Fire regimes shape biodiversity: responses of avian guilds to burned forests in Andean temperate ecosystems of southern Chile

Fernando J Novoa,José Tomás Ibarra,Tomás A Altamirano,Kathy Martin,Cristián Bonacic

doi:10.5751/ace-01999-160222

Abstract

Fire regimes shape biodiversity: responses of avian guilds to burned forests in Andean temperate ecosystems of southern Chile

Highlights

Fires are critical drivers of the dynamics of several forest ecosystems because they modify the vertical and horizontal stand structure, often with long-lasting effects on the habitat of forestdwelling species (Flannigan et al 2009, Stephens et al 2015, Fuentes-Ramirez et al 2018)
We examine the responses of avian diversity of functional guilds and habitat attributes in sites with different fire regimes in Araucaria forests of southern Chile
We evaluate the relationship between different habitat attributes and avian density, predicting that (1) slightly disturbed and moderately disturbed habitats, will show greater diversity of species compared to unburned and highly disturbed habitats, and (2) avian diversity will be greater in vertically complex types of vegetation and lower in structurally simple habitats because the former offers greater foraging and breeding opportunities for birds inhabiting these forests

Summary

Introduction

Fires are critical drivers of the dynamics of several forest ecosystems because they modify the vertical and horizontal stand structure, often with long-lasting effects on the habitat of forestdwelling species (Flannigan et al 2009, Stephens et al 2015, Fuentes-Ramirez et al 2018). Fire regime refers to the dynamic behavior of fires occurring over an extended period of time (Brown 1995). These regimes are being altered in many ecosystems worldwide by anthropogenic causes, including climate change (Harvey et al 2016, Prichard et al 2017). Fire regimes shape the structural complexity of post-fire habitats and may model the evolutionary adaptations of wildlife species in fire-prone ecosystems (Watson et al 2012, Drapeau et al 2016)

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