Tipping the scales: how fire controls the balance among functional groups in Angolan grasslands

Meller, Paulina; Frazão, Raquel; Lages, Fernanda; Jürgens, Norbert; Finckh, Manfred

doi:10.2989/10220119.2021.2012822

Cited by 5 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 71 publications

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“…The comparable monthly burn area and low omission errors for 2016 and 2019 between the MODIS FireCCI51 product and the Sentinel-2 burned area products over the study region support the use of MODIS in calculating fire dynamics in this study. The fire patterns in the study area are broadly similar to those found in African woodland savannas (Meller et al, 2022 ; Nieman et al, 2021 ; Van Wilgen et al, 2022 ). This study found that fire frequency and burn area are higher within the river valley environment.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 78%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Within Angolan woodland savannas, Meller et al ( 2022 ) determined that the mosaic of woodlands and grasslands is frequently burned by humans. The type of vegetation burned, and the timing and frequency of fire both depend on land management practices (Meller et al, 2022 ). Grasslands burn in the early dry season (June to July) to aid in hunting practices and clear village surroundings, and woodlands are burnt late in the dry season (August to September) to prepare fields for the growing season (Meller et al, 2022 ; Teutloff et al, 2021 ), consistent with the fire regimes for the grasslands and miombo woodlands in the study area.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The type of vegetation burned, and the timing and frequency of fire both depend on land management practices (Meller et al, 2022 ). Grasslands burn in the early dry season (June to July) to aid in hunting practices and clear village surroundings, and woodlands are burnt late in the dry season (August to September) to prepare fields for the growing season (Meller et al, 2022 ; Teutloff et al, 2021 ), consistent with the fire regimes for the grasslands and miombo woodlands in the study area. Van Wilgen et al ( 2022 ) hypothesise that humans do not change the fire frequency, but that they can change the amount of landscape that is flammable.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fire regime of peatlands in the Angolan Highlands

Lourenco

Woodborne

Fitchett

2022

Environ Monit Assess

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The Angolan Highlands region includes the Angolan miombo woodland ecoregion which supports miombo woodland, grasslands, subsistence agricultural land, and peatland deposits. Extensive fires, slash and burn agriculture, peat fuel extraction, and peatland drainage are among the anthropogenic practices that threaten these peatland deposits. Peat fires cause peatland degradation, release significant amounts of greenhouse gases, deteriorate air quality, and contribute towards climate change and biodiversity loss. This study presents an analysis of the fire regimes over the period 2001 to 2020 in an under-studied area of the Angolan Highlands. Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) fire and vegetation data were used in combination with a land use/land cover (LULC) classification map to calculate fire frequency, burn area, and fire regimes. The fire patterns within the study site are comparable to those found in African woodland savannas. Across the study site, 6976 km 2 (11.31%) of the land surface area burned at least nine times from 2001 to 2020, occurring largely within in the river valley environment. Considering the different LULC classes, peatlands were calculated to (a) burn more frequently (average fire frequency from 2001 to 2020 = 9.12), (b) have the smallest proportion (4.11%) of area which remained unburnt over the fire archive, and (c) have the largest average proportion (45.65% or 746 km 2 ) of burnt area per year. Peatland burning occurred predominantly during drier months from May to September. The results of this study highlight the strong influence of LULC on the fire frequency and distribution in the study area, requiring unique fire management strategies. As has been documented for boreal and tropical peatlands across the globe, we stress the importance of peatland conservation and protection; continued unsustainable management practices may lead to the loss of these important peatland deposits. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10661-022-10704-6.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 78%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fire regime of peatlands in the Angolan Highlands

Lourenco

Woodborne

Fitchett

2022

Environ Monit Assess

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“…After the increase in richness and diversity after fire, these grasslands showed a decrease in these attributes in the next inventories, probably due to the expansion of shrub cover in these areas. Overall, fire is an important tool to manage plant diversity and plant growth‐form composition and abundance in savannas (Buisson et al, 2019; Pilon et al, 2021; Meller et al, 2022).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decrease in species richness and diversity, and shrub encroachment in Cerrado grasslands: A 20 years study

Souza

Ferreira

Munhoz

2022

Applied Vegetation Science

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Question:The Cerrado is a global biodiversity hotspot, highly threatened by changes in land use. Alterations in species composition and the colonization of Cerrado grasslands by woody species can lead to long-term changes in these communities. In this study, we investigated changes over 20 years in three grassland areas, in terms of species richness and diversity and growth-form cover, as well as the effects of shrub and grass encroachment on species richness.Location: Cerrado Brazilian savanna, moist grassland and dry shrub grassland. Areas under low and high anthropogenic pressure.Methods: Plant species composition and cover were sampled on seven occasions between the years 2000 and 2020, in permanent line-transects. We compared plant cover, richness, diversity and growth-form cover between the periods for each area.Next, we developed mixed-effect linear models to test whether species richness in grasslands at the latest sampling event was altered by species representing 70% of the species cover at this time.Results: Grasslands located in areas under higher anthropogenic pressure presented reduced richness and diversity, and cover concentrated on a few species of shrubs and large tussock grasses. Moist grassland undergoing encroachment by the native shrub Trembleya parviflora had lost over 50% of its diversity since encroachment. In the same area, a shrub grassland undergoing encroachment by native shrub Raulinoreitzia tremula, three native grass species and one exotic grass presented significantly reduced species richness. The moist grassland in an area under low anthropogenic pressure showed a reordering of the species cover over time, but a decrease in species richness. Conclusion:We observed changes in plant richness, diversity, cover, composition and growth-form cover over a period of 20 years in grassland communities. We found, however, different trajectories in the three grassland areas sampled, mainly due to the encroachment of a few species, leading to floristic homogenization in grasslands located in areas under high anthropogenic pressure.

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Florida’s fiery subtropical grasslands: Growth forms, belowground organs, and post-fire recovery strategies

Orzell,

Bitomský,

Bridges

et al. 2024

Folia Geobot

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Fire-adaptive traits in plants of tropical and subtropical grassy ecosystems have been the subject of considerable global research, but only recently studied in pyrogenic Florida subtropical grasslands. Plant growth forms, belowground organs, and post-fire recovery strategies were studied for 198 grassland specialists in peninsular Florida. Community types (dry-mesic, mesic, wet-mesic, and wet) were sampled with 1m2 plots along the edaphic-hydrologic gradient and the association between these variables and fire-related plant traits was tested using fourth-corner analysis. Caulescent herbs (43), cespitose graminoids (27), and rosette herbs (31) are the most common growth forms among species sampled. Plants with epigeogenous and hypogeogenous rhizomes dominate the sample plots, including matrix graminoids, shrub geoxyles, and an acaulescent rhizomatous fire-resilient palm (Serenoa repens). Most species (163; 82%) exhibit resprouting, including 30 facultative resprouters and 133 obligate resprouters. All woody rhizomatous species are obligate resprouters, and 35 ephemeral herbaceous species are obligate reseeders. Community type was a better predictor of species abundances than hydrology, however, hydrology was significantly associated with species traits measured, particularly rhizome texture, with woody rhizomes prevalent in all but the wet sites. Belowground organs (xylopodia, geoxylic suffructices) and growth form were associated with frequent fire and phylogeny, suggesting fire regime as a driver of community phylogenetic diversity. Persistence, rapid resilience and co-occurrence of geoxyles align Florida subtropical grasslands with other global geoxyle grasslands. The old-growth, pyrogenic grassy ecosystems of peninsular Florida are the center of geoxyle diversification on the southeastern US coastal plain.

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Tipping the scales: how fire controls the balance among functional groups in Angolan grasslands

Cited by 5 publications

References 71 publications

Fire regime of peatlands in the Angolan Highlands

Fire regime of peatlands in the Angolan Highlands

Decrease in species richness and diversity, and shrub encroachment in Cerrado grasslands: A 20 years study

Florida’s fiery subtropical grasslands: Growth forms, belowground organs, and post-fire recovery strategies

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