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Watchorn DJ, Doherty TS, Wilson BA, Garkaklis MJ, Driscoll DA. How do invasive predators and their native prey respond to prescribed fire? Ecol Evol 2024; 14:e11450. [PMID: 38783847 PMCID: PMC11112300 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.11450] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2023] [Revised: 04/30/2024] [Accepted: 05/07/2024] [Indexed: 05/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Fire shapes animal communities by altering resource availability and species interactions, including between predators and prey. In Australia, there is particular concern that two highly damaging invasive predators, the feral cat (Felis catus) and European red fox (Vulpes vulpes), increase their activity in recently burnt areas and exert greater predation pressure on the native prey due to their increased exposure. We tested how prescribed fire occurrence and extent, along with fire history, vegetation, topography, and distance to anthropogenic features (towns and farms), affected the activity (detection frequency) of cats, foxes, and the native mammal community in south-eastern Australia. We used camera traps to quantify mammal activity before and after a prescribed burn and statistically tested how the fire interacted with these habitat variables to affect mammal activity. We found little evidence that the prescribed fire influenced the activity of cats and foxes and no evidence of an effect on kangaroo or small mammal (<800 g) activity. Medium-sized mammals (800-2000 g) were negatively associated with prescribed fire extent, suggesting that prescribed fire has a negative impact on these species in the short term. The lack of a clear activity increase from cats and foxes is likely a positive outcome from a fire management perspective. However, we highlight that their response is likely dependent upon factors like fire size, severity, and prey availability. Future experiments should incorporate GPS-trackers to record fine-scale movements of cats and foxes in temperate ecosystems immediately before and after prescribed fire to best inform management within protected areas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Darcy J. Watchorn
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences (Burwood Campus)Deakin UniversityGeelongVictoriaAustralia
| | - Tim S. Doherty
- School of Life and Environmental SciencesThe University of SydneySydneyNew South WalesAustralia
- Biodiversity and Conservation ScienceDepartment of Biodiversity, Conservation and AttractionsWoodvaleWestern AustraliaAustralia
| | - Barbara A. Wilson
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences (Burwood Campus)Deakin UniversityGeelongVictoriaAustralia
| | | | - Don A. Driscoll
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences (Burwood Campus)Deakin UniversityGeelongVictoriaAustralia
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Kelly LT, Giljohann KM, Duane A, Aquilué N, Archibald S, Batllori E, Bennett AF, Buckland ST, Canelles Q, Clarke MF, Fortin MJ, Hermoso V, Herrando S, Keane RE, Lake FK, McCarthy MA, Morán-Ordóñez A, Parr CL, Pausas JG, Penman TD, Regos A, Rumpff L, Santos JL, Smith AL, Syphard AD, Tingley MW, Brotons L. Fire and biodiversity in the Anthropocene. Science 2021; 370:370/6519/eabb0355. [PMID: 33214246 DOI: 10.1126/science.abb0355] [Citation(s) in RCA: 89] [Impact Index Per Article: 29.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2020] [Accepted: 09/24/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Fire has been a source of global biodiversity for millions of years. However, interactions with anthropogenic drivers such as climate change, land use, and invasive species are changing the nature of fire activity and its impacts. We review how such changes are threatening species with extinction and transforming terrestrial ecosystems. Conservation of Earth's biological diversity will be achieved only by recognizing and responding to the critical role of fire. In the Anthropocene, this requires that conservation planning explicitly includes the combined effects of human activities and fire regimes. Improved forecasts for biodiversity must also integrate the connections among people, fire, and ecosystems. Such integration provides an opportunity for new actions that could revolutionize how society sustains biodiversity in a time of changing fire activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luke T Kelly
- School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia.
| | | | - Andrea Duane
- InForest JRU (CTFC-CREAF), 25280 Solsona, Lleida, Spain
| | - Núria Aquilué
- InForest JRU (CTFC-CREAF), 25280 Solsona, Lleida, Spain.,Centre d'Étude de la Forêt, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montreal, Quebec H3C 3P8, Canada
| | - Sally Archibald
- Centre for African Ecology, School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.,Natural Resources and the Environment, CSIR, Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Enric Batllori
- CREAF, Edifici C. Autonomous, University of Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain.,Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology, and Environmental Sciences, University of Barcelona, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Andrew F Bennett
- Department of Ecology, Environment and Evolution, Centre for Future Landscapes, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Australia
| | - Stephen T Buckland
- Centre for Research into Ecological and Environmental Modelling, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9LZ, UK
| | - Quim Canelles
- InForest JRU (CTFC-CREAF), 25280 Solsona, Lleida, Spain
| | - Michael F Clarke
- Department of Ecology, Environment and Evolution, Centre for Future Landscapes, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Australia
| | - Marie-Josée Fortin
- Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3B2, Canada
| | | | - Sergi Herrando
- Catalan Ornithological Institute, Natural History Museum of Barcelona, 08019 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Robert E Keane
- U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station, Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory, Missoula, MT 59808, USA
| | - Frank K Lake
- U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station, Albany, CA 94710, USA
| | - Michael A McCarthy
- School of BioSciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia
| | | | - Catherine L Parr
- Centre for African Ecology, School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.,Department of Earth, Ocean & Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.,Department of Zoology & Entomology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Juli G Pausas
- Centro de Investigaciones sobre Desertificación (CIDE-CSIC), 46113 Montcada, Valencia, Spain
| | - Trent D Penman
- School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia
| | - Adrián Regos
- Departamento de Zooloxía, Xenética e Antropoloxía Fisica, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.,CIBIO/InBIO, Research Center in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources, ECOCHANGE Group, Vairão, Portugal
| | - Libby Rumpff
- School of BioSciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia
| | - Julianna L Santos
- School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia
| | - Annabel L Smith
- School of Agriculture and Food Science, University of Queensland, Gatton 4343, Australia.,Zoology, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland
| | - Alexandra D Syphard
- Vertus Wildfire, San Francisco, CA 94108, USA.,San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182, USA.,Conservation Biology Institute, Corvallis, OR 97333, USA
| | - Morgan W Tingley
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Lluís Brotons
- InForest JRU (CTFC-CREAF), 25280 Solsona, Lleida, Spain.,CREAF, Edifici C. Autonomous, University of Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain.,Spanish Research Council (CSIC), 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
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Hulme PE, Baker R, Freckleton R, Hails RS, Hartley M, Harwood J, Marion G, Smith GC, Williamson M. The Epidemiological Framework for Biological Invasions (EFBI): an interdisciplinary foundation for the assessment of biosecurity threats. NEOBIOTA 2020. [DOI: 10.3897/neobiota.62.52463] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
Emerging microparasite (e.g. viruses, bacteria, protozoa and fungi) epidemics and the introduction of non-native pests and weeds are major biosecurity threats worldwide. The likelihood of these threats is often estimated from probabilities of their entry, establishment, spread and ease of prevention. If ecosystems are considered equivalent to hosts, then compartment disease models should provide a useful framework for understanding the processes that underpin non-native species invasions. To enable greater cross-fertilisation between these two disciplines, the Epidemiological Framework for Biological Invasions (EFBI) is developed that classifies ecosystems in relation to their invasion status: Susceptible, Exposed, Infectious and Resistant. These states are linked by transitions relating to transmission, latency and recovery. This viewpoint differs markedly from the species-centric approaches often applied to non-native species. It allows generalisations from epidemiology, such as the force of infection, the basic reproductive ratio R0, super-spreaders, herd immunity, cordon sanitaire and ring vaccination, to be discussed in the novel context of non-native species and helps identify important gaps in the study of biological invasions. The EFBI approach highlights several limitations inherent in current approaches to the study of biological invasions including: (i) the variance in non-native abundance across ecosystems is rarely reported; (ii) field data rarely (if ever) distinguish source from sink ecosystems; (iii) estimates of the susceptibility of ecosystems to invasion seldom account for differences in exposure to non-native species; and (iv) assessments of ecosystem susceptibility often confuse the processes that underpin patterns of spread within -and between- ecosystems. Using the invasion of lakes as a model, the EFBI approach is shown to present a new biosecurity perspective that takes account of ecosystem status and complements demographic models to deliver clearer insights into the dynamics of biological invasions at the landscape scale. It will help to identify whether management of the susceptibility of ecosystems, of the number of vectors, or of the diversity of pathways (for movement between ecosystems) is the best way of limiting or reversing the population growth of a non-native species. The framework can be adapted to incorporate increasing levels of complexity and realism and to provide insights into how to monitor, map and manage biological invasions more effectively.
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Bowman DMJS, Perry GLW, Higgins SI, Johnson CN, Fuhlendorf SD, Murphy BP. Pyrodiversity is the coupling of biodiversity and fire regimes in food webs. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2017; 371:rstb.2015.0169. [PMID: 27216526 PMCID: PMC4874407 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2015.0169] [Citation(s) in RCA: 104] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/05/2016] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Fire positively and negatively affects food webs across all trophic levels and guilds and influences a range of ecological processes that reinforce fire regimes, such as nutrient cycling and soil development, plant regeneration and growth, plant community assembly and dynamics, herbivory and predation. Thus we argue that rather than merely describing spatio-temporal patterns of fire regimes, pyrodiversity must be understood in terms of feedbacks between fire regimes, biodiversity and ecological processes. Humans shape pyrodiversity both directly, by manipulating the intensity, severity, frequency and extent of fires, and indirectly, by influencing the abundance and distribution of various trophic guilds through hunting and husbandry of animals, and introduction and cultivation of plant species. Conceptualizing landscape fire as deeply embedded in food webs suggests that the restoration of degraded ecosystems requires the simultaneous careful management of fire regimes and native and invasive plants and animals, and may include introducing new vertebrates to compensate for extinctions that occurred in the recent and more distant past. This article is part of the themed issue ‘The interaction of fire and mankind’.
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Affiliation(s)
- David M J S Bowman
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 55, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
| | - George L W Perry
- School of Environment, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Steve I Higgins
- Department of Botany, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Chris N Johnson
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 55, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
| | - Samuel D Fuhlendorf
- Natural Resource Ecology and Management, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA
| | - Brett P Murphy
- Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
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