Abstract
Fire is a constitutive ecological force in savanna ecosystems, but few studies have monitored its short-term effects on plant community dynamics. This study investigated changes in plant diversity in the South American savanna (Cerrado) after severe disturbance by fire. We monitored 30 permanent plots (10 m × 5 m) distributed in two Cerrado physiognomies (típico: more forested; ralo: grass-dominated), being 10 plots in the area disturbed by fire, and five in a preserved control area (undisturbed). From August 2010 to June 2011, we evaluated changes in species richness, abundance and composition of savanna vegetation. Monitoring started one week after the fire; disturbed plots were surveyed monthly, while control plots were surveyed every two months. We observed rapid reassembling in both physiognomies: plots affected by fire showed rapid increase in species richness and plant density during the first four months after the disturbance. Concerning species composition, disturbed plots in the cerrado típico tended to converge to control plots after one year, but each local assemblage followed particular temporal trajectories. A different pattern characterized cerrado ralo plots, which showed heterogeneous trajectories and lack of convergence between disturbed and control plots; the structure of these assemblages will likely change in next years. In conclusion, our results showed that fire significantly affected plant diversity in the two savanna physiognomies (cerrado típico and ralo), but also indicated that community reassembling is fast, with different dynamics between Cerrado physiognomies.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
Abbreviations
- APG:
-
Angiosperm Phylogeny Group
- cerrado ralo:
-
RF
- cerrado ralo control:
-
RC
- cerrado típico:
-
TF
- cerrado típico control:
-
TC
- RM-ANOVA:
-
Repeated Measures-Analysis of variance
- NMDS:
-
Non-metric MultiDimensional Scaling
References
Álvarez-Yépiz, J.C., A. Martínez-Yrízar, A. Búrquez and C. Lindquist. 2008. Variation in vegetation structure and soil properties related to land use history of old-growth and secondary tropical dry forests in northwestern Mexico. Forest Ecol. Manag. 256:355–366.
Andela, N., D.C. Morton, L. Giglio, Y. Chen, G.R. van der Werf, PS. Kasibhatla, R.S. DeFries, G.J. Collatz, S. Hantson, S. Kloster, D. Bachelet, M. Forrest, G. Lasslop, F. Li, S. Mangeon, J.R. Melton, C. Yue and J.T. Randerson. 2017. A human-driven decline in global burned área. Science 356:1356–1362.
Archibald, S., D.P. Roy, B.W. van Wilgen and R.J. Scholes. 2009. What limits fire? An examination of drivers of burnt area in Southern Africa. Glob Change Biol. 15:613–630
Bond, W.J. and J.E. Keeley. 2005. Fire as a global ‘herbivore’: the ecology and evolution of flammable ecosystems. Trends Ecol. Evol. 20(7):387–394.
Booth, B.D. and C.J. Swanton. 2002. Assembly theory applied to weed communities. Weed Sci. 50:2–13.
Bremer, B., K. Bremer and M. Chase. 2009. An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG III. Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 181:1–20.
Bruno, J.F., J.J. Stachowicz and M.D. Bertness. 2003. Inclusion of facilitation into ecological theory. Trends Ecol. Evol. 18(3):119–125.
Cardoso, E., M.I.C. Moreno, E.M. Bruna and H.L. Vasconcelos. 2009. Mudanças fitofisionômicas no Cerrado: 18 anos de sucessão ecológica na estação ecológica do Panga, Uberlândia. Caminhos de Geografia, Uberlândia. 10(32):254–268.
Chase, J.M. 2003. Community assembly: when should history matter? Oecologia 136:489–498
Chazdon, R. 2012. Regeneração de florestas tropicais. Cienc. Nat. 7(3):195–218.
Colwell R.K. 2009. EstimateS: statistical estimation of species richness and shared species from samples. Version 8.2. User’s guide and application published at: https://doi.org/purl.oclc.org/estimates.
Connell, J.H. and R.O. Slatyer. 1977. Mechanisms of succession in natural communities and their role in community stability and organization. Am Nat. 111:1119–1144.
Davis, M.A., J.P Grime and K. Thompson. 2000. Fluctuating resources in plant communities: a general theory of invisibility. J. Ecol. 88:528–534.
Drake, J.A. 1990. Communities as assembled structures: do rules govern pattern? Trends Ecol. Evol. 5(5):159–164.
Durigan, G. and J.A. Ratter. 2016. The need for a consistent fire policy for Cerrado conservation. J. Appl. Ecol. 53:11–15
Ejrnaes, R., H.H. Bruun and B.J. Graae. 2006. Community assembly in experimental grasslands: suitable environment or timely arrival? Ecology 87(5):1225–1233.
Fargione, J., C.S. Brown and D. Tilman. 2003. Community assembly and invasion: An experimental test of neutral versus niche processes. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 100(15):8916–8920.
Felfili, J.M., F.A. Carvalho and R.F. Haidar. 2005. Manual para o monitoramento de parcelas permanentes nos biomas cerrado e pantanal — Brasília: Universidade de Brasília, Departamento de Engenharia Florestal.
Ferreira, J., L.E.O.C. Aragão, J. Barlow, P. Barreto, E. Berenguer, M. Bustamante, T.A. Gardner, A.C. Lees, A. Lima, J. Louzada, R. Pardini, L. Parry, C.A. Peres, PS. Pompeu, M. Tabarelli and J. Zuanon. 2014. Brazil’s environmental leadership at risk. Science 346:706–707.
Frizzo, T.L.M., C. Bonizário, M.P Borges and H.L. Vasconcelos. 2011. Revisão dos efeitos do fogo sobre a fauna de formações savânicas do Brasil. Oecologia Australis 15(2):365–379.
Fukami, T., T.M. Bezemer, S.R. Mortimer and W.H. van der Putten. 2005. Species divergence and trait convergence in experimental plant community assembly. Ecol. Lett. 8(12):1283–1290.
Goedert, W.J., E. Wagner and A.O. Barcellos. 2008. Savanas Tropicais: dimensão, histórico e perspectiva. In: Faleiro, F.G and A.L. Farias Neto (eds.), Savanas: desafios e estratégias para o equilíbrio entre sociedade, agronegócio e recursos naturais. EMBRAPA Cerrados, Planaltina. pp. 48–77.
Govender, N., W.S.W. Trollope and B.W. van Wilgen. 2006. The effect of fire season, fire frequency, rainfall and management on fire intensity in savanna vegetation in South Africa. J. Appl. Ecol. 43(4):748–758.
Gowlett, J.A.J and R.W. Wrangham. 2013. Earliest fire in Africa: towards the convergence of archaeological evidence and the cooking hypothesis. Azania 48(1):5–30.
Hammer, Q., D.A.T. Harper and PD. Ryan. 2001. Past: Paleontologia Statistics software package for education and data analysis. Paleontologia Electronica 4(1):1–9.
Heringer, I. and A.V.A. Jacques. 2001. Adaptação das plantas ao fogo: enfoque na transição floresta — campo. Cienc. Rural. 31(6):1085–1090.
Hoffmann, W.A. 1996. The effects of fire and cover on seedling establishment in a neotropical savanna. J. Ecol. 84(3):383–393.
Hoffmann, W.A. 1998. Post-burn reproduction of woody plants in a neotropical savanna: the relative importance of sexual and vegetative reproduction. J. Appl. Ecol. 35(3):422–433.
Hoffmann, W.A. 1999. Fire and population dynamics of woody plants in a neotropical savanna: matrix model projections. Ecology 80(4):1354–1369.
Hoffmann, W.A. 2000. A. Post-establishment seedling success in the brazilian Cerrado: a comparison of savanna and forest species. Biotropica 32(1):62–69.
Hubbell, S.P 2006. Neutral theory and the evolution of ecological equivalence. Ecology 87(6):1387–1398.
INPE — Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais, 2018. Portal do Monitoramento de Queimadas e Incêndios. Available from https://doi.org/www.inpe.br/queimadas. Accessed 26 March 2018.
Kammesheidt, L. 1999. Forest recovery by root suckers and aboveground sprouts after slash-and-burn agriculture, fire and logging in Paraguay and Venezuela. J. Trop. Ecol. 15(02):143–157.
Keddy, PA. 1992. Assembly and response rules: two goals for predictive community ecology. J. Veg. Sci. 3:157–164.
Kennard, D.K., K. Gould, F.E. Putz, T.S. Fredericksen and F. Morales. 2002. Effect of disturbance intensity on regeneration mechanisms in a tropical dry forest. Forest Ecol. Manag. 162:197–208.
Klink, C.A. and R.B.A. Machado. 2005. Conservação do Cerrado brasileiro. Megadiversidade 1(1):147–145.
Kraft, N.J.B., PB. Adler, O. Godoy, E.C James, S. Fuller and J.M. Levine. 2015. Community assembly, coexistence and the environmental filtering metaphor. Funct. Ecol. 29:592–599.
Lapola, D.M., L.A. Martinelli, C.A. Peres, J.P.H.B. Ometto, M.E. Ferreira, C.A. Nobre, A.P.D. Aguiar, M.M.C.L Bustamante, M.F. Cardoso, M.H. Costa, C.A. Joly, C.C. Leite, P. Moutinho, G. Sampaio, B.B.N. Strassburg and I.C.G. Vieira. 2014. Pervasive transition of the Brazilian land-use system. Nat. Clim. Change 4:27–35.
Lees, A.C., C.A. Peres, P.M. Fearnside, M. Schneider and J.A.S. Zuanon. 2016. Hydropower and the future of Amazonian biodiversity. Biodivers. Conserv. 25(3):451–466.
Lima, R.A.F. 2005. Estrutura e regeneração de clareiras em Florestas Pluviais Tropicais. Braz. J. Bot. 28(4):651–670.
Lima, E.S., H.S. Lima and J.A. Ratter. 2009. Mudanças pós-fogo na estrutura e composição da vegetação lenhosa, em um Cerrado mesotrófico, no período de cinco anos (1997–2002) em Nova Xavantina — MT. Cerne 15(4):468–480.
Lopes, S.F., V.S. Vale and I. Schiavini. 2009. Efeito de queimadas sobre a estrutura e composição da comunidade vegetal lenhosa do Cerrado sentido restrito em Caldas Novas, GO. Rev. Árvore 33(4):695–704.
Lortie, C.J., R.W. Brooker, P. Choler, Z. Kikvidze, R. Michalet, F.I Pugnaire. and R.M. Callaway. 2004. Rethinking plant community theory. Oikos 107 (2):433–438.
Miranda, H.S., M.M.C. Bustamante and A.C. Miranda. 2002. The fire factor. In: Oliveira, PS. and Marquis, R.J. (eds.), The Cerrados of Brazil: Ecology and Natural History of a Neotropical Savanna. Columbia University Press. pp. 51–68.
Mittermeier, R.A., PR. Gil, M. Hoffmann, J. Pilgrim, T. Brooks, C.G. Mittermeier, J. Lamoreaux and G.A.B. Fonseca. 2005. Hotspots Revisited: Earth’s Biologically Richest and Most Endangered Terrestrial Ecoregions. Conservation International, New York.
Moreira, A.G. 2000. Effects of fire protection on savanna structure in Central Brazil. J. Biogeogr. 27:1021–1029.
Nappo, M.E., J.J. Griffith, S.V. Martins, P.M. Júnior, A.L. Souza and A.T. Oliveira-Filho. 2005. Diametric struture dynamics for tree and shrub natural regeneration understory within pure stands of Mimosa scabrella Bentham. planted on a mined-out site at Poços de Caldas, Minas Gerais state. Rev. Árvore 29(1):35–46.
Nunes, R.V., M.C. Silva-Júnior, J.M. Felfili and B.M.T. Walter. 2002. Intervalos de classe para abundância, dominância e freqüência do componente lenhoso do cerrado sentido restrito no Distrito Federal. Rev. Árvore 26(2):173–182.
Pivello, V.R. and L.M. Coutinho. 1992. Transfer of macronutrients to the atmosphere during experimental burnings in an open cerrado (Brazilian savanna). J. Trop. Ecol. 8:487–497.
Pivello, V.R. 2011. The use of fire in the cerrado and amazonian rainforests of Brazil: past and present. Fire Ecol. 7(1):24–39.
Ribeiro, J.F. and B.M.T. Walter. 2008. As Principais Fitofisionomias do Bioma Cerrado. In: Sano S.M., S.P. Almeida and J.F. Ribeiro. (eds.), Cerrado: ecologia e flora. Vol. 1. Embrapa Informação Tecnológica, Brasília. pp. 153–212.
Rodrigues, G.B., K.L. Maltoni and A.M.R. Cassiolato. 2007. Dinâmica da regeneração do subsolo de áreas degradadas dentro do bioma Cerrado. AGRIAMBI 11:1, 73–80.
Salles, J.C. and I. Schiavini. 2007. Estrutura e composição do estrato de regeneração em um fragmento florestal urbano: implicações para a dinâmica e a conservação da comunidade arbórea. Acta Bot. Bras. 21(1):223–233.
Sano, E.E., R. Rosa, J.L.S. Brito and L.G. Ferreira. 2008. Mapeamento semidetalhado do uso da terra do Bioma Cerrado. PAB — Pesquisa Agropecuária Brasileira 43(1):153–156.
Sarmiento, G. 1984. The Ecology of Neotropical Savannas. Harvard University Press, Cambridge.
Schmidt, I.B., A.B. Sampaio and E.F. Borghetti. 2005. Efeitos da época de queima sobre a reprodução sexuada e estrutura populacional de Heteropterys pteropetala (Adr. Juss.), Malpighiaceae, em áreas de Cerrado sensu stricto submetidas a queimas bienais. Acta Bot. Bras. 19(4):927–934
Scholes, R.J. and S.R. Archer. 1997. Tree-grass interactions in savannas. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Evol. Syst. 28:517–44.
Silva, D.M., P.P. Loiola, N.B. Rosatti, I.A. Silva, M.V. Cianciaruso and M.A. Batalha. 2011. Os Efeitos dos Regimes de Fogo sobre a Vegetação de Cerrado no Parque Nacional das Emas, GO: Considerações para a Conservação da Diversidade. BioBrasil 1(2):26–39.
Soares, J.J., M.H.A.O. Souza and M.I.S. Lima. 2006. Twenty years of post-fire plant succession in a “cerrado”, São Carlos, Sp, Brazil. Braz. J. Biol. 66(2B):587–602.
STATSOFT, Inc. 2004. Statistica (data analysis software system), version 7. https://doi.org/www.statsoft.com.
Staver, A. C., S. Archibald and S.A. Levin. 2011. The global extent and determinants of savanna and forest as alternative biome states. Science 334:230–232.
Tilman, D. 2004. Niche tradeoffs, neutrality, and community structure: A stochastic theory of resource competition, invasion, and community assembly. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 101(30):10854–10861.
Uhlmann, A., F. Galvão and S.M. Silva. 1998. Análise da estrutura de duas unidades fitofisionômicas de savana (Cerrado) no sul do Brasil. Acta Bot. Bras. 12(3):231–247.
Valkó, O, P. Török, B. Deák and B. Tóthmérész. 2014. Prospects and limitations of prescribed burning as a management tool in European grasslands. Basic Appl. Ecol. 15:26–33.
Valkó, O., A. Kelemen, T. Miglécz, P. Török, B. Deák, K. Tóth, J.P. Tóth and B. Tóthmérész. 2018. Litter removal does not compensate detrimental fire effects on biodiversity in regularly burned semi-natural grasslands. Sci. Total Environ. 622–623:783–789.
van Wilgen, B.W., N. Govender, H.C. Biggs, D. Ntsala and X.N. Funda. 2004. Response of savanna fire regimes to changing fire management policies in a large African National Park. Conserv. Biol. 18(6):1533–1540
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
About this article
Cite this article
das Chagas, D.B., Pelicice, F.M. Response of vegetation to fire disturbance: short-term dynamics in two savanna physiognomies. COMMUNITY ECOLOGY 19, 211–222 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1556/168.2018.19.3.2
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1556/168.2018.19.3.2