Effects of time-since-fire on ant-plant interactions in southern Brazilian grasslands

Silva, Carolina Veronese Corrêa da; Goldas, Camila da Silva; Dáttilo, Wesley; Dröse, William; Mendonça, Milton de Souza; Podgaiski, Luciana Regina

doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.106094

Cited by 17 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…In southern Brazil, grasslands show spatial heterogeneity that is mediated by fire and grazing regimes (Pillar & Quadros, 1997; Overbeck et al, 2005; Fischer et al, 2019). Thus far, positive or neutral effects of burning were found on grassland plants (Overbeck et al, 2005; Overbeck & Pfadenhauer, 2007; Fidelis et al, 2012), birds (Beal‐Neves et al, 2020; Chiarani et al, 2020), ant–plant interactions (da Silva et al, 2020), and ecosystem processes (Abreu et al, 2017). While phytogeographic and palynological evidence reveals that these grasslands were shaped by a drier and colder past climate and under the influence of large grazers (Rambo, 1956; Behling, 2002; Behling et al, 2004; Behling & Pillar, 2007), in the absence of large grazers fire has maintained the grassland physiognomy despite the current climate and soil allowing forests to develop (Pillar & Quadros, 1997;Overbeck et al, 2005; Fidelis et al, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functional and taxonomic alpha and beta diversity responses to burning grasslands in southern Brazil

Joner

Giehl

Pillar

2021

J Vegetation Science

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Questions Grasslands in subtropical Brazil are known as potentially fire‐prone ecosystems. Aiming to better understand the effects of fire on biodiversity, we addressed the following questions: does fire benefit all alpha and beta components of taxonomic and functional diversity in grasslands; which functional groups are affected; does diversity foster recovery of above‐ground biomass after fire? Location Campos grassland, southern Brazil Methods The effects of fire were investigated using a before/after control/impact experimental design. A randomized block design with seven replicates was set up, where a fire experiment was established after three years of both grazing and fire exclusion. Each block contained two paired 10 m × 10 m plots. We assessed plant species composition, plant functional trait composition, plant functional groups, and above‐ground biomass before and after fire in both burnt and control plots. Results Both taxonomic and functional alpha diversity increased in burnt plots and decreased in unburnt plots across time. Taxonomic species richness considering total species increased more than considering common species only. Functional beta diversity increased in burnt plots while taxonomic beta diversity stayed similar between treatments. Forb total cover increased after fire while graminoids and shrubs remained unchanged. Burnt plots with high initial functional richness presented greater biomass recovery, whereas species richness presented no relation with above‐ground biomass. Conclusions Fire increases species and functional richness in plots of subtropical Campos grasslands (alpha diversity component), and while it increases functional beta diversity, taxonomic beta diversity remained unchanged. Functional diversity is important for maintaining grassland biomass recovery after fire.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functional and taxonomic alpha and beta diversity responses to burning grasslands in southern Brazil

Joner

Giehl

Pillar

2021

J Vegetation Science

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“…As predicted, grasslands from different times-since-fire greatly differed regarding habitat structure. Freshly-burnt patches have enhanced bare soil, sunlight exposition, and air temperatures, along with decreased moisture, which are driven by the reduction of vegetation aerial biomass (Overbeck et al 2005;Fidelis et al 2012;Podgaiski et al 2014;da Silva et al 2020). Most of this fire-consumed aboveground biomass is in the form of tussock C4 grasses, which are very flammable and represent the dominant plant life-form in grasslands staying longer periods without disturbances (Overbeck et al 2018) (e.g.…”

Section: Changes In Habitat Structurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, more investigations are necessary to better understand fire-induced changes though time in grassland habitat structure, flowering plants, and specifically on different insect pollinator groups. We first postulate that grasslands from different times-since-fire will differ in habitat structure, i.e., more recently burned patches will present increased bare soil, reduced plant biomass and grass cover in comparison to grasslands remaining longer without fire disturbance (Overbeck et al 2005;Fidelis et al 2012;Podgaiski et al 2014;da Silva et al (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder. All rights reserved.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nevertheless, the role of fire for conservation purposes in these ecosystems has been underestimated (Overbeck et al 2018). A few studies have shown positive patch burning effects on grassland arthropod faunas (Podgaiski et al 2013(Podgaiski et al , 2017Ferrando et al 2016) and, more recently, on mutualistic networks (da Silva et al 2020;Beal-Neves et al 2020). However, more investigations are necessary to better understand fire-induced changes though time in grassland habitat structure, flowering plants, and specifically on different insect pollinator groups.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, more investigations are necessary to better understand fire-induced changes though time in grassland habitat structure, flowering plants, and specifically on different insect pollinator groups. We first postulate that grasslands from different times-since-fire will differ in habitat structure, i.e., more recently burned patches will present increased bare soil, reduced plant biomass and grass cover in comparison to grasslands remaining longer without fire disturbance (Overbeck et al 2005;Fidelis et al 2012;Podgaiski et al 2014;da Silva et al 2020). Associated with these dynamics, we expect freshly-burnt patches to show high flower abundance and richness of plants flowering due to rapid resprout after fire ; Pike 2017) which in turn would positively enhance abundance and richness of insect pollinator groups through floral resource improvement (Potts et al 2003a;Potts et al 2003b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Burning for grassland pollination: recently burned patches promote plant flowering and insect pollinators

Goldas

Podgaiski

Silva

et al. 2021

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Grasslands are historically and evolutionarily associated with disturbances, such as fire, that drive biodiversity assembly patterns and biotic interactions. Disturbance suppression in fire-prone ecosystems usually leads to a decline in forb diversity and flowering due to biomass accumulation, which could jeopardize pollinator diversity. In this study, we investigated patterns and drivers of plant flowering and flower insect visitor communities in a chronosequence of patches from different time-since-fire categories in Southern Brazilian grasslands. Old-burnt patches (more than 2 years since fire) had taller vegetation, more biomass and grass cover than intermediate (about 1 year after fire) and freshly-burnt patches (less than 6 months since fire), which had increased bare soil cover. Forb flower abundance was much higher in freshly-burnt patches, directly predicted by the degree of habitat openness. Pollinator insects were then benefited by floral resource aggregation in freshly-burnt patches, increasing in abundance (bees and butterflies) and species richness (bees). Beetle communities were positively influenced by vegetation height. Furthermore, plant species flowering and bee species composition varied between freshly and old-burnt grasslands, with indicator species found for all recovery stages but mainly freshly-burnt patches. Altogether, these results indicate the importance of maintaining freshly-burnt patches in the grassland landscape: it helps to sustain flower diversity, pollination services, and flowering plant reproduction. Our findings support the idea that a mosaic of grasslands from different times-since-fire should be considered for grassland conservation.

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Structural resilience and high interaction dissimilarity of plant–pollinator interaction networks in fire-prone grasslands

et al. 2021

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Effects of time-since-fire on ant-plant interactions in southern Brazilian grasslands

Cited by 17 publications

References 66 publications

Functional and taxonomic alpha and beta diversity responses to burning grasslands in southern Brazil

Functional and taxonomic alpha and beta diversity responses to burning grasslands in southern Brazil

Burning for grassland pollination: recently burned patches promote plant flowering and insect pollinators

Structural resilience and high interaction dissimilarity of plant–pollinator interaction networks in fire-prone grasslands

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