The impact of fire on plant biodiversity in the semideserts of Central Kazakhstan

Lednev, Sergey; Semenkov, Ivan; Sharapova, Anna; Королева, Т. В.

doi:10.1051/e3sconf/202126501020

Cited by 2 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…In North America, similar formations dominated by sagebrush ( Artemisia tridentate ) have long recovery times (>100 years) following fire disturbance (Bukowski & Baker, 2013). In Kazakhstan, where fire recurrence periods in semi‐deserts are shorter (10–20 years, Lednev et al, 2021), dwarf shrubs dominated by less woody sagebrush such as Artemisia terrae‐albae recolonize within 8–16 years following a fire event (Lednev et al, 2021). The recolonization period for saltwort Salsola arbusculiformis communities which exhibit a more pronounced aboveground woodiness and form a higher and denser canopy is longer (30 years).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The recolonization period for saltwort Salsola arbusculiformis communities which exhibit a more pronounced aboveground woodiness and form a higher and denser canopy is longer (30 years). In the years after a fire event, plant biodiversity in Kazakh semi‐deserts can be higher due to the removal of mature, dominant woody dwarf shrubs, which opens up the site for herbaceous species, especially ruderals emerging from the soil seed bank and fire‐resistant tussock‐forming grasses (Lednev et al, 2021). Altogether, fires in Kazakh semi‐deserts where woody dwarf shrubs are predominant, can lead to at least for one or two decades of more open and herbaceous (steppe‐like) vegetation structures.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A novel, post‐Soviet fire disturbance regime drives bird diversity and abundance on the Eurasian steppe

Bhagwat,

Kuemmerle,

Soofi

et al. 2023

Global Change Biology

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Many grassland ecosystems and their associated biodiversity depend on the interactions between fire and land‐use, both of which are shaped by socioeconomic conditions. The Eurasian steppe biome, much of it situated in Kazakhstan, contains 10% of the world's remaining grasslands. The break‐up of the Soviet Union in 1991, widespread land abandonment and massive declines in wild and domestic ungulates led to biomass accumulation over millions of hectares. This rapid fuel increase made the steppes a global fire hotspot, with major changes in vegetation structure. Yet, the response of steppe biodiversity to these changes remains unexplored. We utilized a unique bird abundance dataset covering the entire Kazakh steppe and semi‐desert regions together with the MODIS burned area product. We modeled the response of bird species richness and abundance as a function of fire disturbance variables—fire extent, cumulative burned area, fire frequency—at varying grazing intensity. Bird species richness was impacted negatively by large fire extent, cumulative burned area, and high fire frequency in moderately grazed and ungrazed steppe. Similarly, overall bird abundance was impacted negatively by large fire extent, cumulative burned area and higher fire frequency in the moderately grazed steppe, ungrazed steppe, and ungrazed semi‐deserts. At the species level, the effect of high fire disturbance was negative for more species than positive. There were considerable fire legacy effects, detectable for at least 8 years. We conclude that the increase in fire disturbance across the post‐Soviet Eurasian steppe has led to strong declines in bird abundance and pronounced changes in community assembly. To gain back control over wildfires and prevent further biodiversity loss, restoration of wild herbivore populations and traditional domestic ungulate grazing systems seems much needed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A novel, post‐Soviet fire disturbance regime drives bird diversity and abundance on the Eurasian steppe

Bhagwat,

Kuemmerle,

Soofi

et al. 2023

Global Change Biology

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“…Any fluctuations in the species composition of early flowering plants are reflected in the economic component of the economy of Central Kazakhstan. When analyzing the literature, it was found that there are few studies on the biodiversity of useful plants of Central Kazakhstan (Lednev, 2021;Pozdnyakova et al, 2022aPozdnyakova et al, , 2022b. The purpose of our study is to establish the species composition of early flowering plant species in the territory of Central Kazakhstan (Ulytau mountains), to rank plants by ecological groups and the degree of prevalence.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diversity of early flowering plants of the Ulytau mountains (Central Kazakhstan)

Pozdnyakova,

Sailau,

Solyanov

et al. 2023

Biosys. divers.

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Early flowering plants (ephemers and ephemeroids) are an important component of the biosystem of steppes and deserts. These species form perennial pasture communities, for early grazing. The present work was conducted to evaluate the floristic checklist and ecological uniqueness of early flowering plants of Central Kazakhstan, in the forest-steppe regions of Em-Bulak region and Edige mountains, during 2021 and 2022. A total of 26 species of ephemers and ephemeroids were recorded, which belong to 16 families: Liliaceae – 3 species, Asteraceae – 3 species, Ranunculaceae – 3 species, Rosaceae – 3 species, Brassicaceae – 2 species, Boraginaceae – 2 species, the other families are represented by one species. According to ecomorphological characteristics: 8 species (31%) belong to the xerophyte group, 6 (23%) to the xeromesophyte group, 7 (27%) to the mesoxerophyte group and 5 (19%) to the mesophyte group. Also, as a result of our research we found two species of plants which are included in the Red Book of the Republic of Kazakhstan – Pulsatilla patens (L.) Mill. and Tulipa patens Agardh. ex Schult. f. The data obtained can be used for environmental monitoring and issues of rational nature management of wild plants of Central Kazakhstan.

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The impact of fire on plant biodiversity in the semideserts of Central Kazakhstan

Cited by 2 publications

References 10 publications

A novel, post‐Soviet fire disturbance regime drives bird diversity and abundance on the Eurasian steppe

A novel, post‐Soviet fire disturbance regime drives bird diversity and abundance on the Eurasian steppe

Diversity of early flowering plants of the Ulytau mountains (Central Kazakhstan)

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