Herbaceous vegetation responses to experimental fire in savannas and forests depend on biome and climate

Z.J. Gold; A.F.A. Pellegrini; T.K. Refsland; R.J. Andrioli; M.L. Bowles; D.G. Brockway; N. Burrows; A.C. Franco; S.W. Hallgren; S.E. Hobbie; W.A. Hoffmann; K.P. Kirkman; Peter B. Reich; P. Savadogo; D. Silvério; K. Stephan; T. Strydom; J.M. Varner; D.D. Wade; A. Wills; A.C. Staver

doi:10.1111/ele.14236

Herbaceous vegetation responses to experimental fire in savannas and forests depend on biome and climate

Z.J. Gold, A.F.A. Pellegrini, T.K. Refsland, R.J. Andrioli, M.L. Bowles, D.G. Brockway, N. Burrows, A.C. Franco, S.W. Hallgren, S.E. Hobbie, W.A. Hoffmann, K.P. Kirkman, Peter B. Reich, P. Savadogo, D. Silvério, K. Stephan, T. Strydom, J.M. Varner, D.D. Wade, A. WillsA.C. Staver

Western Sydney University

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

14 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Fire-vegetation feedbacks potentially maintain global savanna and forest distributions. Accordingly, vegetation in savanna and forest ecosystems should have differential responses to fire, but fire response data for herbaceous vegetation have yet to be synthesized across biomes. Here, we examined herbaceous vegetation responses to experimental fire at 30 sites spanning four continents. Across a variety of metrics, herbaceous vegetation increased in abundance where fire was applied, with larger responses to fire in wetter and in cooler and/or less seasonal systems. Compared to forests, savannas were associated with a 4.8 (Â±0.4) times larger difference in herbaceous vegetation abundance for burned versus unburned plots. In particular, grass cover decreased with fire exclusion in savannas, largely via decreases in C4 grass cover, whereas changes in fire frequency had a relatively weak effect on grass cover in forests. These differential responses underscore the importance of fire for maintaining the vegetation structure of savannas and forests.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1237-1246
Number of pages	10
Journal	Ecology Letters
Volume	26
Issue number	7
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.14236
Publication status	Published - Jul 2023

Bibliographical note

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© 2023 The Authors. Ecology Letters published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Open Access - Access Right Statement

© 2023 The Authors. Ecology Letters published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Ecology Letters published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.

Keywords

fire frequency
biome distributions
experimental fire
herbaceous vegetation
prescribed burns
fire
alternative stable states
C and C grasses
fire–vegetation feedbacks
savanna–forest bistability

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10.1111/ele.14236

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Gold, Z. J., Pellegrini, A. F. A., Refsland, T. K., Andrioli, R. J., Bowles, M. L., Brockway, D. G., Burrows, N., Franco, A. C., Hallgren, S. W., Hobbie, S. E., Hoffmann, W. A., Kirkman, K. P., Reich, P. B., Savadogo, P., Silvério, D., Stephan, K., Strydom, T., Varner, J. M., Wade, D. D., ... Staver, A. C. (2023). Herbaceous vegetation responses to experimental fire in savannas and forests depend on biome and climate. Ecology Letters, 26(7), 1237-1246. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.14236

@article{5dc8966ddd004948ab49477b783295df,

title = "Herbaceous vegetation responses to experimental fire in savannas and forests depend on biome and climate",

abstract = "Fire-vegetation feedbacks potentially maintain global savanna and forest distributions. Accordingly, vegetation in savanna and forest ecosystems should have differential responses to fire, but fire response data for herbaceous vegetation have yet to be synthesized across biomes. Here, we examined herbaceous vegetation responses to experimental fire at 30 sites spanning four continents. Across a variety of metrics, herbaceous vegetation increased in abundance where fire was applied, with larger responses to fire in wetter and in cooler and/or less seasonal systems. Compared to forests, savannas were associated with a 4.8 ({\^A}±0.4) times larger difference in herbaceous vegetation abundance for burned versus unburned plots. In particular, grass cover decreased with fire exclusion in savannas, largely via decreases in C4 grass cover, whereas changes in fire frequency had a relatively weak effect on grass cover in forests. These differential responses underscore the importance of fire for maintaining the vegetation structure of savannas and forests.",

keywords = "fire frequency, biome distributions, experimental fire, herbaceous vegetation, prescribed burns, fire, alternative stable states, C and C grasses, fire–vegetation feedbacks, savanna–forest bistability",

author = "Z.J. Gold and A.F.A. Pellegrini and T.K. Refsland and R.J. Andrioli and M.L. Bowles and D.G. Brockway and N. Burrows and A.C. Franco and S.W. Hallgren and S.E. Hobbie and W.A. Hoffmann and K.P. Kirkman and Reich, {Peter B.} and P. Savadogo and D. Silv{\'e}rio and K. Stephan and T. Strydom and J.M. Varner and D.D. Wade and A. Wills and A.C. Staver",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 The Authors. Ecology Letters published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.",

year = "2023",

month = jul,

doi = "10.1111/ele.14236",

language = "English",

volume = "26",

pages = "1237--1246",

journal = "Ecology Letters",

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Gold, ZJ, Pellegrini, AFA, Refsland, TK, Andrioli, RJ, Bowles, ML, Brockway, DG, Burrows, N, Franco, AC, Hallgren, SW, Hobbie, SE, Hoffmann, WA, Kirkman, KP, Reich, PB, Savadogo, P, Silvério, D, Stephan, K, Strydom, T, Varner, JM, Wade, DD, Wills, A & Staver, AC 2023, 'Herbaceous vegetation responses to experimental fire in savannas and forests depend on biome and climate', Ecology Letters, vol. 26, no. 7, pp. 1237-1246. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.14236

TY - JOUR

T1 - Herbaceous vegetation responses to experimental fire in savannas and forests depend on biome and climate

AU - Gold, Z.J.

AU - Pellegrini, A.F.A.

AU - Refsland, T.K.

AU - Andrioli, R.J.

AU - Bowles, M.L.

AU - Brockway, D.G.

AU - Burrows, N.

AU - Franco, A.C.

AU - Hallgren, S.W.

AU - Hobbie, S.E.

AU - Hoffmann, W.A.

AU - Kirkman, K.P.

AU - Reich, Peter B.

AU - Savadogo, P.

AU - Silvério, D.

AU - Stephan, K.

AU - Strydom, T.

AU - Varner, J.M.

AU - Wade, D.D.

AU - Wills, A.

AU - Staver, A.C.

PY - 2023/7

Y1 - 2023/7

N2 - Fire-vegetation feedbacks potentially maintain global savanna and forest distributions. Accordingly, vegetation in savanna and forest ecosystems should have differential responses to fire, but fire response data for herbaceous vegetation have yet to be synthesized across biomes. Here, we examined herbaceous vegetation responses to experimental fire at 30 sites spanning four continents. Across a variety of metrics, herbaceous vegetation increased in abundance where fire was applied, with larger responses to fire in wetter and in cooler and/or less seasonal systems. Compared to forests, savannas were associated with a 4.8 (Â±0.4) times larger difference in herbaceous vegetation abundance for burned versus unburned plots. In particular, grass cover decreased with fire exclusion in savannas, largely via decreases in C4 grass cover, whereas changes in fire frequency had a relatively weak effect on grass cover in forests. These differential responses underscore the importance of fire for maintaining the vegetation structure of savannas and forests.

AB - Fire-vegetation feedbacks potentially maintain global savanna and forest distributions. Accordingly, vegetation in savanna and forest ecosystems should have differential responses to fire, but fire response data for herbaceous vegetation have yet to be synthesized across biomes. Here, we examined herbaceous vegetation responses to experimental fire at 30 sites spanning four continents. Across a variety of metrics, herbaceous vegetation increased in abundance where fire was applied, with larger responses to fire in wetter and in cooler and/or less seasonal systems. Compared to forests, savannas were associated with a 4.8 (Â±0.4) times larger difference in herbaceous vegetation abundance for burned versus unburned plots. In particular, grass cover decreased with fire exclusion in savannas, largely via decreases in C4 grass cover, whereas changes in fire frequency had a relatively weak effect on grass cover in forests. These differential responses underscore the importance of fire for maintaining the vegetation structure of savannas and forests.

KW - fire frequency

KW - biome distributions

KW - experimental fire

KW - herbaceous vegetation

KW - prescribed burns

KW - fire

KW - alternative stable states

KW - C and C grasses

KW - fire–vegetation feedbacks

KW - savanna–forest bistability

UR - https://hdl.handle.net/1959.7/uws:73687

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85159093121&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1111/ele.14236

DO - 10.1111/ele.14236

M3 - Article

SN - 1461-023X

VL - 26

SP - 1237

EP - 1246

JO - Ecology Letters

JF - Ecology Letters

IS - 7

ER -

Herbaceous vegetation responses to experimental fire in savannas and forests depend on biome and climate

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Open Access - Access Right Statement

Keywords

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