Stream macroinvertebrate community responses to fire: are they the same in different fire-prone biogeographic regions?

Abstract

AbstractDroughts, fires, and floods are natural disturbances influencing aquatic ecosystems. If drought is accompanied by fires, and if fires are closely followed by floods, teasing apart their distinctive and potentially interactive responses can be difficult. We compared the responses of macroinvertebrate communities to fire via comparisons of streams in burned and unburned catchments in 3 fire-prone biomes that differ biogeographically and climatically (northwestern Mediterranean, southeastern Australia, and northwestern intermountain USA). The responses of macroinvertebrate communities in streams in burned catchments were similar in all biogeographic regions, but the magnitude of these responses varied. Fire combined with high seasonal stream flows, flooding, or drought was associated with reduced measures of taxonomic richness and increased abundance, especially of r-strategist taxa. Differences between sites in burned and unburned catchments were consistently stronger in southeastern Australia than ...