共查询到20条相似文献,搜索用时 15 毫秒
1.
IAN J. RADFORD ANTHONY C. GRICE BRETT N. ABBOTT D. MICHAEL NICHOLAS LINDSAY WHITEMAN 《Austral ecology》2008,33(2):151-167
Abstract Riparian habitats are highly important ecosystems for tropical biodiversity, and highly threatened ecosystems through changing disturbance regimes and weed invasion. An experimental study was conducted to assess the ecosystem impacts of fire regimes introduced for the removal of the exotic woody vine, Cryptostegia grandiflora, in tropical north‐eastern Australian woodlands. Experimental sites in subcatchments of the Burdekin River, northern Queensland, Australia, were subjected to combinations of early wet‐season and dry‐season fires, and single and repeated fires, with an unburnt control. Woody vegetation was sampled using permanent quadrats to record and monitor plants species, number and size‐class. Sampling was conducted pre‐fire in 1999 and post‐fire in 2002. All fire regimes were effective in reducing the number and biomass of C. grandiflora shrubs and vines. Few woodland or riparian species were found to be fire‐sensitive and community composition did not change markedly under any fire regime. The more intense dry‐season fires impacted the structure of non‐target vegetation, with large reductions in the number of sapling trees (<5 cm d.b.h.) and reductions in the largest tree size‐class and total tree basal area. Unexpectedly, medium‐sized canopy trees (10–30 cm d.b.h.) appear to have been significantly benefited by fires, with decreases in number of trees of this size‐class in the absence of fire. Although the presence of C. grandiflora as a vine in riparian forest canopies changed the nature and intensity of crown combustion patterns, this did not lead to the initiation of a self‐perpetuating weed–fire cycle, as invaders were unable to take advantage of gaps caused by fire. Low intensity, early wet‐season burning, or early dry‐season burning, is recommended for control of C. grandiflora in order to minimize the fire intensity and risk of the loss of large habitat trees in riparian habitats. 相似文献
2.
Survival and life expectancy are key demographic determinants of population dynamics. Using data collected in a field experiment monitored over 14 years in montane grassland of the Ukhahlamba‐Drakensberg Park, South Africa, we determined the effects of components of fire regime and plant structure on the survival and life expectancy of the tree Protea roupelliae subsp. roupelliae (Proteaceae). The field experiment comprised six plots (0.2–0.5 ha in area) from which the survival and life expectancies of 1567 juveniles (non‐reproductives) and 329 adults (reproductives) were estimated in response to differences in fire frequency, biennial seasonal fire, flame height, juvenile height, adult height, basal area and canopy vigour. Juvenile survival and life expectancies were highest when fires were excluded for 8 years. However, a fire after 12 years of fire exclusion and another fire 2 years later eliminated all juveniles. Over the same 14‐year period of biennial fires, juvenile survival was 5%. Juvenile survival and life expectancy were higher after biennial, winter fires than after annual, winter fires. Flame height had no effect on juvenile survival and life expectancy. Both survival and life expectancy of juveniles increased as plants got older and grew taller. Adult survival was unaffected by fire frequency, flame height or tree size, but the survival of adults in response to fire seasonality was inconclusive. Adults with low canopy vigour (<25%) were negatively affected by fire. Juvenile survival and life expectancy are critical bottlenecks in the demography of P. roupelliae. This species is neither a reseeder nor a resprouter. It avoids lethal fire damage by being restricted to rocky habitats with low fire intensities. Biennial winter fires least threaten the survival and life expectancy of P. roupelliae and impact least on its role in the summer feeding and breeding of Gurney's sugarbird. 相似文献
3.
The reintroduction of burning is usually viewed as critical for grassland restoration; but its ecological necessity is often untested. On the one hand, fire may be irreplaceable because it suppresses dominant competitors, eliminates litter, and modifies resource availability. On the other hand, its impacts could be mimicked by other disturbances such as mowing or weeding that suppress dominants but without the risks sometimes associated with burning. Using a 5‐year field experiment in a degraded oak savanna, we tested the impacts of fire, cutting and raking, and weeding on two factors critical for restoration: controlling dominant invasive grasses and increasing subordinate native flora. We manipulated the season of treatment application and used sites with different soil depths because both factors influence fire behavior. We found no significant difference among the treatments—all were similarly effective at suppressing exotics and increasing native plant growth. This occurred because light is the primary limiting resource for many native species and each treatment increased its availability. The effectiveness of disturbance for restoration depended more on the timing of application and site factors than on the type of treatment used. Summer disturbances occurred near their reproductive peak of the exotics, so their mortality approached 100%. Positive responses by native species were significantly greater on shallow soils because these areas had higher native diversity prior to treatment. Although likely not applicable to all disturbance‐dependent ecosystems, these results emphasize the importance of testing the effectiveness of alternative restoration treatments prior to their application. 相似文献
4.
Thomas K. Gottschalk Klemens Ekschmitt & Franz Bairlein 《African Journal of Ecology》2007,45(4):557-565
The Serengeti–Mara ecosystem holds one of the largest natural grasslands of the world, which is well known for its large herds of mammals. However, the bird community structure of these grasslands has hardly ever been studied. For the first time, a large‐scale study on grassland bird communities has been conducted in all typical open grasslands of the Serengeti National Park. We used ten grassland plots representing a gradient of increasing vegetation height and also including shrubs and trees to analyse the influence of vegetation structure on the composition of grassland bird communities. Three communities of breeding birds were identified in relation to (a) short grass, (b) intermediate and long grass and (c) wooded grasslands. The bird communities of intermediate, long and wooded grassland were very similar, because of identical dominant bird species. Our results suggest that breeding birds of East African grasslands exhibit two contrasting habitat relationships: (1) birds that are restricted to short grass, and (2) species that are tolerant to vegetational shifts from intermediate grass via long grass to early stages of woody vegetation. Because the vegetation is often driven beyond this range in managed tropical grasslands through high grazing pressure or through shrub encroachment, we expect that the long‐grass bird communities will not generally resist anthropogenic disturbance. 相似文献
5.
Thaís M. Haddad Ricardo A. G. Viani Mário G. B. Cava Giselda Durigan Joseph W. Veldman 《Biotropica》2020,52(6):1206-1216
Afforestation and fire exclusion are pervasive threats to tropical savannas. In Brazil, laws limiting prescribed burning hinder the study of fire in the restoration of Cerrado plant communities. We took advantage of a 2017 wildfire to evaluate the potential for tree cutting and fire to promote the passive restoration of savanna herbaceous plant communities after destruction by exotic tree plantations. We sampled a burned pine plantation (Burned Plantation); a former plantation that was harvested and burned (Harvested & Burned); an unburned former plantation that was harvested, planted with native trees, and treated with herbicide to control invasive grasses (Native Tree Planting); and two old-growth savannas which served as reference communities. Our results confirm that herbaceous plant communities on post-afforestation sites are very different from old-growth savannas. Among post-afforestation sites, Harvested & Burned herbaceous communities were modestly more similar in composition to old-growth savannas, had slightly higher richness of savanna plants (3.8 species per 50-m2), and supported the greatest cover of native herbaceous plants (56%). These positive trends in herbaceous community recovery would be missed in assessments of tree cover: whereas canopy cover in the Harvested & Burned site was 6% (less than typical of savannas of the Cerrado), the Burned Plantation and Native Tree Planting supported 34% and 19% cover, respectively. By focusing on savanna herbaceous plants, these results highlight that tree cutting and fire, not simply tree planting and fire exclusion, should receive greater attention in efforts to restore savannas of the Cerrado. 相似文献
6.
Daniele Colombaroli Immaculate Ssemmanda Vanessa Gelorini Dirk Verschuren 《Global Change Biology》2014,20(9):2903-2914
Rainfall controls fire in tropical savanna ecosystems through impacting both the amount and flammability of plant biomass, and consequently, predicted changes in tropical precipitation over the next century are likely to have contrasting effects on the fire regimes of wet and dry savannas. We reconstructed the long‐term dynamics of biomass burning in equatorial East Africa, using fossil charcoal particles from two well‐dated lake‐sediment records in western Uganda and central Kenya. We compared these high‐resolution (5 years/sample) time series of biomass burning, spanning the last 3800 and 1200 years, with independent data on past hydroclimatic variability and vegetation dynamics. In western Uganda, a rapid (<100 years) and permanent increase in burning occurred around 2170 years ago, when climatic drying replaced semideciduous forest by wooded grassland. At the century time scale, biomass burning was inversely related to moisture balance for much of the next two millennia until ca. 1750 ad , when burning increased strongly despite regional climate becoming wetter. A sustained decrease in burning since the mid20th century reflects the intensified modern‐day landscape conversion into cropland and plantations. In contrast, in semiarid central Kenya, biomass burning peaked at intermediate moisture‐balance levels, whereas it was lower both during the wettest and driest multidecadal periods of the last 1200 years. Here, burning steadily increased since the mid20th century, presumably due to more frequent deliberate ignitions for bush clearing and cattle ranching. Both the observed historical trends and regional contrasts in biomass burning are consistent with spatial variability in fire regimes across the African savanna biome today. They demonstrate the strong dependence of East African fire regimes on both climatic moisture balance and vegetation, and the extent to which this dependence is now being overridden by anthropogenic activity. 相似文献
7.
Abstract Fire is a key ecological process in several biomes worldwide. Although many conservation agencies have the protection of biodiversity as at least one of their major goals, information on the effects of fire on fauna in these biomes is fragmentary. Here we provide an overview of the published research undertaken to date on the effects of fire on fauna using examples from Southern Africa. We found that few studies have examined the effects of fire on amphibians or reptiles, and work on invertebrates is likewise sparse. The majority of studies that have been published are observational reports, and few experimental studies have been undertaken using an experimental fire regime, or over appropriately long time intervals. Replication was often not reported and where this was done, it was generally inadequate. The majority of the studies failed to report the area over which the studies were undertaken and sampling unit size was often not reported. Despite the importance of fire duration, ignition method, season and time of day of fire, few studies investigated these variables. We conclude that at present the information on the effects of fire on fauna in Southern Africa is fragmentary and, consequently, informed management decisions regarding the consequences of burning policies on the conservation of biodiversity both within and outside protected areas are problematic. We recommend that future studies, both in Southern Africa and elsewhere, be based on a suite of large‐scale and experimental approaches (the latter firmly grounded in the principles of sound experimental design), use non‐classical statistics to explore the effects of large‐scale or unreplicated fires, and where possible include baseline information such as that gathered in fragmentation experiments. 相似文献
8.
Fire frequency is a key land management issue, particularly in tropical savannas where fire is widely used and fire recurrence times are often short. We used an extended Before‐After‐Control‐Impact design to examine the impacts of repeated wet‐season burning for weed control on bird assemblages in a tropical savanna in north Queensland, Australia. Experimentally replicated fire treatments (unburnt, singularly bunt, twice burnt), in two habitats (riparian and adjacent open woodland), were surveyed over 3 years (1 year before the second burn, 1 year post the second burn, 2 years post the second burn) to examine responses of birds to a rapid recurrence of fire. Following the second burn, species richness and overall bird abundance were lower in the twice‐burnt sites than either the unburnt or singularly burnt sites. Feeding group composition varied across year of survey, but within each year, feeding guilds grouped according to fire treatment. In particular, abundance of frugivores and insectivores was lower in twice‐burnt sites, probably because of the decline of a native shrub that produces fleshy fruits, Carissa ovata. Although broader climatic variability may ultimately determine overall bird assemblages, our results show that a short fire‐return interval will substantially influence bird responses at a local scale. Considering that fire is frequently used as a land management tool, our results emphasize the importance of determining appropriate fire‐free intervals. 相似文献
9.
Donald Mlambo 《African Journal of Ecology》2007,45(1):109-111
This study investigated the influence of soil fertility on the physiognomy of Colophospermum mopane, one of the dominant tree or shrub species in savannas of central and southern Africa. The study was conducted in Gonarezhou National Park (GNP) in the south‐east of Zimbabwe. Mopane stands at the study site were divided into three physiognomic forms or mopane ‘types’: short mopane (SM, 1–2 m in height); medium mopane (MM, 8–12 m) and tall mopane (TM, >15 m). In each mopane type, soil samples were collected up to a depth of 15 cm to investigate the level of soil nutrient concentrations. SM stands were associated with low phosphorus and high levels of calcium and sodium relative to MM and TM. The low levels of phosphorus in SM relative to other mopane types suggest that phosphorus may be an important nutrient limiting growth in dwarf mopane. Alternatively, plant nutrients may be limiting because of interaction with factors such as the high soil sodicity present in the dwarf mopane habitats that may affect nutrient uptake or plant nutrient demand. 相似文献
10.
Causes of increased nutrient concentrations in post-fire regrowth in an East African savanna 总被引:1,自引:0,他引:1
The aim of the present study was to investigate the causes of increased macronutrient concentrations in above-ground post-fire
regrowth in an East African savanna (Northern Tanzania). Experiments were set up to discriminate between the following possible
causes: (1) increased soil nutrient supply after fire, (2) relocation of nutrients from the roots to the new shoots, (3) rejuvenation
and related changes in plant tissue composition and (4) changes in nutrient uptake in relation to above-ground carbon gains.
N, P, K, Ca and Mg concentrations in post-burn graminoid vegetation were compared with clipped and with unburned, control
vegetation during the post-burn growth season. One month after burning and clipping, nutrient concentrations in live grass
shoots in the burned and clipped treatments were significantly higher than in the control. This effect, however, declined
in the course of the season and, except for Ca, disappeared three months after onset of the treatments. There were no significant
differences in live grass shoot nutrient concentrations between burned and clipped treatments which suggests that the increased
nutrient concentration in post-fire regrowth is not due to increased soil nutrient supply via ash deposition. The relatively
low input of nutrients through ash deposition, compared to the amount of nutrients released through mineralisation during
the first month after burning and to the total nutrient pools, supports this suggestion. There was no difference between burned
and unburned vegetation in total root biomass and root nutrient concentrations. Relocation of nutrients from the roots to
the new shoots did not, therefore, appear to be a cause of higher post-fire shoot nutrient concentrations. The present study
shows that in this relatively nutrient-rich savanna, the increased nutrient concentration in above-ground post-fire regrowth
is primarily due to increased leaf:stem ratios, rejuvenation of plant material and the distribution of a similar amount of
nutrients over less above-ground biomass.
This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date. 相似文献
11.
PAUL R. WILLIAMS ROBERT A. CONGDON ANTHONY C. GRICE PETER J. CLARKE 《Austral ecology》2003,28(3):327-338
Abstract Changes in plant abundance within a eucalypt savanna of north‐eastern Australia were studied using a manipulative fire experiment. Three fire regimes were compared between 1997 and 2001: (i) control, savanna burnt in the mid‐dry season (July) 1997 only; (ii) early burnt, savanna burnt in the mid‐dry season 1997 and early dry season (May) 1999; and (iii) late burnt, savanna burnt in the mid‐dry season 1997 and late dry season (October) 1999. Five annual surveys of permanent plots detected stability in the abundance of most species, irrespective of fire regime. However, a significant increase in the abundance of several subshrubs, ephemeral and twining perennial forbs, and grasses occurred in the first year after fire, particularly after late dry season fires. The abundance of these species declined toward prefire levels in the second year after fire. The dominant grass Heteropogon triticeus significantly declined in abundance with fire intervals of 4 years. The density of trees (>2 m tall) significantly increased in the absence of fire for 4 years, because of the growth of saplings; and the basal area of the dominant tree Corymbia clarksoniana significantly increased over the 5‐year study, irrespective of fire regime. Conservation management of these savannas will need to balance the role of regular fires in maintaining the diversity of herbaceous species with the requirement of fire intervals of at least 4‐years for allowing the growth of saplings >2 m in height. Whereas late dry season fires may cause some tree mortality, the use of occasional late fires may help maintain sustainable populations of many grasses and forbs. 相似文献
12.
Brett P. Murphy Lynda D. Prior Mark A. Cochrane Grant J. Williamson David M. J. S. Bowman 《Global Change Biology》2019,25(1):254-268
Landscape fire is a key but poorly understood component of the global carbon cycle. Predicting biomass consumption by fire at large spatial scales is essential to understanding carbon dynamics and hence how fire management can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase ecosystem carbon storage. An Australia‐wide field‐based survey (at 113 locations) across large‐scale macroecological gradients (climate, productivity and fire regimes) enabled estimation of how biomass combustion by surface fire directly affects continental‐scale carbon budgets. In terms of biomass consumption, we found clear trade‐offs between the frequency and severity of surface fires. In temperate southern Australia, characterised by less frequent and more severe fires, biomass consumed per fire was typically very high. In contrast, surface fires in the tropical savannas of northern Australia were very frequent but less severe, with much lower consumption of biomass per fire (about a quarter of that in the far south). When biomass consumption was expressed on an annual basis, biomass consumed was far greater in the tropical savannas (>20 times that of the far south). This trade‐off is also apparent in the ratio of annual carbon consumption to net primary production (NPP). Across Australia's naturally vegetated land area, annual carbon consumption by surface fire is equivalent to about 11% of NPP, with a sharp contrast between temperate southern Australia (6%) and tropical northern Australia (46%). Our results emphasise that fire management to reduce greenhouse gas emissions should focus on fire prone tropical savanna landscapes, where the vast bulk of biomass consumption occurs globally. In these landscapes, grass biomass is a key driver of frequency, intensity and combustion completeness of surface fires, and management actions that increase grass biomass are likely to lead to increases in greenhouse gas emissions from savanna fires. 相似文献
13.
Paul Laris 《Human ecology: an interdisciplinary journal》2002,30(2):155-186
Data are presented indicating a seasonal mosaic pattern of burning in the savanna of southern Mali. A seasonal mosaic is a landscape that is annually re-created by people, and which contains patches of unburned, early burned, and recently burned vegetation. A survey of over 100 farmers and in-depth interviews demonstrates that rural inhabitants of southern Mali begin an annual burning regime early in the dry season in order to fragment the landscape, with the goal of preventing later fires that can damage natural resources. The process of gradually burning off the driest vegetation creates a seasonal mosaic of habitat patches that increases the potential of the landscape for a variety of dry season land uses, including hunting, gathering of savanna products, and grazing. An analysis of a series of Landsat images shows that the practice of mosaic burning is widespread in the wooded savanna, in which burning usually begins early and large fires are rare. On the basis of recent developments in ecological theory and empirical evidence from similar burning regimes in parts of Australia, it is suggested that seasonal mosaic burning in Mali not only prevents damaging late-season fires but increases biodiversity. It is concluded that discourse on African savanna burning overemphasizes the ecologically detrimental aspects of fire, while neglecting the beneficial ones resulting in misguided policies that pose a threat to human livelihoods and savanna ecosystems. 相似文献
14.
Marcus V. F. Paredes Ana L. N. da Cunha Stefano S. Aires Margarete N. Sato Heloisa S. Miranda 《Plant Ecology & Diversity》2018,11(2):193-203
Background: Fire is an important ecological factor in the Cerrado (Brazilian savanna). However, comparative studies on the effect of high temperatures experienced during fires on seed germination of native and invasive grass species are few.Aims: To assess germination responses to simulated fire temperatures by seeds of invasive and native Cerrado grasses.Methods: Heat-shock treatments (50 °C, 70 °C, 90 °C, 110 °C, 130 °C or 150 °C) were applied to seeds of 10 species of native and invasive grasses. For each temperature, the seeds were heated in a dry-air flow for 2 or 5 min. This combination of temperatures and exposure times simulated the soil conditions during typical Cerrado fires.Results: Temperature treatment was significantly related to germination, and the effect varied according to species. Heat shock did not increase germination in either the native or the invasive species. Exposure time was important for only two species, and four species showed a significant increase in mean germination time.Conclusions: Species showed different tolerances to high temperatures. It was not possible to differentiate the native and invasive grasses only by their tolerance to high temperatures, suggesting that fire alone may not be an efficient management tool to control the invasive species studied here. 相似文献
15.
Lucía S. Mochi;Thomas A. Morrison;Nicola Stevens;Noemí Mazía;T. Michael Anderson;Ricardo M. Holdo; 《植被学杂志》2024,35(4):e13302
How does the grass layer affect seedlings across large environmental gradients in savannas? 相似文献
16.
Owen F. Price 《Austral ecology》2015,40(7):857-868
Fire management attempts to coerce fire into a desired regime using three primary strategies: prescribed burning, fire suppression and ignition management. The West Arnhem Land Fire Abatement project (WALFA), where prescribed Early Dry Season burning is used to reduce unplanned Late Dry Season burning, is heralded as model for prescribed burning. However, a previous analysis found that Late Dry Season area burnt in WALFA had been reduced further than would be expected based purely on the Early Dry Season treatment area. This study investigated whether treatment has reduced the number and size of unplanned fires. Daily burnt area mapping from MODIS satellite sensors was used to identify individual fires to compare fire activity before and after management was introduced in WALFA (2005) and in a control region in East Arnhem Land. Late Dry Season area burnt reduced after treatment in WALFA but also in the control region. The number of fires in August–October increased after treatment. There is a period from early August until late September when human ignitions can cause huge fires. Late Dry Season area burnt was strongly influenced by the size of the largest single fire and only weakly by the number of ignitions. Early Dry Season area burnt had modest effects on both the number and maximum size of Late Dry Season fires. Eliminating the largest fire in each 1600 km2 sample block would have halved the total Late Dry Season area burnt. A similar reduction could be obtained from a 14% annual treatment with Early Dry Season fire, but this may not reduce the overall area burnt. If overall fire frequency is the main threat to biodiversity in the savannas, then the best solution will be to prevent the small subset of fires that have the potential to become very large. 相似文献
17.
Brian W. van Wilgen Tercia Strydom Chenay Simms Izak P. J. Smit 《Conservation Science and Practice》2022,4(4):e12658
Conservation managers frequently set goals and monitor progress toward them. This often becomes a routine annual exercise, and periodic reflection over longer periods is done less often, if at all. We report on the annual monitoring of fire patterns in the Kruger National Park between 2012 and 2020, and examine how these compared with desired thresholds of spatial extent and intensity. These thresholds were based on decades of research and were aimed at achieving specific ecological outcomes. The patterns were outside of thresholds in two out of five fire management zones. In one (Zone 1), the goal was to encourage frequent burning, and this was marginally not achieved due to a severe drought during the period assessed. In Zone 3, a reduction in extent and intensity was desired, but thresholds for both were substantially exceeded. An exceedance in any given year might not trigger a management response, but if this occurs over multiple years it should trigger an examination of whether these exceedances affected the desired ecological outcomes. On reflection, we recommend that current management in four zones need not change, but that Zone 3 would require appropriate interventions. The available options can simultaneously produce positive and negative conservation outcomes, so trade-offs become necessary. By reflecting on research findings and management challenges, the advantages and disadvantages of available options have become clear, providing a basis for prioritization and compromise. 相似文献
18.
19.
Michael Heinl Jan Sliva Budzanani Tacheba Michael Murray-Hudson 《African Journal of Ecology》2008,46(3):350-358
The study investigates the relevance of fire frequency for the floodplain vegetation of the Okavango Delta in Botswana, considering species composition, species richness, vegetation structure and tree density. Based on flood and fire frequency data derived from a series of satellite images, active and drying floodplains were separated and study plots were selected with fire frequencies up to ten burns between 1989 and 2003. Both for drying and active floodplains, no typical species assemblage could be associated with fire frequency. On drying floodplains, fire frequency showed no effect on species composition, but rather on vegetation structure. While small woody species showed higher cover values on high fire frequency, large trees showed significantly lower cover values on high fire frequency. For active floodplains, a significant response to fire frequency, both positively and negatively could be determined for specific species. But as almost none of these species appear at low or high frequency only, no differences in species composition could be associated with fire frequency. Rather flood frequency and specific annual flood cycles could be described as the determining factors for the vegetation on active floodplains. 相似文献
20.
Clay Trauernicht Brett P. Murphy Natalia Tangalin David M. J. S. Bowman 《Ecology and evolution》2013,3(2):286-297
We use the fire ecology and biogeographical patterns of Callitris intratropica, a fire‐sensitive conifer, and the Asian water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis), an introduced mega‐herbivore, to examine the hypothesis that the continuation of Aboriginal burning and cultural integration of buffalo contribute to greater savanna heterogeneity and diversity in central Arnhem Land (CAL) than Kakadu National Park (KNP). The ‘Stone Country’ of the Arnhem Plateau, extending from KNP to CAL, is a globally renowned social–ecological system, managed for millennia by Bininj‐Kunwok Aboriginal clans. Regional species declines have been attributed to the cessation of patchy burning by Aborigines. Whereas the KNP Stone Country is a modern wilderness, managed through prescribed burning and buffalo eradication, CAL remains a stronghold for Aboriginal management where buffalo have been culturally integrated. We surveyed the plant community and the presence of buffalo tracks among intact and fire‐damaged C. intratropica groves and the savanna matrix in KNP and CAL. Aerial surveys of C. intratropica grove condition were used to examine the composition of savanna vegetation across the Stone Country. The plant community in intact C. intratropica groves had higher stem counts of shrubs and small trees and higher proportions of fire‐sensitive plant species than degraded groves and the savanna matrix. A higher proportion of intact C. intratropica groves in CAL therefore indicated greater gamma diversity and habitat heterogeneity than the KNP Stone Country. Interactions among buffalo, fire, and C. intratropica suggested that buffalo also contributed to these patterns. Our results suggest linkages between ecological and cultural integrity at broad spatial scales across a complex landscape. Buffalo may provide a tool for mitigating destructive fires; however, their interactions require further study. Sustainability in the Stone Country depends upon adaptive management that rehabilitates the coupling of indigenous culture, disturbance, and natural resources. 相似文献