Effects of land‐use changes on ecosystem services: decrease in ant predation in human‐dominated landscapes in central Brazil

Anthropogenic disturbances often affect the abundance and diversity of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) but relatively few studies have explored the implications of such changes on the ecosystem services mediated by these insects. Here, we evaluated how the transformation of Cerrado savanna habitats into crop plantations affects the abundance, diversity, and the predatory activity of ants. A survey of the ant faunas foraging above‐ and belowground was performed in six crop and six non‐crop (i.e., native vegetation) sites. Above‐ and belowground rates of ant predation were estimated at these same sites using mealworms, Tenebrio molitor L. (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae), as baits, simulating crop herbivores. Belowground predation rates were significantly greater in the non‐crop sites, despite the lack of difference in overall abundance and species richness of ants foraging belowground between the crop vs. non‐crop sites. In contrast, we did not detect any significant difference in aboveground predation rates between crop vs. non‐crop sites even though there were significantly more species of ants foraging aboveground in the non‐crop sites. Army ants (subfamily Dorylinae) were the main predatory species belowground, and their abundance was significantly greater in non‐crop sites. In contrast, the main predators aboveground were omnivore ants of the genera Pheidole and Solenopsis, which had similar abundances in the crop and non‐crop sites. Overall, our results indicate that transformation of native Cerrado habitats into crop plantations reduces the abundance of some important predatory species, notably those that forage belowground, and this may negatively affect the potential for ants to provide pest control services in agroecosystems.     

Impacts of clearing,fragmentation and disturbance on the bird fauna of Eucalypt savanna woodlands in central Queensland,Australia

Abstract This study reports on the responses of bird assemblages to woodland clearance, fragmentation and habitat disturbance in central Queensland Australia, a region exposed to very high rates of vegetation clearance over the last two to three decades. Many previous studies of clearing impacts have considered situations where there is a very sharp management contrast between uncleared lands and cleared areas: in this situation, the contrast is more muted, because both cleared lands and uncleared savanna woodlands are exposed to cattle grazing, invasion by the exotic grass Cenchrus ciliaris and similar fire management. Bird species richness (at the scale of a 1‐ha quadrat) was least in cleared areas (8.1 species), then regrowth areas (14.6 species), then uncleared woodlands (19.9 species). Richness at this scale was unrelated to woodland fragment size, connectivity or habitat condition; but declined significantly with increasing abundance of miners (interspecifically aggressive colonial honeyeaters). At whole of patch scale, richness increased with fragment size and decreased with abundance of miners. This study demonstrates complex responses of individual bird species to a regional management cocktail of disturbance elements. Of 71 individual bird species modelled for woodland fragment sites, the quadrat‐level abundance of 40 species was significantly related to at least one variable representing environmental position (across a rainfall gradient), fragment condition, fragment size and/or connectivity. This study suggests that priorities for conservation management include: cessation of broad‐scale clearing; increased protection for regrowth (particularly where this may bolster connectivity and/or size of woodland fragments); control of miners; maintenance of fallen woody debris in woodlands; increase in fire frequency; and reduction in the incidence of grazing and exotic pasture grass.     

Impact of human disturbance on bee pollinator communities in savanna and agricultural sites in Burkina Faso,West Africa

All over the world, pollinators are threatened by land‐use change involving degradation of seminatural habitats or conversion into agricultural land. Such disturbance often leads to lowered pollinator abundance and/or diversity, which might reduce crop yield in adjacent agricultural areas. For West Africa, changes in bee communities across disturbance gradients from savanna to agricultural land are mainly unknown. In this study, we monitored for the impact of human disturbance on bee communities in savanna and crop fields. We chose three savanna areas of varying disturbance intensity (low, medium, and high) in the South Sudanian zone of Burkina Faso, based on land‐use/land cover data via Landsat images, and selected nearby cotton and sesame fields. During 21 months covering two rainy and two dry seasons in 2014 and 2015, we captured bees using pan traps. Spatial and temporal patterns of bee species abundance, richness, evenness and community structure were assessed. In total, 35,469 bee specimens were caught on 12 savanna sites and 22 fields, comprising 97 species of 32 genera. Bee abundance was highest at intermediate disturbance in the rainy season. Species richness and evenness did not differ significantly. Bee communities at medium and highly disturbed savanna sites comprised only subsets of those at low disturbed sites. An across‐habitat spillover of bees (mostly abundant social bee species) from savanna into crop fields was observed during the rainy season when crops are mass‐flowering, whereas most savanna plants are not in bloom. Despite disturbance intensification, our findings suggest that wild bee communities can persist in anthropogenic landscapes and that some species even benefitted disproportionally. West African areas of crop production such as for cotton and sesame may serve as important food resources for bee species in times when resources in the savanna are scarce and receive at the same time considerable pollination service.     

Dominant species maintain ecosystem function with non-random species loss

Loss of species caused by widespread stressors, such as drought and fragmentation, is likely to be non‐random depending on species abundance in the community. We experimentally reduced the number of rare and uncommon plant species while independently reducing only the abundance of dominant grass species in intact, native grassland. This allowed us to simulate a non‐random pattern of species loss, based on species abundances, from communities shaped by natural ecological interactions and characterized by uneven species abundance distributions. Over two growing seasons, total above‐ground net primary productivity (ANPP) declined with reductions in abundance of the dominant species but was unaffected by a threefold decline in richness of less common species. In contrast, productivity of the remaining rare and uncommon species decreased with declining richness, in part due to loss of complementary interactions among these species. However, increased production of the dominant grasses offset the negative effects of species loss. We conclude that the dominant species, as controllers of ecosystem function, can provide short‐term resistance to reductions in ecosystem function when species loss is nonrandom. However, the concurrent loss of complementary interactions among rare and uncommon species, the most diverse component of communities, may contribute to additional species loss and portends erosion of ecosystem function in the long term.     

Relationship between light availability and species richness during fen grassland succession

The complex relation between standing crop and species richness in herbaceous plant communities is still one of the most intensively discussed topics in vegetation ecology. In this study, we focus on the extent to which light availability is able to explain this relationship in fen grasslands. We analyse changes of light availability (measured as relative irradiance, RI), standing crop and species richness during fen grassland succession. Our study include communities representing differences in drainage intensity and nutrient status (‘land use intensification sere’) and successional stages developing after abandonment (‘abandonment seres’). Both in the land use intensification sere and in the abandonment seres, we recorded an increase in standing crop reaching highest values of approx. 800 g m^‐2. RI, species richness and number of small‐growing species declined in the successional seres. RI was highest in stands of low‐productive communities, where light compensation points (5% RI) were already attained at soil surface and light saturation points (30% RI) at soil surface or at 15 cm height. Horizontal heterogeneity of RI at soil surface and at 30 cm height decreased in the abandonment seres, but not at 30 cm height in the land use intensification sere. Furthermore, we detected a signiñcant negative relation between standing crop and RI. Species richness declined with increasing standing crop and thus consequently also with decreasing RI. This result points out that light competition might be of importance for this pattern. The number of small‐growing species decreased exponentially with an increase in standing crop (and decrease in RI). It can be assumed that low light availability negatively affects small‐growing species at standing crop values higher than 400–500 g m². As the maintenance of small‐growing species and the improvement of habitat conditions for their establishment are important aims of nature conservation in fen grasslands, management strategies should be orientated at maintaining standing crops that are not higher than these values.     

Herbaceous Forage and Selection Patterns by Ungulates across Varying Herbivore Assemblages in a South African Savanna

Herbivores generally have strong structural and compositional effects on vegetation, which in turn determines the plant forage species available. We investigated how selected large mammalian herbivore assemblages use and alter herbaceous vegetation structure and composition in a southern African savanna in and adjacent to the Kruger National Park, South Africa. We compared mixed and mono-specific herbivore assemblages of varying density and investigated similarities in vegetation patterns under wildlife and livestock herbivory. Grass species composition differed significantly, standing biomass and grass height were almost twice as high at sites of low density compared to high density mixed wildlife species. Selection of various grass species by herbivores was positively correlated with greenness, nutrient content and palatability. Nutrient-rich Urochloa mosambicensis Hack. and Panicum maximum Jacq. grasses were preferred forage species, which significantly differed in abundance across sites of varying grazing pressure. Green grasses growing beneath trees were grazed more frequently than dry grasses growing in the open. Our results indicate that grazing herbivores appear to base their grass species preferences on nutrient content cues and that a characteristic grass species abundance and herb layer structure can be matched with mammalian herbivory types.     

Fast attrition of springtail communities by experimental drought and richness–decomposition relationships across Europe

Soil fauna play a fundamental role on key ecosystem functions like organic matter decomposition, although how local assemblages are responding to climate change and whether these changes may have consequences to ecosystem functioning is less clear. Previous studies have revealed that a continued environmental stress may result in poorer communities by filtering out the most sensitive species. However, these experiments have rarely been applied to climate change factors combining multiyear and multisite standardized field treatments across climatically contrasting regions, which has limited drawing general conclusions. Moreover, other facets of biodiversity, such as functional and phylogenetic diversity, potentially more closely linked to ecosystem functioning, have been largely neglected. Here, we report that the abundance, species richness, phylogenetic diversity, and functional richness of springtails (Subclass Collembola), a major group of fungivores and detritivores, decreased within 4 years of experimental drought across six European shrublands. The loss of phylogenetic and functional richness was higher than expected by the loss of species richness, leading to communities of phylogenetically similar species sharing evolutionary conserved traits. Additionally, despite the great climatic differences among study sites, we found that taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional richness of springtail communities alone were able to explain up to 30% of the variation in annual decomposition rates. Altogether, our results suggest that the forecasted reductions in precipitation associated with climate change may erode springtail communities and likely other drought‐sensitive soil invertebrates, thereby retarding litter decomposition and nutrient cycling in ecosystems.     

Forest plant community as a driver of soil biodiversity: experimental evidence from collembolan assemblages through large‐scale and long‐term removal of oak canopy trees Quercus petraea

Plant–soil interactions are increasingly recognized to play a major role in terrestrial ecosystems functioning. However, few studies to date have focused on slow dynamic ecosystems such as forests. As they are vertically stratified by multiple vegetation strata, canopy tree removal by thinning operations could alter forest plant community through tree canopy opening. Very little is known about cascading effects on soil biodiversity. We conducted a large‐scale, multi‐site assessment of collembolan assemblage response to long‐term canopy tree removal in sessile oak Quercus petraea temperate forests. A total of 33 experimental plots were studied covering a large gradient of canopy tree basal area, stand age and local abiotic contexts. Collembolan abundance strongly declined with canopy tree removal in early forest successional stage and this was mediated by negative effect of understory plant community composition changes, i.e. shift from moss and forb to tree seedling, fern, shrub and grass species. Negative effect of this composition shift on collembolan species richness was largely offset by positive effect of the increase in understory plant species richness. This gives support to both the plant mass‐ratio and functional diversity hypotheses. Collembolan functional groups had contrasting response patterns, which were mediated by different ecological factors. Epedaphic (r‐strategist) abundance and species richness increased with canopy tree removal in relation with the increase in understory plant species richness. In contrast, euedaphic (K‐strategist) abundance and species richness declined with canopy tree removal in early forest successional stage in relation with changes in understory plant community composition and species richness, as well as microclimatic conditions. Overall, our study provides experimental evidence that forest plant community can be a strong driver of collembolan assemblages. It also emphasizes the role of trees as foundation species of forest ecosystems that can shape soil biodiversity through their regulation of understory plant community and ecosystem abiotic conditions.     

Experimental evidence for weak effects of fire ants in a naturally invaded pine‐savanna ecosystem in north Florida

1. Fire ants naturally invade some undisturbed ecosystems of high conservation value and may negatively impact co‐occurring ants. 2. Over 3 years, fire ants were added and removed from a longleaf pine savanna ecosystem that naturally supports a low density of fire ants. Impacts on co‐occurring ants were monitored using pitfall traps. 3. Treatments resulted in significant differences in average fire ant abundance across all plots only in the first year of the experiment. Fire ants had little discernible impact. The abundance and species richness of co‐occurring ants in removal plots never differed from unmanipulated control plots. The abundance of co‐occurring ants was very slightly lower and ant species richness was slightly higher where Solenopsis invicta Buren colonies were added, but neither contrast was significant. 4. The poor conditions in this habitat for many native ants may explain this outcome. More broadly, the impact of fire ants on ant assemblages still appears to be secondary and largely a consequence of human impacts on the environment.     

Loss of a large grazer impacts savanna grassland plant communities similarly in North America and South Africa

Large herbivore grazing is a widespread disturbance in mesic savanna grasslands which increases herbaceous plant community richness and diversity. However, humans are modifying the impacts of grazing on these ecosystems by removing grazers. A more general understanding of how grazer loss will impact these ecosystems is hampered by differences in the diversity of large herbivore assemblages among savanna grasslands, which can affect the way that grazing influences plant communities. To avoid this we used two unique enclosures each containing a single, functionally similar large herbivore species. Specifically, we studied a bison (Bos bison) enclosure at Konza Prairie Biological Station, USA and an African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) enclosure in Kruger National Park, South Africa. Within these enclosures we erected exclosures in annually burned and unburned sites to determine how grazer loss would impact herbaceous plant communities, while controlling for potential fire-grazing interactions. At both sites, removal of the only grazer decreased grass and forb richness, evenness and diversity, over time. However, in Kruger these changes only occurred with burning. At both sites, changes in plant communities were driven by increased dominance with herbivore exclusion. At Konza, this was caused by increased abundance of one grass species, Andropogon gerardii, while at Kruger, three grasses, Themeda triandra, Panicum coloratum, and Digitaria eriantha increased in abundance.     

Effects of fire on bird diversity and abundance in an East African savanna

Fire is an important determinant of many aspects of savanna ecosystem structure and function. However, relatively little is known about the effects of fire on faunal biodiversity in savannas. We conducted a short‐term study to examine the effects of a replicated experimental burn on bird diversity and abundance in savanna habitat of central Kenya. Twenty‐two months after the burn, Shannon diversity of birds was 32% higher on plots that had been burned compared with paired control plots. We observed no significant effects of burning on total bird abundance or species richness. Several families of birds were found only on plots that had been burned; one species, the rattling cisticola (Cisticola chiniana), was found only on unburned plots. Shrub canopy area was negatively correlated with bird diversity on each plot, and highly correlated with grass height and the abundance of orthopterans. Our results suggest that the highest landscape‐level bird diversity might be obtained through a mosaic of burned and unburned patches. This is also most likely to approximate the historical state of bird diversity in this habitat, because patchy fires have been an important natural disturbance in tropical ecosystems for millennia.     

Upstream effects of a reservoir on fish assemblages 45 years following impoundment

Fish assemblage structure, rarefied species richness, species diversity and evenness of assemblages upstream of a reservoir in Oklahoma, U.S.A., were compared pre and post‐impoundment as well as in contemporary collections from streams above and below the reservoir. There were significant shifts in assemblage structure between historical and contemporary collections above the reservoir but not between contemporary assemblages above and below the impoundment. Indicator species analysis revealed that the sand shiner Notropis stramineus and fathead minnow Pimephales promelas have declined, whereas largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides and western mosquitofish Gambusia affinis have increased in relative abundance in assemblages upstream of the impoundment. Species richness was lower in contemporary assemblages compared with historical assemblages. Furthermore, contemporary assemblages below the dam had lower species richness, diversity and evenness compared with contemporary collections above the dam. These results highlight the spatial and temporal extent of reservoirs altering fish assemblages upstream of impoundments.     

Butterfly community ecology: the influences of habitat type,weather patterns,and dominant species in a temperate ecosystem

We compared variation in butterfly communities across 3 years at six different habitats in a temperate ecosystem near Boulder, Colorado, USA. These habitats were classified by the local Open Space consortium as Grasslands, Tallgrass, Foothills Grasslands, Foothills Riparian, Plains Riparian, and Montane Woodland. Rainfall and temperature varied considerably during these years. We surveyed butterflies using the Pollard‐Yates method of invertebrate sampling and compared abundance, species richness, and diversity across habitats and years. Communities were most influenced by habitat, with all three quantitative measures varying significantly across habitats but only two measures showing variation across years. Among habitats, butterfly abundance was higher in Plains Riparian sites than in Montane Woodland or Grassland sites, though diversity was lowest in Plains Riparian areas. Butterfly species richness was higher in Foothills Riparian sites than it was in all but one other habitat (Tallgrass). Among years, butterfly abundance and species richness were lower during the year of least rainfall and highest temperatures, suggesting a substantial impact of the hot, dry conditions. Across habitats and years, butterfly abundance was consistently high at Plains Riparian and Foothills Riparian sites, and richness and diversity were consistently high in Foothills Riparian areas. These two habitats may be highly suitable for butterflies in this ecosystem, regardless of weather conditions. Generally low abundance and species richness in Montane Woodlands sites, particularly in 2002, suggested low suitability of the habitat to butterflies in this ecosystem, and this may be especially important during drought‐like conditions. Finally, to examine the effect that the presence of the very abundant non‐native species Pieris rapae L. (Lepidoptera: Pieridae) has on these communities, we re‐analyzed the data in the absence of this species. Excluding P. rapae dramatically reduced variation of both butterfly abundance and diversity across habitats, highlighting the importance of considering community membership in analyses like ours.     

Abundance of common species,not species richness,drives delivery of a real‐world ecosystem service

Biodiversity‐ecosystem functioning experiments have established that species richness and composition are both important determinants of ecosystem function in an experimental context. Determining whether this result holds for real‐world ecosystem services has remained elusive, however, largely due to the lack of analytical methods appropriate for large‐scale, associational data. Here, we use a novel analytical approach, the Price equation, to partition the contribution to ecosystem services made by species richness, composition and abundance in four large‐scale data sets on crop pollination by native bees. We found that abundance fluctuations of dominant species drove ecosystem service delivery, whereas richness changes were relatively unimportant because they primarily involved rare species that contributed little to function. Thus, the mechanism behind our results was the skewed species‐abundance distribution. Our finding that a few common species, not species richness, drive ecosystem service delivery could have broad generality given the ubiquity of skewed species‐abundance distributions in nature.     

Composition and species diversity of pine-wiregrass savannas of the Green Swamp,North Carolina

Fire-maintained, species-rich pine-wiregrass savannas in the Green Swamp, North Carolina were sampled over their natural range of environmental conditions and fire frequencies. Species composition, species richness, diversity (Exp H′, 1/C), and aboveground production were documented and fertilization experiments conducted to assess possible mechanisms for the maintenance of high species diversity in these communities. Although savanna composition varies continuously, DECORANA ordination and TWINSPAN classification of 21 sites facilitated recognition of 3 community types: dry, mesic, and wet savannas. These savannas are remarkably species-rich with up to 42 species/0.25 m² and 84 species/625 m². Maximum richness occurred on mesic, annually burned sites. Aboveground production, reported as peak standing crop, was only 293 g · m^?2 on a frequently burned mesic savanna but was significantly higher (375 g · m^?2) on an infrequently burned mesic site. Production values from fertilized high and low fire frequency sites were equivalent. Monthly harvest samples showed that savanna biomass composition by species groups did not vary seasonally, but within groups the relative importance of species showed clear phenological progressions. The variation in species richness with fire frequency is consistent with non-equilibrium theories of species diversity, while phenological variation in production among similar species and the changing species composition across the moisture gradient suggest the importance of equilibrium processes for maintenance of savanna diversity.     

Effect of burning and mowing on grass and forb diversity in a long‐term grassland experiment

Abstract. Disturbance may be an important determinant of plant community composition and diversity owing to its effects on competitive interactions, resources, dominance and vigour. The effect of type, timing and frequency of disturbance on grass and forb species richness was examined using data from a long‐term (> 50 yr) grassland burning and mowing experiment in KwaZulu‐Natal, South Africa. Grass species richness declined considerably (> 50%) in the absence of disturbance, whereas forb species richness was unaffected. Annual burning in sites not mown in summer tended to increase grass species richness relative to triennial burning (22% increase) with the reverse being true in sites mown twice in summer (37% decline). Forb species richness declined by 25% in sites mown twice in summer relative to sites mown in early summer only. Disturbance was necessary to achieve maximum grass species richness presumably by removing litter and increasing the availability of light. The interaction of time of mowing in summer (early versus late) and time of burning during the dormant period (spring versus winter) had the most dramatic effect on species richness. Time of burning had no effect on richness in sites mown in early summer, but winter burning resulted in a dramatic decline (27–42%) in richness in sites mown in late summer. This effect may be related to possible greater soil desiccation with this combination of disturbances.     

Species richness effects on grassland recovery from drought depend on community productivity in a multisite experiment

Biodiversity can buffer ecosystem functioning against extreme climatic events, but few experiments have explicitly tested this. Here, we present the first multisite biodiversity × drought manipulation experiment to examine drought resistance and recovery at five temperate and Mediterranean grassland sites. Aboveground biomass production declined by 30% due to experimental drought (standardised local extremity by rainfall exclusion for 72–98 consecutive days). Species richness did not affect resistance but promoted recovery. Recovery was only positively affected by species richness in low‐productive communities, with most diverse communities even showing overcompensation. This positive diversity effect could be linked to asynchrony of species responses. Our results suggest that a more context‐dependent view considering the nature of the climatic disturbance as well as the productivity of the studied system will help identify under which circumstances biodiversity promotes drought resistance or recovery. Stability of biomass production can generally be expected to decrease with biodiversity loss and climate change.     

Restoration of Young Forests in Eastern Finland: Benefits for Saproxylic Beetles (Coleoptera)

Effective fire suppression in combination with intensive forestry has caused a large number of dead wood‐dependent (saproxylic) species to become threatened in Fennoscandia. In order to return the fire disturbance dynamics and to increase the amount of dead wood, restoration actions are urgently needed. We studied the effects of restoring young (under 30 years old) pine‐dominated (Pinus sylvestris L.) forest stands on saproxylic beetle assemblages in eastern Finland, focusing especially on rare, red‐listed, and pyrophilous (RRLP) species. Our experiment included a restoration treatment including two tree felling levels for fuel load (10 or 20 m³/ha) followed by burning, and an untreated control. We sampled beetles before restoration in 2005, during the year of restoration in 2006, and in two post‐treatment years in 2007 and 2011. Both restoration treatments increased the number of saproxylic and RRLP species. The species richness increased most in the year of restoration in 2006 and this trend continued in the following year 2007, but no differences in species assemblages were detected between the two fuel load levels. By 2011, however, the species richness and abundance had declined back to the pre‐treatment level. We suggest that restoration burning can also be directed to young forests where biodiversity values are initially low. On the basis of the observed decline in the species richness, we suggest that fire could be introduced in neighboring areas in approximately 5‐year intervals to maintain populations of the most demanding pyrophilous species .     

Does Coastal Foredune Stabilization with Ammophila arenaria Restore Plant and Arthropod Communities in Southeastern Australia?

In this study we examine whether stabilization of denuded coastal foredunes in southeastern Australia with the exotic grass species Ammophila arenaria (marram grass) restores plant and ground‐active arthropod assemblages characteristic of undisturbed foredunes. Vascular plants and arthropods were sampled from foredunes that had been stabilized with marram grass in 1982, and from foredunes with no obvious anthropogenic disturbance (control dunes). All arthropods collected were sorted to Order, and ants (81.5% of all specimens) were further sorted to morphospecies. Abundance within arthropod Orders, as well as richness, composition, and structure of the plant and ant assemblages from control and stabilized dunes, were compared. The abundance of Diptera was significantly greater on stabilized dunes, while the abundance of Isopoda was significantly greater on control dunes. There were no significant differences in morphospecies richness or composition of ant assemblages on the two dunes types, although some differences in the abundances of individual morphospecies were observed. By contrast, stabilized dunes exhibited lower plant species richness and highly significant differences in plant species composition, due mainly to the large projected foliage cover of marram grass. The study revealed that after 12 years, the vegetation composition and structure of stabilized dunes was still dominated by marram grass and, as a result, invertebrate assemblages had not been restored to those characteristic of undisturbed foredunes.     

Changes in rain forest butterfly diversity following major ENSO-induced fires in Borneo

Aims Throughout South‐East Asia, droughts associated with ENSO (El Niño Southern Oscillation) events have resulted in large‐scale fires affecting millions of hectares of rain forest. However, the long‐term impacts of these fires on the rain forest faunas are only poorly understood. Our aim was to study the recovery of rain forest butterfly assemblages following the 1997–98 ENSO event, which resulted in the largest‐scale fires in the recorded history of the region. Location A 420‐km² area in the Balikpapan‐Samarinda region of East Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. Methods Four landscapes were assessed after the 1997–98 ENSO event, including one landscape that was assessed prior to the event. Comparisons of species richness, species composition and guild abundance were made among landscapes and years. The relative importance of environment, geographical distance between sampling sites, and time between sampling years was quantified during the succession phase using a variance partitioning technique. Results The fires dramatically altered the butterfly community and resulted in a major decline in observed species richness within the landscape surveyed prior to the ENSO event. Following fires in 1998, butterfly assemblages in all landscapes were dominated by large‐winged generalist species. During 1999 and 2000, assemblages became increasingly dominated by smaller specialist species. Species endemic to Borneo that were present before fires were absent in 2000, despite intensive sampling over enhanced spatial and environmental scales. Community similarity was significantly dependent upon local environmental variables, geographical distance between sampling sites, and time between sampling years. Together, these explained over 52% of the observed variation in samples. Conclusions The importance of geographical distance between sampling sites indicates that recovery was dependent upon colonization from proximate habitats. Despite an apparent trend of return to pre‐ENSO community structure, low species richness throughout the survey area indicates that full recovery had not taken place by 2000.