Trends and gaps of the scientific literature about the effects of fire on Brazilian Cerrado

Abstract

Fire management is an important issue in the Brazilian Cerrado, since both anthropogenic high intensity fires and complete fire suppression can reduce the biodiversity in this biome. In this paper, we highlight the trends in scientific literature about fire effects in the Cerrado, aiming to detect possible gaps and to indicate directions of future scientific research. We searched for articles in the periodic database Web of Knowledge from 1991 to 2016, and observed an increase in the number of publications throughout the years. Most articles were associated with Brazilian institutions (58%), followed by those with collaboration between Brazilian and international institutions (33%), and those published by authors exclusively from international institutions (9%). Most articles addressed the effects of fire on biodiversity (77%), followed by articles about abiotic environment (19%), and then biotic interactions or interactions between organisms and environment (4%). The most studied taxonomic group was plants (75%), followed by mammals (8%) and insects (6%), with the remaining taxa comprising about 11% of publications. The Federal District was the federative unit with the greatest number of studies (31%). The majority of studies was conducted in areas with fewer fire events, whereas areas with major incidence of fires are poorly studied. Our data shows that studies on the effect of fires on the Brazilian Cerrado are geographically and taxonomically biased. This lack of knowledge limits the extrapolations about the effects of fire on this biome. Therefore, we emphasize the need for investment in research in areas with high fire frequency and also for an increase in knowledge about these effects on the biota, especially on the fauna. This action is fundamental to support the development of public policies for effective and directed fire management in the Cerrado.

Estimating Aboveground Biomass Loss from Deforestation in the Savanna and Semi-arid Biomes of Brazil between 2007 and 2017

“…Savannas are mixed tree-grass systems characterized by a discontinuous tree canopy in a continuous grass layer [9]. Tree cover is highly variable such that they range from sparsely "treed" grasslands to heavily "treed" woodlands, often along a gradient of increasing precipitation, but also modified by edaphic factors and fire regimes [10,11]. Semi-arid woodland (also known as Caatinga) is an ecosystem occupied by seasonally dry tropical forests, which is characterized by leaf deciduousness during the prolonged dry season.…”

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

“…Although fire effects on Cerrado biodiversity have deserved attention in the last decades (e.g., Sato and Miranda, 1996;Cavalcanti and Alves, 1997;Briani et al, 2004;Cintra and Sanaiotti, 2005;Costa et al, 2013;Maravalhas and Vasconcelos, 2014;Camargo et al, 2018;Mendonça et al, 2015a), the few available studies are unevenly distributed in space and concentrated in the core area of the biome, hindering generalizations, and predictions valid for the whole range of environmental conditions within the Cerrado (Arruda et al, 2018). Additionally, most studies were carried out after unplanned wildfires, not comparing burned and unburned sites or periods before and after fire, thus not allowing conclusions about biodiversity losses due to fire.…”

Trends and biases in scientific literature about marmosets, genus Callithrix (Primates, Callitrichidae): biodiversity and conservation perspectives

“…The temporal trends of the number of articles published have been reported for different groups, i.e. Euphorbiaceae (Pereira et al 2018) and zooplankton community (Souza et al 2018); even from a biome perspective (Borges et al 2015). Even though more articles have been published each year, there is not an even distribution throughout the distribution of the genus, but rather a notable concentration along the Atlantic Forest.…”