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Avian species richness in a frequently burned ecosystem: a link between pyrodiversity and biodiversity

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Abstract

Context

Fire influences the distribution of ecosystems on Earth, but the link between pyrodiversity, the heterogeneity in post-fire conditions, and biodiversity is just emerging.

Objectives

We tested the pyrodiversity begets biodiversity theory, which was developed at broader scales, to a scale where land management decisions are commonly made.

Methods

To assess the effects of landscape attributes on avian species richness, we deployed programmable acoustic recorders at 34 sites in a frequently burned longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) ecosystem which were set to record three, five–minute sessions per day for six days for two years. We identified avian species by their vocalizations and grouped them by nesting and forging guilds to assess the effects of land cover type, soil productivity, forest structure and fire history characteristics including, pyrodiversity on species richness and occupancy at the community, guild, and species levels using hierarchical Bayesian multispecies occupancy models. We defined pyrodiversity as the richness in time since fire values around a site.

Results

We found support for the pyrodiversity begets biodiversity hypothesis at the community level, as avian species richness increased with pyrodiversity (β = 0.136, 95% CrI 0.009–0.260). Species richness of cavity nesting species decreased with increasing time since fire, suggesting frequent fire increases diversity of this guild (β =  − 0.334, 95% CrI − 0.713 to − 0.003).

Conclusions

Our work highlights the importance of pyrodiversity as a driver for biodiversity, and links theory to practices by examining this phenomenon at a scale readily translated into conservation action.

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Data availability

Not applicable.

Code availability

Relevant code can be found in chapter 10 of Kery, M., and J. A. Royle. 2015. Applied Hierarchical Modeling in Ecology: Analysis of distribution, abundance and species richness in R and BUGS: Volume 1: Prelude and Static Models. Academic Press. 1: 682:708.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Allan Hallman, Matthew Corby, and Mark Mitchell for their help in the field. We thank the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission for housing, equipment, and funding [Contract No. 16212]. We thank the Numerous Virginia Tech students for identifying species in the audio files. We thank the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation in the college of Natural Resources and Environment at Virginia Tech for logistical support. We thank Camp Blanding Joint Training Center and Wildlife Management Area for access to the field site and coordination of safety during live fire exercises. We thank R. Chandler, M. Kelly, and M. Ford for their comments on an earlier draft.

Funding

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission funded this project through [Contract No. 16212].

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Author notes

  1. Michael J. Cherry

    Present address: Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute, Texas A&M University-Kingsville, 700 University Blvd, MSC 218, Kingsville, TX, 78363, USA

  2. Marcelo H. Jorge

    Present address: Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, 180 E Green St, Athens, GA, 30602, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Conservation, Virginia Tech, 310 West Campus Drive, Blacksburg, VA, 24073, USA

    Marcelo H. Jorge & Michael J. Cherry

  2. The Jones Center at Ichauway, 3988 Jones Center Drive, Newton, GA, 39870, USA

    L. Mike Conner

  3. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, 1105 SW Williston Rd, Gainesville, FL, 32601, USA

    Elina P. Garrison

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Contributions

Conceptualization: MJC, LMC, EPG. Data curation: MHJ. Formal analysis: MHJ. Investigation: MHJ, MJC, LMC, EPG. Methodology: MHJ, MJC, LMC, EPG. Project administration: MJC, LMC, EPG. Supervision: MJC, EPG. Writing-original draft: MHJ. Writing-review and editing: MHJ, MJC, LMC, EPG.

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Correspondence to Michael J. Cherry.

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Jorge, M.H., Conner, L.M., Garrison, E.P. et al. Avian species richness in a frequently burned ecosystem: a link between pyrodiversity and biodiversity. Landsc Ecol 37, 983–996 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-022-01399-8

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