Shifting fire regimes from late to early dry-season fires to abate greenhouse emissions does not completely equate with terrestrial vertebrate biodiversity co-benefits on Cape York Peninsula, Australia
Justin J. Perry A C , Eric P. Vanderduys A and Alex S. Kutt B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, Ecology Program, PMB PO, Aitkenvale, Qld 4814, Australia.
B School of BioSciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville Campus, Vic. 3010, Australia.
C Corresponding author. Email: justin.perry@csiro.au
International Journal of Wildland Fire 25(7) 742-752 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF15133
Submitted: 22 July 2015 Accepted: 8 March 2016 Published: 16 May 2016
Abstract
Carbon farming initiatives have rapidly developed in recent years, influencing broad scale changes to land management regimes. In the open carbon market a premium can be secured if additional benefits, such as biodiversity conservation or social advancement, can be quantified. In Australia, there is an accepted method for carbon abatement that requires shifting fire frequency from predominantly late, defined as fires occurring after August 1, to early dry-season fires or by reducing overall fire frequency. There is an assumption and some evidence that this might accrue co-benefits for biodiversity. We tested this assumption by comparing terrestrial vertebrate biodiversity patterns (richness and abundance of reptiles, birds and mammals) against increasing fire frequency in the early and late dry-season at the same spatial resolution as the fire management for emission abatement method. We systematically sampled 202 sites on Cape York Peninsula, and examined the relationship between vertebrate fauna, fire and environmental metrics. We found that within the approved vegetation type, open woodlands in tropical savanna woodland, early and late dry-season fire frequency had the same weak linear relationship with only some elements of the observed fauna. Additionally, the response of each taxa to fire frequency were different across broad vegetation structural categories, suggesting that a more nuanced species-specific monitoring approach is required to expose links between savanna burning for carbon abatement and burning for biodiversity benefit.
Additional keywords: additionality, carbon farming, carbon market, ecosystem services, PES (payments for ecosystem services).
References
Andersen AN, Cook GD, Corbett LK, Douglas MM, Eager RW, Russell-Smith J, Setterfield SA, Williams RJ, Woinarski JCZ (2005) Fire frequency and biodiversity conservation in Australian tropical savannas: implications from the Kapalga fire experiment. Austral Ecology 30, 155–167.| Fire frequency and biodiversity conservation in Australian tropical savannas: implications from the Kapalga fire experiment.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Andersen AN, Woinarski JCZ, Parr CL (2012) Savanna burning for biodiversity: fire management for faunal conservation in Australian tropical savannas. Austral Ecology 37, 658–667.
| Savanna burning for biodiversity: fire management for faunal conservation in Australian tropical savannas.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Anderson MJ (2001) A new method for non-parametric multivariate analysis of variance. Austral Ecology 26, 32–46.
Anderson MJ, Clarke KR, Gorley RN (2008) ‘PERMANOVA+ for Primer. Guide to software and statistical methods.’ (University of Auckland and PRIMER-E Ltd: Plymouth UK)
Banfai DS, Bowman DMJS (2006) Forty years of lowland monsoon rainforest expansion in Kakadu National Park, Northern Australia. Biological Conservation 131, 553–565.
| Forty years of lowland monsoon rainforest expansion in Kakadu National Park, Northern Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Bates D, Maechler M, Bolker B, Walker S (2015) Fitting linear mixed-effects models using lme4. Journal of Statistical Software 67, 48
| Fitting linear mixed-effects models using lme4.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Beeton B, Buckley K, Jones G, Morgan D, Reichelt R, Trewin D, Gorrie G, Hyman M, Sullivan S, Boshier J (2006) Australia, state of the Environment 2006: independent report to the Australian Government Minister for the Environment and Heritage. Department of the Environment and Heritage, Canberra, ACT.
Bradstock RA, Bedward M, Gill AM, Cohn JS (2005) Which mosaic? A landscape ecological approach for evaluating interactions between fire regimes, habitat and animals. Wildlife Research 32, 409–423.
| Which mosaic? A landscape ecological approach for evaluating interactions between fire regimes, habitat and animals.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Crowley GM, Garnett ST (1998) Vegetation change in the grasslands and grassy woodlands of east-central Cape York Peninsula, Australia. Pacific Conservation Biology 4, 132–148.
Department of Science, Information Technology and Innovation (2015) Wooded extent and foliage projective cover code layer – Queensland 2013. Available at https://data.qld.gov.au/dataset/wooded-extent-and-foliage-projective-cover-code-layer-queensland-2013/resource/6cf05739-ea14-41ab-8954-c6a234274092 [Verified 23 March 2016]
Driscoll DA, Lindenmayer DB, Bennett AF, Bode M, Bradstock RA, Cary GJ, Clarke MF, Dexter N, Fensham R, Friend G, Gill M, James S, Kay G, Keith DA, MacGregor C, Russell-Smith J, Salt D, Watson JEM, Williams RJ, York A (2010) Fire management for biodiversity conservation: Key research questions and our capacity to answer them. Biological Conservation 143, 1928–1939.
| Fire management for biodiversity conservation: Key research questions and our capacity to answer them.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
ESRI (2014) ‘ArcGIS desktop: release 10.2.2.’ (Environmental Systems Research Institute: Redlands, CA, USA.)
Fensham RJ, Butler DW (2004) Spatial pattern of dry rainforest colonizing unburnt Eucalyptus savanna. Austral Ecology 29, 121–128.
| Spatial pattern of dry rainforest colonizing unburnt Eucalyptus savanna.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Fensham RJ, Fairfax RJ, Butler DW, Bowman D (2003) Effects of fire and drought in a tropical eucalypt savanna colonized by rain forest. Journal of Biogeography 30, 1405–1414.
| Effects of fire and drought in a tropical eucalypt savanna colonized by rain forest.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Ferrier S, Drielsma M (2010) Synthesis of pattern and process in biodiversity conservation assessment: a flexible whole-landscape modelling framework. Diversity & Distributions 16, 386–402.
| Synthesis of pattern and process in biodiversity conservation assessment: a flexible whole-landscape modelling framework.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Fitzsimons J, Russell-Smith J, James G, Vigilante T, Lipsett-Moore G, Morrison J, Looker M (2012) Insights into the biodiversity and social benchmarking components of the Northern Australian fire management and carbon abatement programmes. Ecological Management & Restoration 13, 51–57.
| Insights into the biodiversity and social benchmarking components of the Northern Australian fire management and carbon abatement programmes.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Flannery T (2002) ‘The future eaters: an ecological history of the Australasian lands and people.’ (Grove Press: New York, NY)
Grant I, Jones D, Wang W, Fawcett R, Barratt D (2008) Meteorological and remotely sensed datasets for hydrological modelling: a contribution to the Australian Water Availability Project. (Australian Bureau of Meteorology: Canberra)
Hopkins HL, Kennedy ML (2004) An assessment of indices of relative and absolute abundance for monitoring populations of small mammals. Wildlife Society Bulletin 32, 1289–1296.
| An assessment of indices of relative and absolute abundance for monitoring populations of small mammals.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Huey RB, Deutsch CA, Tewksbury JJ, Vitt LJ, Hertz PE, Perez HJA, Garland T (2009) Why tropical forest lizards are vulnerable to climate warming. Proceedings. Biological Sciences 276, 1939–1948.
| Why tropical forest lizards are vulnerable to climate warming.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Jones DA, Wang W, Fawcett R (2007) Climate Data for the Australian Water Availability Project: Final Milestone Report. (Australian Bureau of Meteorology: Canberra)
Kutt AS, Woinarski JCZ (2007) The effects of grazing and fire on vegetation and the vertebrate assemblage in a tropical savanna woodland in north-eastern Australia. Journal of Tropical Ecology 23, 95–106.
| The effects of grazing and fire on vegetation and the vertebrate assemblage in a tropical savanna woodland in north-eastern Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Kutt AS, Vanderduys EP, O’Reagain P (2012a) Spatial and temporal effects of grazing management and rainfall on the vertebrate fauna of a tropical savanna. The Rangeland Journal 34, 173–182.
| Spatial and temporal effects of grazing management and rainfall on the vertebrate fauna of a tropical savanna.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Kutt AS, Vanderduys EP, Perry JJ, Perkins GC, Kemp JE, Bateman BL, Kanowski J, Jensen R (2012b) Signals of change in tropical savanna woodland vertebrate fauna 5 years after cessation of livestock grazing. Wildlife Research 39, 386–396.
| Signals of change in tropical savanna woodland vertebrate fauna 5 years after cessation of livestock grazing.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Kuznetsova A, Brockhoff PB, Christensen HB (2014). lmerTest: tests for random and fixed effects for linear mixed effect models (lmer objects of lme4 package), v. 2.0–25. Available at http://cran. r-project. org/package= lmerTest [Verified 19 April 2016]
Legge S, Murphy S, Heathcote J, Flaxman E, Augusteyn J, Crossman M (2008) The short-term effects of an extensive and high-intensity fire on vertebrates in the tropical savannas of the central Kimberley, northern Australia. Wildlife Research 35, 33–43.
| The short-term effects of an extensive and high-intensity fire on vertebrates in the tropical savannas of the central Kimberley, northern Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
McConchie P (2013) ‘Fire and the story of burning country.’ (Cyclops Press: Avalon, NSW)
McDonald JA, Carwardine J, Joseph LN, Klein CJ, Rout TM, Watson JEM, Garnett ST, McCarthy MA, Possingham HP (2015) Improving policy efficiency and effectiveness to save more species: a case study of the megadiverse country Australia. Biological Conservation 182, 102–108.
| Improving policy efficiency and effectiveness to save more species: a case study of the megadiverse country Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Murphy SA, Legge SM, Heathcote J, Mulder E (2010) The effects of early and late-season fires on mortality, dispersal, physiology and breeding of red-backed fairy-wrens (Malurus melanocephalus). Wildlife Research 37, 145–155.
| The effects of early and late-season fires on mortality, dispersal, physiology and breeding of red-backed fairy-wrens (Malurus melanocephalus).Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Murphy BP, Liedloff AC, Cook GD (2015) Does fire limit tree biomass in Australian savannas? International Journal of Wildland Fire 24, 1–13.
| Does fire limit tree biomass in Australian savannas?Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Murray B, Sohngen B, Ross M (2007) Economic consequences of consideration of permanence, leakage and additionality for soil carbon sequestration projects. Climatic Change 80, 127–143.
| Economic consequences of consideration of permanence, leakage and additionality for soil carbon sequestration projects.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BD2sXmt1OjtQ%3D%3D&md5=d7185926c9531a3dc00795f666c99331CAS |
NAFI (2014) ‘North Australian fire information ‘ Available at http://www.firenorth.org.au/nafi/app/init.jsp [Verified 22 April 2015]
Oliver I, Eldridge DJ, Nadolny C, Martin WK (2014) What do site condition multi-metrics tell us about species biodiversity? Ecological Indicators 38, 262–271.
| What do site condition multi-metrics tell us about species biodiversity?Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Parr CL, Andersen AN (2006) Patch mosaic burning for biodiversity conservation: a critique of the pyrodiversity paradigm Conservation Biology 20, 1610–1619.
| Patch mosaic burning for biodiversity conservation: a critique of the pyrodiversity paradigmCrossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 17181796PubMed |
Pausas JG, Keeley JE (2009) A Burning Story: The Role of Fire in the History of Life. Bioscience 59, 593–601.
| A Burning Story: The Role of Fire in the History of Life.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Pepper M, Doughty P, Arculus R, Keogh JS (2008) Landforms predict phylogenetic structure on one of the world’s most ancient surfaces. BMC Evolutionary Biology 8, 152
| Landforms predict phylogenetic structure on one of the world’s most ancient surfaces.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 18485245PubMed |
Perry JJ, Kutt AS, Garnett ST, Crowley GM, Vanderduys EP, Perkins GC (2011) Changes in the avifauna of Cape York Peninsula over a period of 9 years: the relative effects of fire, vegetation type and climate. Emu 111, 120–131.
| Changes in the avifauna of Cape York Peninsula over a period of 9 years: the relative effects of fire, vegetation type and climate.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Perry JJ, Kutt AS, Perkins GC, Vanderduys EP, Colman NJ (2012) A bird survey method for Australian tropical savannas. Emu 112, 261–266.
| A bird survey method for Australian tropical savannas.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Phelps J, Webb EL, Adams WM (2012) Biodiversity co-benefits of policies to reduce forest-carbon emissions. Nature Climate Change 2, 497–503.
Price O, Edwards A, Connors G, Woinarski J, Ryan G, Turner A, Russell-Smith J (2005) Fire heterogeneity in Kakadu National Park, 1980–2000. Wildlife Research 32, 425–433.
| Fire heterogeneity in Kakadu National Park, 1980–2000.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Price B, Kutt AS, McAlpine CA (2010) The importance of fine-scale savanna heterogeneity for reptiles and small mammals. Biological Conservation 143, 2504–2513.
| The importance of fine-scale savanna heterogeneity for reptiles and small mammals.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Price B, McAlpine CA, Kutt AS, Ward D, Phinn SR, Ludwig JA (2013) Disentangling How Landscape Spatial and Temporal Heterogeneity Affects Savanna Birds. PLoS One 8, e74333
| Disentangling How Landscape Spatial and Temporal Heterogeneity Affects Savanna Birds.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BC3sXhsFWqsL3I&md5=5860d56823d2e1cbba31c3838ba1a599CAS | 24066138PubMed |
Queensland Herbarium 2014. Regional ecosystem description database. (Queensland Herbarium: Brisbane, Qld)
R Development Core Team (2014) ‘R: a language and environment for statistical computing.’ (R Foundation for Statistical Computing: Vienna, Austria)
Rocchini D, Balkenhol N, Carter G, Foody G, Gillespie T, He K, Kark S, Levin N, Lucas K, Luoto M (2010) Remotely sensed spectral heterogeneity as a proxy of species diversity: recent advances and open challenges. Ecological Informatics 5, 318–329.
| Remotely sensed spectral heterogeneity as a proxy of species diversity: recent advances and open challenges.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Royle JA, Link WA (2006) Generalized site occupancy models allowing for false positive and false negative errors. Ecology 87, 835–841.
| Generalized site occupancy models allowing for false positive and false negative errors.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 16676527PubMed |
Russell-Smith J, Yates C, Edwards A, Allan GE, Cook GD, Cooke P, Craig R, Heath B, Smith R (2003) Contemporary fire regimes of northern Australia, 1997–2001: change since Aboriginal occupancy, challenges for sustainable management. International Journal of Wildland Fire 12, 283–297.
| Contemporary fire regimes of northern Australia, 1997–2001: change since Aboriginal occupancy, challenges for sustainable management.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Russell-Smith J, Whitehead PJ, Cooke PM (Eds) (2009) ‘Culture, ecology and economy of fire management in north Australian savannas: rekindling the Wurrk tradition.’ (CSIRO Publishing: Melbourne, Vic.)
Russell-Smith J, Cook GD, Cooke PM, Edwards AC, Lendrum M, Meyer CP, Whitehead PJ (2013) Managing fire regimes in north Australian savannas: applying Aboriginal approaches to contemporary global problems. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 11, e55–e63.
| Managing fire regimes in north Australian savannas: applying Aboriginal approaches to contemporary global problems.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Scott K, Setterfield SA, Douglas MM, Parr CL, Schatz JON, Andersen AN (2012) Does long-term fire exclusion in an Australian tropical savanna result in a biome shift? A test using the reintroduction of fire. Austral Ecology 37, 693–711.
| Does long-term fire exclusion in an Australian tropical savanna result in a biome shift? A test using the reintroduction of fire.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Slade NA, Blair SM (2000) An empirical test of using counts of individuals captured as indices of population size. Journal of Mammalogy 81, 1035–1045.
| An empirical test of using counts of individuals captured as indices of population size.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Trauernicht C, Brook BW, Murphy BP, Williamson GJ, Bowman DMJS (2015) Local and global pyrogeographic evidence that indigenous fire management creates pyrodiversity. Ecology and Evolution 5, 1908–1918.
| Local and global pyrogeographic evidence that indigenous fire management creates pyrodiversity.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 26140206PubMed |
Vickers M, Manicom C, Schwarzkopf L (2011) Extending the cost-benefit model of thermoregulation: high-temperature environments. American Naturalist 177, 452–461.
| Extending the cost-benefit model of thermoregulation: high-temperature environments.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 21460567PubMed |
Walsh D, Russell-Smith J, Cowley R (2014) Fire and carbon management in a diversified rangelands economy: research, policy and implementation challenges for northern Australia. The Rangeland Journal 36, 313–322.
| Fire and carbon management in a diversified rangelands economy: research, policy and implementation challenges for northern Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Whitehead PJ, Russell-Smith J, Woinarski JCZ (2005) Fire, landscape heterogeneity and wildlife management in Australia’s tropical savannas; introduction and overview. Wildlife Research 32, 369–375.
| Fire, landscape heterogeneity and wildlife management in Australia’s tropical savannas; introduction and overview.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Wickham H (2009) ‘ggplot2: elegant graphics for data analysis.’ (Springer-Verlag: New York)
Woinarski JCZ, Armstrong M, Brennan K, Fisher A, Griffiths AD, Hill B, Milne DJ, Palmer C, Ward S, Watson M, Winderlich S, Young S (2010) Monitoring indicates rapid and severe decline of native small mammals in Kakadu National Park, northern Australia. Wildlife Research 37, 116–126.
| Monitoring indicates rapid and severe decline of native small mammals in Kakadu National Park, northern Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Woinarski JCZ, Legge S (2013) The impacts of fire on birds in Australia’s tropical savannas. Emu 113, 319–352.
| The impacts of fire on birds in Australia’s tropical savannas.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Woinarski JCZ, Risler J, Kean L (2004) Response of vegetation and vertebrate fauna to 23 years of fire exclusion in a tropical Eucalyptus open forest, Northern Territory, Australia. Austral Ecology 29, 156–176.
| Response of vegetation and vertebrate fauna to 23 years of fire exclusion in a tropical Eucalyptus open forest, Northern Territory, Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Yibarbuk D, Whitehead PJ, Russell-Smith J, Jackson D, Godjuwa C, Fisher A, Cooke P, Choquenot D, Bowman D (2001) Fire ecology and Aboriginal land management in central Arnhem Land, northern Australia: a tradition of ecosystem management. Journal of Biogeography 28, 325–343.
| Fire ecology and Aboriginal land management in central Arnhem Land, northern Australia: a tradition of ecosystem management.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Ziembicki MR, Woinarski JCZ, Webb JK, Vanderduys E, Tuft K, Smith J, Ritchie EG, Reardon TB, Radford IJ, Preece N, Perry J, Murphy BP, McGregor H, Legge S, Leahy L, Lawes MJ, Kanowski J, Johnson CN, James A, Griffiths AD, Gillespie G, Frank ASK, Fisher A, Burbidge AA (2015) Stemming the tide: progress towards resolving the causes of decline and implementing management responses for the disappearing mammal fauna of northern Australia. THERYA 6, 169–225.
| Stemming the tide: progress towards resolving the causes of decline and implementing management responses for the disappearing mammal fauna of northern Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
