Savanna Restoration Using Fire Benefits Birds Utilizing Dead Trees, Up to a Point

Davis, Mark A.; Miller, Andrew D.

doi:10.1674/0003-0031-179.1.94

Cited by 5 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Simple and affordable methods may involve removing pressures and allowing natural recovery (Wang et al 2017) or improving fire management (Lipsett‐Moore et al 2018), including anthropogenic fire use (e.g. Davis & Miller 2018), and grazing (Manning et al 2017) management, including pastoralism (Galvin 2009), frequently using knowledge from traditional and indigenous communities (Selemani et al 2012). Direct seedling (Bissett 2006; Sampaio et al 2019), enhancement planting (Slodowicz et al 2019), and, in arid areas, the use of irrigation are all employed to speed up the process and to replace species that have disappeared from the seed pool.…”

Section: Restoration Potentialmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grasslands and savannahs in the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration

Dudley

Eufemia

Fleckenstein

et al. 2020

Restoration Ecology

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Grasslands and savannahs are suffering heavy losses from degradation and conversion. The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration offers important opportunities to address these losses through a range of restoration techniques. However, if poorly planned, the Decade could undermine some remaining natural and semi-natural grassland and savannah ecosystems by encouraging afforestation on these areas, thus acting as a perverse incentive. This article outlines the main issues and steps needed to ensure that the Decade creates positive outcomes for these important and highly biodiverse ecosystems: (1) better understanding of status and trends in degraded and converted grasslands and savannahs; (2) making the case for grassland and savannah restoration at both national and international levels; (3) ensuring post-2020 biodiversity conservation targets address all natural ecosystems; (4) improving selection tools for restoration to avoid displacing valuable ecosystems; and (5) identifying successful grassland and savannah restoration approaches that address ecological, cultural, and social needs.

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Section: Restoration Potentialmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grasslands and savannahs in the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration

Dudley

Eufemia

Fleckenstein

et al. 2020

Restoration Ecology

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“…The declining number of snags may be affecting wildlife in the grid. Other studies have shown that a decline in snag numbers can lead to a decline in bird numbers and diversity (Johnston 2007, Davis andMiller 2018).…”

Section: Standing Dead Tree Dynamicsmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Snags are important ecologically, providing nesting and denning habitat for large numbers of vertebrates (Neitro et al 1985, Boyles and Aubrey 2006, Hutto 2006, Davis and Miller 2018. The likelihood that a snag provides nesting and denning cavities increases with the size of the snag (Lehmkuhl et al 2003).…”

Section: Study Gridmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The likelihood that a snag provides nesting and denning cavities increases with the size of the snag (Lehmkuhl et al 2003). The value of a snag to wildlife is also influenced by how long the snag remains standing (Davis and Miller 2018). To determine how long large snags persisted in the study grid, the length of time between when a stem died and when the snag fell to the ground was determined and recorded for all large (≥25 cm dbh) stems of both oak species.…”

Section: Study Gridmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Twenty‐five years of tree demography in a frequently burned oak woodland: implications for savanna restoration

Davis

2021

Ecosphere

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Due to decades of fire suppression, much of the Upper Midwest savanna habitat has converted to oak woodland. In efforts to restore oak savanna habitat, fire has been re-introduced in many of these woodlands. A primary purpose of these burns is to kill the fire-sensitive mesophytic tree species, which had established themselves during the decades of fire suppression, reduce the number of understory trees, and preserve the larger more widely spaced oaks. It is clear from ongoing efforts that restoring oak savannas will require frequent fires over decades, but frequent fires over the long term can also threaten the desirable oaks. Long-term demographic studies at savanna restoration sites experiencing frequent fires are necessary to determine the extent to the frequent burns are supporting and/or confounding restoration goals. Results presented here are from a twenty-five-year demographic study of an Upper Midwest bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa) savanna/woodland experiencing frequent fire, during which both the survival and growth of more than 9000 trees were documented. Survival was assessed annually and growth every five years. In the face of frequent fires, stem survival was found to be strongly associated with tree species, stem size, and stem growth. In turn, stem growth was found to be related to tree species and stem size. Decades of frequent burning in this oak woodland have substantially reduced the abundance of unwanted trees, specifically mesophytic species and Quercus ellipsoidalis, the latter which outcompetes Q. macrocarpa in the absence of fire. While Q. macrocarpa mid-sized (10-25 cm dbh) and large (≥25 cm dbh) trees are quite resistant to fire and now dominate the savanna landscape, they are not immune from fire-induced mortality. It is recommended that the number and density of these trees should be re-evaluated every few years to ensure that desirable numbers remain. If necessary, fires should be suspended for a period of time. This will give smaller Q. macrocarpa trees time to grow larger and become more fire-resistant, thereby ensuring successive generations of Q. macrocarpa.

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“…However, evidence of diversified responses to fire regimes led to “pyro-diverse” management techniques in savannas, without regard to the ecological significance of some fire patterns (Parr and Andersen 2006). The investigation of the responses of birds to different intensities and frequency of fires in areas of contact between savanna and forest is important in order to understand the effects of forest expansion or of the use of fire for the restoration of savanna avifauna (Artman et al 2005, Moura et al 2016, Davis and Miller 2018). In addition, long-term approaches and those that consider the spatial variation of fires and their interaction with other environmental factors need to be incorporated for a better understanding of the relationship between fire and fauna (Parr and Andersen 2006, Driscoll et al 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of fire regime on the bird community in an Amazonian savanna

Coelho

Ritter

Lima

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Savannas are ecosystems maintained by fires, characterized by a fire-adapted biota, and savanna patches occur in Amazonia in patches surrounded by tropical forest. Different fire regimes can generate structurally diverse vegetation, and savanna birds are known to be closely related to vegetation structure. However, long-term approaches and interaction of fire with other environmental factors need to be explored for the better understanding of the effects of habitat fire on birds. In an Amazonian landscape composed by savanna and forest, we investigate the effects of different fire regimes in a 12-ha area in three periods through 23 years. We also examined the effects of frequency and extent of fires, tree cover, and distance to forest on bird composition in twelve 3.7- ha savannas plots. Birds were surveyed with mist-nets and species were classified as to their habitat use by comparison of registers in forest and savanna plots through visual/acoustical surveys. After 13 years of fire suppression, many forest species colonized the area and some savanna species were lost. Fire frequency and tree coverage affect avifauna communities. The avifauna was sensitive to the occurrence of fires, independent of fire extent. After one fire event in a plot that had been protected from fire for 12 years, some savanna species returned. These results highlight the effects of the fire regime on birds species composition and indicate that many savanna bird species depend on the occurrence of regular fires.

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Savanna Restoration Using Fire Benefits Birds Utilizing Dead Trees, Up to a Point

Cited by 5 publications

References 10 publications

Grasslands and savannahs in the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration

Grasslands and savannahs in the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration

Twenty‐five years of tree demography in a frequently burned oak woodland: implications for savanna restoration

Effects of fire regime on the bird community in an Amazonian savanna

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