The fate of nutrients during fires in a tropical savanna

Abstract The nutrient loads contained in the grassy fuel before fires, and of ash subsequently, were compared to determine the fluxes of macronutrients, copper and zinc during fires at Kapalga in Kakadu National Park. The fluxes were estimated in three vegetation types: forest, woodland and open woodland. The magnitudes of the fluxes were greatest in the forest community where grassy fuel loads were highest at about 6.3 t ha^?1. In these sites, 54–94% of all measured nutrients in the fuel were transferred to the atmosphere during the fires. For each nutrient, the proportion transferred to the atmosphere as entrained ash was calculated by assuming that calcium was not volatilized during the fires. If the transfer of entrained ash represents local redistribution only, then rainfall accession and the deposition of these particu-lates should replace most of the losses of all nutrients except nitrogen (N). Estimated rates of biological fixation of N appear to be insufficient to replace the annual losses of N. It is therefore concluded that a regime of annual fires that completely burn the available grassy fuel would deplete N reserves in these savannas, unless there are other sources of biologically fixed N, which are unknown at present.     

Fire weather in the wet-dry tropics of the World Heritage Kakadu National Park,Australia

Abstract Seasonal changes of weather and fuels in the wet-dry tropics are dramatic; fires follow suit. In this paper, we examine quantitatively rainfall, evaporation, wind, temperature and humidity information, and indices derived from them, for Kapalga Research Station and nearby Jabiru in World Heritage Kakadu National Park, Northern Australia. At Kapalga, the average annual rainfall of about 1200mm mostly falls during a 6 month wet season. Grasses, green in the wet, begin to desiccate during the early dry season. Perennial grasses cure more slowly than the annuals, and grasses in drainages cure later than those on ridges. Fire weather is usually most severe in September-October (late dry season) and least severe in January-February (late wet season). As the dry season progresses to its peak, daily wind patterns change, daily maximum temperatures increase to an average of 36°C, dew points drop to a minimum, and soil moisture is severely depleted. In the early dry season (cf. later), fires have a greater tendency to go out at night compared with later perhaps because winds then are calmer, fuels are more discontinuous, and relights from burning logs are less likely to occur. Fire weather in the north of Australia appears less severe than that in the southeast of the continent where socially disastrous fires occur periodically.     

How many buffalo does it take to change a savanna? A response to Bowman et al. (2008)

Bowman et al. (Journal of Biogeography, 2008, 35 , 1976–1988) aimed to explain observed increases in woody cover on floodplains and savannas of Kakadu National Park using estimates of buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) density as a causal variable. They found that buffalo were a minor model variable and concluded that buffalo are ‘not a major driver of floodplain and eucalypt dynamics’. However, the authors mislabelled the historical density of buffalo on their site, citing a period as high density instead of low density. Further, their results were not contextualized within the substantial body of scientific and historical evidence of the buffalo’s strong influence on vegetation in Kakadu. The authors instead postulated three unanalysed drivers of observed patterns of change: fire regime, rainfall and atmospheric CO₂. We suggest that further analyses of change in woody vegetation should make use of accurate historical records of grazers as well as available data sets on fire history.     

Measuring benefits of protected area management: trends across realms and research gaps for freshwater systems

Protected areas remain a cornerstone for global conservation. However, their effectiveness at halting biodiversity decline is not fully understood. Studies of protected area benefits have largely focused on measuring their impact on halting deforestation and have neglected to measure the impacts of protected areas on other threats. Evaluations that measure the impact of protected area management require more complex evaluation designs and datasets. This is the case across realms (terrestrial, freshwater, marine), but measuring the impact of protected area management in freshwater systems may be even more difficult owing to the high level of connectivity and potential for threat propagation within systems (e.g. downstream flow of pollution). We review the potential barriers to conducting impact evaluation for protected area management in freshwater systems. We contrast the barriers identified for freshwater systems to terrestrial systems and discuss potential measurable outcomes and confounders associated with protected area management across the two realms. We identify key research gaps in conducting impact evaluation in freshwater systems that relate to three of their major characteristics: variability, connectivity and time lags in outcomes. Lastly, we use Kakadu National Park world heritage area, the largest national park in Australia, as a case study to illustrate the challenges of measuring impacts of protected area management programmes for environmental outcomes in freshwater systems.     

Modelling the recovery of an annual savanna grass following a fire-induced crash

Abstract The native annual Sorghum populations of the Australian wet-dry tropics are highly resilient to dry season fires. During the early wet season, however, fires that occur after the new grass population has emerged can cause catastrophic population crashes. We examined savanna plots that had been burnt in this way, and compared them with adjacent unburnt plots. We found that Sorghum densities in the burnt plots were lower on average by a factor of 10, but that some fires had reduced the density only to one-third of the unburnt plots. It is not clear whether these differences relate directly to site or seasonal factors, or to differences in the way the burning was carried out. Other vegetation components responded to the fires differently: forbs (dicotyledonous herbs) increased in cover, while perennial grasses, woody plants, and overall species richness, were not significantly affected. The amount of leaf litter declined. A population model for Sorghum based on the demography of unburnt populations predicted that they should recover from a wet season burn, taking 7–16 years to return to normal densities. However, the actual field populations did not seem to be recovering, suggesting that wet season fires not only lower densities, but may also fundamentally change population processes in these annual grasses.     

Indigenous Fire Management in the <Emphasis Type="Italic">cerrado</Emphasis> of Brazil: The Case of the Krahô of Tocantíns

Indigenous peoples have been using fire in the cerrado (savannas) of Brazil as a form of management for thousands of years, yet we have little information on why, when and how these fire practices take place. The aim of this paper was to explore the traditional use of fire as a management tool by the Krahô indigenous group living in the north-eastern region of Tocantíns state, Brazil. The results indicate that the Krahô burn for a variety of reasons throughout the dry season, thereby producing a mosaic of burned and unburned patches in the landscape. The paper discusses this burning regime in the context of contemporary issues regarding fire management, and in the face of changing perceptions to fire by the Krahô themselves.     

青藏高原生态系统完整性远程评价与国家公园群建设时序研究

青藏高原是我国重要生态安全屏障,保有大量重要的受人类活动干扰较小的自然生态系统。但近年来受社会经济发展和气候变化的影响,高原生态系统面临退化风险。为了更好地守护地球第三极,第二次青藏科考提出建立青藏高原国家公园群的科学构想。为了全面掌握人类胁迫和气候变化背景下,青藏高原生态系统完整性维持情况,并识别生态系统完整性维持较好的区域,为青藏高原国家公园群的规划布局提供支撑,研究基于对生态系统完整性内涵的理解以及青藏高原生态系统特征,借鉴加拿大国家公园生态系统完整性评估框架,构建了\"格局-质量-功能-问题-压力\"生态系统完整性远程评估框架,对青藏高原生态系统完整性进行了综合评估并分析了其空间格局特征。结果显示：青藏高原整体维持了较好的生态系统完整性,分别有3.52%、7.51%和70.71%的区域生态系统完整性等级为优、良和中,但受人类胁迫影响,部分区域生态系统完整受到破坏,分别有18.17%和0.10%的区域生态系统完整性等级为较差和极差。从空间上看,青藏高原东部地区生态系统完整性整体高于西部地区。从生态系统完整性保护的角度看,青藏高原可用于建设国家公园的备选区数量多、分布广,且呈现大面积连片分布的格局。目前正在开展的三江源、祁连山、大熊猫、普达措等国家公园体制试点区均具有较高的生态系统完整性。为了加快推动生态系统完整性高的区域保护,根据青藏高原国家公园潜在建设区的生态系统完整性指数结果,建议优先启动雅鲁藏布大峡谷、色林错-普若岗日、独龙江三江并流、若尔盖、贡嘎山、稻城亚丁等国家公园建设,待条件成熟后,再逐步启动其他具有景观、文化价值的国家公园建设。