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Anthropogenic modifications to fire regimes in the wider Serengeti‐Mara ecosystem
Fire is a key driver in savannah systems and widely used as a land management tool. Intensifying human land uses are leading to rapid changes in the fire regimes, with consequences for ecosystem functioning and composition. We undertake a novel analysis describing spatial patterns in the fire regime...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
John Wiley and Sons Inc.
2019
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6852266/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31282085 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14711 |
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author | Probert, James R. Parr, Catherine L. Holdo, Ricardo M. Anderson, T. Michael Archibald, Sally Courtney Mustaphi, Colin J. Dobson, Andrew P. Donaldson, Jason E. Hopcraft, Grant C. Hempson, Gareth P. Morrison, Thomas A. Beale, Colin M. |
author_facet | Probert, James R. Parr, Catherine L. Holdo, Ricardo M. Anderson, T. Michael Archibald, Sally Courtney Mustaphi, Colin J. Dobson, Andrew P. Donaldson, Jason E. Hopcraft, Grant C. Hempson, Gareth P. Morrison, Thomas A. Beale, Colin M. |
author_sort | Probert, James R. |
collection | PubMed |
description | Fire is a key driver in savannah systems and widely used as a land management tool. Intensifying human land uses are leading to rapid changes in the fire regimes, with consequences for ecosystem functioning and composition. We undertake a novel analysis describing spatial patterns in the fire regime of the Serengeti‐Mara ecosystem, document multidecadal temporal changes and investigate the factors underlying these patterns. We used MODIS active fire and burned area products from 2001 to 2014 to identify individual fires; summarizing four characteristics for each detected fire: size, ignition date, time since last fire and radiative power. Using satellite imagery, we estimated the rate of change in the density of livestock bomas as a proxy for livestock density. We used these metrics to model drivers of variation in the four fire characteristics, as well as total number of fires and total area burned. Fires in the Serengeti‐Mara show high spatial variability—with number of fires and ignition date mirroring mean annual precipitation. The short‐term effect of rainfall decreases fire size and intensity but cumulative rainfall over several years leads to increased standing grass biomass and fuel loads, and, therefore, in larger and hotter fires. Our study reveals dramatic changes over time, with a reduction in total number of fires and total area burned, to the point where some areas now experience virtually no fire. We suggest that increasing livestock numbers are driving this decline, presumably by inhibiting fire spread. These temporal patterns are part of a global decline in total area burned, especially in savannahs, and we caution that ecosystem functioning may have been compromised. Land managers and policy formulators need to factor in rapid fire regime modifications to achieve management objectives and maintain the ecological function of savannah ecosystems. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-6852266 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2019 |
publisher | John Wiley and Sons Inc. |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-68522662019-11-22 Anthropogenic modifications to fire regimes in the wider Serengeti‐Mara ecosystem Probert, James R. Parr, Catherine L. Holdo, Ricardo M. Anderson, T. Michael Archibald, Sally Courtney Mustaphi, Colin J. Dobson, Andrew P. Donaldson, Jason E. Hopcraft, Grant C. Hempson, Gareth P. Morrison, Thomas A. Beale, Colin M. Glob Chang Biol Primary Research Articles Fire is a key driver in savannah systems and widely used as a land management tool. Intensifying human land uses are leading to rapid changes in the fire regimes, with consequences for ecosystem functioning and composition. We undertake a novel analysis describing spatial patterns in the fire regime of the Serengeti‐Mara ecosystem, document multidecadal temporal changes and investigate the factors underlying these patterns. We used MODIS active fire and burned area products from 2001 to 2014 to identify individual fires; summarizing four characteristics for each detected fire: size, ignition date, time since last fire and radiative power. Using satellite imagery, we estimated the rate of change in the density of livestock bomas as a proxy for livestock density. We used these metrics to model drivers of variation in the four fire characteristics, as well as total number of fires and total area burned. Fires in the Serengeti‐Mara show high spatial variability—with number of fires and ignition date mirroring mean annual precipitation. The short‐term effect of rainfall decreases fire size and intensity but cumulative rainfall over several years leads to increased standing grass biomass and fuel loads, and, therefore, in larger and hotter fires. Our study reveals dramatic changes over time, with a reduction in total number of fires and total area burned, to the point where some areas now experience virtually no fire. We suggest that increasing livestock numbers are driving this decline, presumably by inhibiting fire spread. These temporal patterns are part of a global decline in total area burned, especially in savannahs, and we caution that ecosystem functioning may have been compromised. Land managers and policy formulators need to factor in rapid fire regime modifications to achieve management objectives and maintain the ecological function of savannah ecosystems. John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2019-07-08 2019-10 /pmc/articles/PMC6852266/ /pubmed/31282085 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14711 Text en © 2019 The Authors. Global Change Biology Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
spellingShingle | Primary Research Articles Probert, James R. Parr, Catherine L. Holdo, Ricardo M. Anderson, T. Michael Archibald, Sally Courtney Mustaphi, Colin J. Dobson, Andrew P. Donaldson, Jason E. Hopcraft, Grant C. Hempson, Gareth P. Morrison, Thomas A. Beale, Colin M. Anthropogenic modifications to fire regimes in the wider Serengeti‐Mara ecosystem |
title | Anthropogenic modifications to fire regimes in the wider Serengeti‐Mara ecosystem |
title_full | Anthropogenic modifications to fire regimes in the wider Serengeti‐Mara ecosystem |
title_fullStr | Anthropogenic modifications to fire regimes in the wider Serengeti‐Mara ecosystem |
title_full_unstemmed | Anthropogenic modifications to fire regimes in the wider Serengeti‐Mara ecosystem |
title_short | Anthropogenic modifications to fire regimes in the wider Serengeti‐Mara ecosystem |
title_sort | anthropogenic modifications to fire regimes in the wider serengeti‐mara ecosystem |
topic | Primary Research Articles |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6852266/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31282085 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14711 |
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