Fire and Herbivory as Architects of Mediterranean Biodiversity.

ABSTRACT: Reconstructing the long-term interactions between fire and herbivory is essential to understand how Mediterranean vegetation has historically responded to disturbance regimes which is a critical step for informing current biodiversity and fire management strategies. We reconstructed 8000 years of vegetation composition, habitat combustibility, and herbivore density in southern France using pollen data and coprophilous fungal spores. We show that periods of high-herbivore density systematically co-occur with open, highly flammable habitats, and significantly correlate with elevated palynological richness. Conversely, cooler and wetter climatic phases promoted the development of closed-canopy, low-combustibility forests, which consistently exhibited lower biodiversity levels. In recent centu

SUBMITTER: Lestienne M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12634060 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature