to escape and seek refuge in adjacent areas (Frizzo et al 2011). In these cases, gallery forests are important refuge areas for these species (Silveira et al 1999, Prada andMarinho-Filho 2004). Due to the rapid regrowth of the vegetation, soon after the fire, these highly resilient environments may be able to sustain populations of medium and large mammals again.…”

Dinâmica Espaço-temporal de Focos de Calor em Duas Terras Indígenas do Estado de Mato Grosso: uma Abordagem Geoespacial sobre a Dinâmica do Uso do Fogo por Xavantes e Bororos

“…Focos de calor nas faixas de influência interna e externa de cada terra indígena. Entende-se que mais estudos devem ser conduzidos para continuar avaliando o efeito do fogo em terra indígena localizada na região do Rio das Mortes e propondo estratégias relacionadas ao programa de manejo do fogo (Prada & Marinho-Filho, 2004). Segundo Melo (2007), ainda são comuns as queimadas realizadas pelos Xavantes em atividades de caça com fogo.…”