Predicting mammal responses to pyrodiversity: From microbats to macropods

Senior, Katharine L.; Giljohann, Katherine M.; McCarthy, Michael A.; Rainsford, Frederick W.; Kelly, Luke T.

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109031

Cited by 13 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Only one species, Chalinolobus picatus (Gould), an edge-space forager, showed a negative response to the extent of recent burns (< 5 years); however, this species did not have a negative response to the extent of older burns. Further, the presence of C. picatus at the landscape scale was relatively stable over the 5 years (Law et al 2020) and its distribution across the Murray Mallee Region of southeastern Australia is not affected by burn extent (Senior et al 2021), suggesting that the negative effects of recent wildfire extent are local for this species. However, the distributions of several other species of bats in the Murray Mallee Region are negatively associated with burn extent (Additional file 4).…”

Section: Bat Responses To Burned Versus Unburned Sitesmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…Nyctophilus geoffroyi (Leach), a closed-space forager in Australia, exhibits contrasting responses to time since last burn at the local (Doty et al 2016) and range-wide scale within southeastern Australia (Senior et al 2021). Torpor use is significantly lower 4 months after a wildfire compared to 2 years post-fire, which the authors attribute to an increase in vegetation on the forest floor over time.…”

Section: Bat Responses To Burned Versus Unburned Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This is supported by studies in Africa where bat species richness is positively associated with pyrodiversity in wet regions (Beale et al 2018) and in the western USA where two studies in the Sierra Nevada found positive relationships between bat richness and pyrodiversity across scales from 250 m to 10 km (Steel et al 2019;. However, when considered at the species level, bats have variable responses to pyrodiversity, with only three species showing a positive association with pyrodiversity in a western USA assemblage of 17 species (Steel et al 2019) and 8 out of 9 species in semi-arid Australian woodlands being negatively associated with pyrodiversity (Senior et al 2021). The overwhelmingly negative relationship between bat species and pyrodiversity in the Australian landscape (measured by diversity in post-fire age classes) is likely because bat roosting habitat is limited in this environment and takes > 40 years to regenerate after severe wildfires (Senior et al 2021).…”

Section: Effects Of Fire Parameters On Bats-pyrodiversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Bats and fire: a global review

Loeb

Blakey

2021

fire ecol

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Background Bats are important components of forested ecosystems and are found in forests worldwide. Consequently, they often interact with fire. Previous reviews of the effects of fire on bats have focused on prescribed fire effects, in part due to the limited number of studies on bat responses to wildfire. However, over the past several years, studies on bat responses to wildfire and prescribed fire have increased considerably. We reviewed this rapidly expanding body of literature to determine whether bats respond differently to prescribed fire and wildfire, and the important factors driving those differences. We also examined regional similarities and differences in bat response to prescribed fire and wildfire and identified areas in need of further research. Results Our review included 52 studies (29 prescribed fire, 23 wildfire) from North and South America, Europe, Australia, and Africa, although studies from Europe, South America, and Africa were limited. In general, we found that bats show positive or neutral responses to prescribed fire, whereas a greater proportion of negative responses were reported for wildfire. However, some of the negative responses to wildfire are short-lived or local, suggesting that bats may be resilient to the effects of fire. Factors such as fire severity, fire frequency, time since last burn, burn extent, season of burn, and pyrodiversity were all found to be important drivers of bats’ responses to both prescribed fire and wildfire. Conclusions The importance of the spatial and temporal aspects of fire suggests that these factors need to be considered when designing future studies and interpreting results. Pyrodiversity may be a particularly important concept to further our understanding of bats’ responses to fire. We found several gaps in our knowledge including lack of information on direct effects of fire (e.g., mortality), regional and taxonomic biases, effects of wildfire on roosting habitat, and the effects of climate change. Although current studies suggest that fire may be an important management tool for improving bat habitat, the threat of more frequent, extensive, and severe wildfires may put additional stress on some bat populations, particularly those being impacted by disease, habitat loss and fragmentation, and climate change.

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Section: Bat Responses To Burned Versus Unburned Sitesmentioning

confidence: 93%

Section: Bat Responses To Burned Versus Unburned Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Effects Of Fire Parameters On Bats-pyrodiversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Bats and fire: a global review

Loeb

Blakey

2021

fire ecol

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“…While recent studies have advanced knowledge of how animal species respond to time since fire, little is known of the effects of repeated fires on their distribution and abundance in mallee ecosystems. It is likely that interactions between fire interval (or fire frequency) and vegetation structure influence habitat suitability, with mammals being the most well-studied group to date (Senior et al, 2021). For example, fires at shorter intervals (<40 years) that reduce the abundance of dead stems with hollows, reduce the suitability of habitat for species that depend on tree cavities, such as the south-eastern long-eared bat (Nyctophilus corbeni) (Lumsden et al, 2008;Senior et al, 2021).…”

Section: Animalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The size, shape and patchiness of a fire affect the context of sites, both those burnt and those that remain unburnt. While individuals of some species (e.g., fossorial reptiles) can persist on a burnt site, a key issue for many plants and animals is the capacity to recolonise post-fire, either from internal sources within the fire boundary or external sources (Bradstock et al, 2005;Nimmo et al, 2019;Senior et al, 2021). For example, Watson et al (2012a) found sites distant from unburnt vegetation supported fewer bird species, but those that contained small unburnt patches supported more species than uniformly burnt sites.…”

Section: Responses To Spatial Patterns Of Firementioning

confidence: 99%

Fire and Its Interactions With Other Drivers Shape a Distinctive, Semi-Arid ‘Mallee’ Ecosystem

et al. 2021

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Fire shapes ecosystems globally, including semi-arid ecosystems. In Australia, semi-arid ‘mallee’ ecosystems occur primarily across the southern part of the continent, forming an interface between the arid interior and temperate south. Mallee vegetation is characterized by short, multi-stemmed eucalypts that grow from a basal lignotuber. Fire shapes the structure and functioning of mallee ecosystems. Using the Murray Mallee region in south-eastern Australia as a case study, we examine the characteristics and role of fire, the consequences for biota, and the interaction of fire with other drivers. Wildfires in mallee ecosystems typically are large (1000s ha), burn with high severity, commonly cause top-kill of eucalypts, and create coarse-grained mosaics at a regional scale. Wildfires can occur in late spring and summer in both dry and wet years. Recovery of plant and animal communities is predictable and slow, with regeneration of eucalypts and many habitat components extending over decades. Time since the last fire strongly influences the distribution and abundance of many species and the structure of plant and animal communities. Animal species display a discrete set of generalized responses to time since fire. Systematic field studies and modeling are beginning to reveal how spatial variation in fire regimes (‘pyrodiversity’) at different scales shapes biodiversity. Pyrodiversity includes variation in the extent of post-fire habitats, the diversity of post-fire age-classes and their configuration. At regional scales, a desirable mix of fire histories for biodiversity conservation includes a combination of early, mid and late post-fire age-classes, weighted toward later seral stages that provide critical habitat for threatened species. Biodiversity is also influenced by interactions between fire and other drivers, including land clearing, rainfall, herbivory and predation. Extensive clearing for agriculture has altered the nature and impact of fire, and facilitated invasion by pest species that modify fuels, fire regimes and post-fire recovery. Given the natural and anthropogenic drivers of fire and the consequences of their interactions, we highlight opportunities for conserving mallee ecosystems. These include learning from and fostering Indigenous knowledge of fire, implementing actions that consider synergies between fire and other processes, and strategic monitoring of fire, biodiversity and other drivers to guide place-based, adaptive management under climate change.

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