Effects of Fire Frequency on Savanna Butterfly Diversity and Composition: a Preliminary Study
KOEDOE - African Protected Area Conservation and Science ISSN: (Online) 2071-0771, (Print) 0075-6458 Page 1 of 9 Original Research Effects of fire frequency on savanna butterfly diversity and composition: A preliminary study Authors: Fire plays a major role in many biomes, is widely used as a management tool and is likely to be 1,2 Elie Gaget affected by climate change. For effective conservation management, it is essential to understand Catherine L. Parr3,4,5 Clélia Sirami1,6,7 how fire regimes affect different taxa, yet responses of invertebrates are particularly poorly documented. We tested how different fire frequencies influence savanna butterfly diversity Affiliations: and composition by using a long-term savanna fire experiment initiated in 1954 in the Kruger 1 Centre d’Ecologie National Park (South Africa). We compared butterfly abundance, species richness and Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, Montpellier, France community composition across three fire frequencies: high (burnt annually), medium (burnt triennially) and low (burnt twice in 60 years). Plots with high fire frequency hosted higher 2Department of Biology, abundance than medium- or low-frequency plots. Fire frequencies did not affect species University of Turku, Turku, richness, but they led to distinct communities of butterflies. Our findings suggest that, in view Finland of the three fire frequencies tested, a spatial diversity of fire frequencies may increase butterfly diversity at the landscape level in wet savannas. Managers may need to promote a greater 3Department of Earth, Ocean and Ecological Sciences, School diversity of fire frequencies by increasing fire frequency in some areas to provide habitat for of Environmental Sciences, species requiring high fire frequency, and by decreasing fire frequency in a large proportion of University of Liverpool, the landscape to provide fire refuges.
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