The role of fire disturbance on habitat structure and bird communities in South Brazilian Highland Grasslands.

ABSTRACT: Grassland ecosystems are evolutionarily linked to disturbances such as grazing and fire. These disturbances define grassland plant communities and habitat heterogeneity, which influence animal communities. We evaluated the influence of fire disturbance on plant and bird communities and on habitat structure by sampling grassland fragments with different time elapsed since the last fire event. Habitat structure was sampled using plant life forms and abiotic variables and birds were sampled through point counts. We recorded 862 bird individuals from 70 species. Intermediately-burnt sites harbor higher habitat heterogeneity and plant species richness in comparison with recently or long-burnt sites. Bird abundance and taxonomic diversity decreased linearly as time since fire increased. Finally,

SUBMITTER: Beal-Neves M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7665042 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature