Fire in Rupestrian Grasslands: Plant Response and Management

Abstract

Plant communities and species composing rupestrian grassland complexes within Brazilian savannas show varied responses to fire, and display similarities with other fire-prone ecosystems. Shallow, nutrient-poor soils subjected to severe water stress favor grasslands which carry fire in a landscape punctuated or crossed by rocky outcrops, riverine forests and other forest patches that act as barriers to fire. The long-term fire regime in these physiognomies is largely unknown, but, in post-European colonization times, the use of fire to livestock (cattle) pastures management and arson, most commonly in the dry season, have dominated the fire dynamics of these ecosystems. Several traits of rupestrian grassland plant species allow them to survive some fire regimes and/or take advantage of the post-burn environment, suggesting an ancient role of fire in their evolution and in defining agricultural practices. Fire management must consider the intrinsic heterogeneity and socioeconomic complexities of rupestrian grasslands landscapes. Evaluation and adaptation of strategies, ranging from protecting target areas from fire to applying prescribed patchy burning, and guaranteeing dialogue regarding people’s needs, practices and knowledge, like those related to cattle raising and everlasting flowers harvesting, must be assured for the accomplishment of biodiversity conservation and sustainability goals. Decision-makers are encouraged to work in partnership with ecologists, policy-makers, and local communities, in an adaptive management approach.

Like a giant version of an amoeboid creature, fire emits pseudopodia on vegetation and engulfs it, drawing its energy to incorporate into its igneous body, excreting ash, smoke, carbon dioxide, water vapor and other gases, leaving behind, in the form of charred wood, only the parts of its “food” that eventually could not digest. In this feeding process, fire takes on the characteristics of the vegetation that sustains it, the physical environment that receives it, the winds that propel it and the topography that leads it (Miranda 2002).