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Puga JRL, Moreira F, Keizer JJ, Abrantes NJC. Immediate Impacts of Wildfires on Ground-dwelling macroinvertebrate Communities under Stones in Mediterranean Oak Forests. ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2024:10.1007/s00267-024-02006-z. [PMID: 38904707 DOI: 10.1007/s00267-024-02006-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2024] [Accepted: 06/09/2024] [Indexed: 06/22/2024]
Abstract
Wildfires are considered a major disturbance to forest ecosystems in the Mediterranean countries of Southern Europe. Although ground-dwelling macroinvertebrates are crucial to many soil functions, there is a fundamental lack of understanding of how wildfires impact this community in the immediate term and of the role of stones in their survival. Hence, in the present study we assessed the immediate effects of wildfires in the ground-dwelling macroinvertebrate community found under stones by comparing communities in burnt and non-burnt Mediterranean oak forests. Our results revealed that stones allowed the survival of many taxa in the burnt area. However, abundance, richness, diversity, and equitability per stone were significantly lower at the burnt than unburnt sites. Furthermore, the results also showed that richness and abundance increased significantly with increasing stone depth and area, both at the burnt and unburnt sites. Significant changes at the trophic level were observed in the burnt area comparing to the unburnt, particularly a decline in predators. No significant differences were identified concerning habitat associations among taxa. Overall, this study stressed the role of stones as microhabitats and refuge for the ground-dwelling macroinvertebrate community during wildfires.
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Affiliation(s)
- João R L Puga
- CESAM-Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, Department of Environment and Planning, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal.
| | - Francisco Moreira
- Research Center in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources (CIBIO-InBIO), University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Jan J Keizer
- GEOBIOTEC-Geobiosciências, Geoengenharia e Geotecnologias, Department of Geosciences, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal
| | - Nelson J C Abrantes
- CESAM-Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, Department of Biology, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal
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Guo Z, Liu R, Chang H, Steinberger Y. Short-Term Postfire Effects on Ground-Dwelling Arthropods and Soil Attributes in a Semiarid Grassland Ecosystem, Northwestern China. POLISH JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.3161/15052249pje2021.69.3.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Zhixia Guo
- School of Ecology and Environments, Key Laboratory for Restoration and Reconstruction of Degraded Ecosystem in Northwestern China, Ministry of Education, Ningxia University, Yinchuan 750021, China
| | - Rentao Liu
- School of Ecology and Environments, Key Laboratory for Restoration and Reconstruction of Degraded Ecosystem in Northwestern China, Ministry of Education, Ningxia University, Yinchuan 750021, China
| | - Haitao Chang
- School of Ecology and Environments, Key Laboratory for Restoration and Reconstruction of Degraded Ecosystem in Northwestern China, Ministry of Education, Ningxia University, Yinchuan 750021, China
| | - Yosef Steinberger
- The Mina & Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 5290002, Israel
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Abstract
Prescribed burning is a tool that is frequently used for various land management objectives, mainly related to reduction of hazardous forest fuels, habitat management and ecological restoration. Given the crucial role of soil in forest ecosystem processes and functions, assessing the effects of prescribed burning on soil is particularly relevant. This study reviews research on the impacts of repeated prescribed burning on the physical, chemical and biological properties of soil. The available information shows that the effects are highly variable, rather inconsistent and generally minor for most of the soil characteristics studied, while a number of soil properties show contrasting responses. On the other hand, ecosystem characteristics, differences in fire severity, frequency of application and the cumulative effect of treatment repetition over time, have possibly made it more difficult to find a more common response in soil attributes. Our study has also revealed some limitations of previous research that may have contributed to this result, including a limited number of long-term studies, conducted at a few experimental sites, and in a limited number of forest ecosystems. Research issues concerning the effects of prescribed fire on soil are presented. The need to integrate such research into a broader interdisciplinary framework, encompassing the role of the fire regime on ecosystem functions and processes, is also highlighted.
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A Review of Forest Management Effects on Terrestrial Leaf Litter Inhabiting Arthropods. FORESTS 2020. [DOI: 10.3390/f12010023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Leaf litter arthropods are some of the most abundant and diverse communities in forests and provide myriad ecosystem services from decomposition and mineralization to pollination and predation. They are important to forest health and management and, in turn, are affected by how we manage our forests. Various forest management techniques such as clear cutting, burning, and chemical control of invasive species all have differing effects on ground dwelling arthropods and, despite their importance, a review of the literature on these effects does not currently exist. My objective with this paper is to review the effects of different types of forest management on arthropods in leaf litter systems.
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Sensenig RL, Kimuyu DK, Ruiz Guajardo JC, Veblen KE, Riginos C, Young TP. Fire disturbance disrupts an acacia ant-plant mutualism in favor of a subordinate ant species. Ecology 2018; 98:1455-1464. [PMID: 28273343 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.1797] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2016] [Revised: 02/07/2017] [Accepted: 02/24/2017] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Although disturbance theory has been recognized as a useful framework in examining the stability of ant-plant mutualisms, very few studies have examined the effects of fire disturbance on these mutualisms. In myrmecophyte-dominated savannas, fire and herbivory are key drivers that could influence ant-plant mutualisms by causing complete colony mortality and/or decreasing colony size, which potentially could alter dominance hierarchies if subordinate species are more fire resilient. We used a large-scale, replicated fire experiment to examine long-term effects of fire on acacia-ant community composition. To determine if fire shifted ant occupancy from a competitive dominant to a subordinate ant species, we surveyed the acacia-ant community in 6-7 yr old burn sites and examined how the spatial scale of these burns influenced ant community responses. We then used two short-term fire experiments to explore possible mechanisms for the shifts in community patterns observed. Because survival of ant colonies is largely dependent on their ability to detect and escape an approaching fire, we first tested the evacuation response of all four ant species when exposed to smoke (fire signal). Then to better understand how fire and its interaction with large mammal herbivory affect the density of ants per tree, we quantified ant worker density in small prescribed burns within herbivore exclusion plots. We found clear evidence suggesting that fire disturbance favored the subordinate ant Crematogaster nigriceps more than the dominant and strong mutualist ant C. mimosae, whereby C. nigriceps (1) was the only species to occupy a greater proportion of trees in 6-7 yr old burn sites compared to unburned sites, (2) had higher burn/unburn tree ratios with increasing burn size, and (3) evacuated significantly faster than C. mimosae in the presence of smoke. Fire and herbivory had opposite effects on ant density per meter of branch for both C. nigriceps and C. mimosae, with fire decreasing ant densities per meter of branch and the presence of large herbivores increasing ant density. Taken together, these experiments suggest that major ecosystem disturbances like fire can disrupt mutualistic associations and maintain diversity in partner quality and identity despite a clear dominance hierarchy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryan L Sensenig
- Department of Biological Sciences, Goshen College, Goshen, Indiana, 46526, USA.,Mpala Research Centre, P.O. Box 555, Nanyuki, Kenya
| | - Duncan K Kimuyu
- Mpala Research Centre, P.O. Box 555, Nanyuki, Kenya.,School of Natural Resource Management and Environmental Studies, Karatina University, Karatina, Kenya
| | - Juan C Ruiz Guajardo
- Mpala Research Centre, P.O. Box 555, Nanyuki, Kenya.,Department of Evolution and Ecology and Center for Population Biology, University of California, Davis, California, 95616, USA
| | - Kari E Veblen
- Mpala Research Centre, P.O. Box 555, Nanyuki, Kenya.,Department of Wildland Resources and Ecology Center, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, 84322, USA
| | - Corinna Riginos
- Mpala Research Centre, P.O. Box 555, Nanyuki, Kenya.,Northern Rockies Conservation Cooperative, Jackson, Wyoming, 83001, USA.,Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, 82071, USA
| | - Truman P Young
- Mpala Research Centre, P.O. Box 555, Nanyuki, Kenya.,Department of Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis, California, 95616, USA
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Rubtsov SS, Negrobov OP. Soil mesofauna in fire-induced oak forest. ACTA BIOLOGICA SIBIRICA 2017. [DOI: 10.14258/abs.v3i3.3625] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022] Open
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Arnold KT, Murphy NP, Gibb H. Post-fire recovery of litter detritivores is limited by distance from burn edge. AUSTRAL ECOL 2016. [DOI: 10.1111/aec.12404] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Kate T. Arnold
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and the Environment; La Trobe University; Melbourne 3086 Vic. Australia
| | - Nicholas P. Murphy
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and the Environment; La Trobe University; Melbourne 3086 Vic. Australia
| | - Heloise Gibb
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and the Environment; La Trobe University; Melbourne 3086 Vic. Australia
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O'Donnell KM, Thompson FR, Semlitsch RD. Prescribed fire alters surface activity and movement behavior of a terrestrial salamander. J Zool (1987) 2016. [DOI: 10.1111/jzo.12316] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- K. M. O'Donnell
- Division of Biological Sciences University of Missouri Columbia MO USA
| | - F. R. Thompson
- Northern Research Station U.S.D.A. Forest Service Columbia MO USA
| | - R. D. Semlitsch
- Division of Biological Sciences University of Missouri Columbia MO USA
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