Landscape-Scale Effects of Fire, Cats, and Feral Livestock on Threatened Savanna Mammals: Unburnt Habitat Matters More Than Pyrodiversity

Northern Australia has undergone significant declines among threatened small and medium-sized mammals in recent decades. Conceptual models postulate that predation by feral cats is the primary driver, with changed disturbance regimes from fire and feral livestock in recent decades reducing habitat c...

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Autores principales:	Ian J. Radford, Ben Corey, Karin Carnes, Erica Shedley, Lachie McCaw, Leigh-Ann Woolley
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:	critical weight range mammals conceptual models feral cats fire mosaics feral livestock explanatory variables Evolution QH359-425 Ecology QH540-549.5
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/b22328ba2bbb4edf90a2de8d30aa947f
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:b22328ba2bbb4edf90a2de8d30aa947f2021-12-02T14:33:51ZLandscape-Scale Effects of Fire, Cats, and Feral Livestock on Threatened Savanna Mammals: Unburnt Habitat Matters More Than Pyrodiversity2296-701X10.3389/fevo.2021.739817https://doaj.org/article/b22328ba2bbb4edf90a2de8d30aa947f2021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2021.739817/fullhttps://doaj.org/toc/2296-701XNorthern Australia has undergone significant declines among threatened small and medium-sized mammals in recent decades. Conceptual models postulate that predation by feral cats is the primary driver, with changed disturbance regimes from fire and feral livestock in recent decades reducing habitat cover and exacerbating declines. However, there is little guidance on what scale habitat and disturbance attributes are most important for threatened mammals, and what elements and scale of fire mosaics actually support mammals. In this study, we test a series of hypotheses regarding the influence of site-scale (50 × 50 m) habitat and disturbance attributes, as well as local-scale (1 km radius), meta-local scale (3 km), landscape-scale (5 km) and meta-landscape scale (10 km) fire mosaic attributes on mammal abundance and richness. We found that habitat cover (rock, perennial grass, and shrub cover) at the site-scale had a positive effect, and disturbance factors (feral cats, fire, feral livestock) had a negative influence on mammal abundance and richness. Models supported site-scale habitat and disturbance factors as more important for mammals than broader-scale (local up to meta-landscape scale) fire mosaic attributes. Finally, we found that increasing the extent of ≥ 4 year unburnt habitat, and having an intermediate percentage (ca. 25%) of recently burnt (1-year burnt) habitat within the mosaic, were the most important functional elements of the fire mosaic at broad scales for mammals. Contrary to expectations, diversity of post-fire ages (‘pyrodiversity’) was negatively associated with mammal abundance and richness. These results highlight the need for management to promote retention of longer unburnt vegetation in sufficient patches across savanna landscapes (particularly of shrub and fruiting trees), maintain low-intensity patchy fire regimes, reduce the extent of intense late dry season wildfires, and to reduce the impact of feral livestock. This study provides further evidence for the role of feral cats in northern Australian mammal declines, and highlights the need for increased research into the efficacy of cat control methodologies in reducing biodiversity impacts in these extensive landscapes.Ian J. RadfordIan J. RadfordBen CoreyBen CoreyKarin CarnesErica ShedleyLachie McCawLeigh-Ann WoolleyLeigh-Ann WoolleyFrontiers Media S.A.articlecritical weight range mammalsconceptual modelsferal catsfire mosaicsferal livestockexplanatory variablesEvolutionQH359-425EcologyQH540-549.5ENFrontiers in Ecology and Evolution, Vol 9 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	critical weight range mammals conceptual models feral cats fire mosaics feral livestock explanatory variables Evolution QH359-425 Ecology QH540-549.5
spellingShingle	critical weight range mammals conceptual models feral cats fire mosaics feral livestock explanatory variables Evolution QH359-425 Ecology QH540-549.5 Ian J. Radford Ian J. Radford Ben Corey Ben Corey Karin Carnes Erica Shedley Lachie McCaw Leigh-Ann Woolley Leigh-Ann Woolley Landscape-Scale Effects of Fire, Cats, and Feral Livestock on Threatened Savanna Mammals: Unburnt Habitat Matters More Than Pyrodiversity
description	Northern Australia has undergone significant declines among threatened small and medium-sized mammals in recent decades. Conceptual models postulate that predation by feral cats is the primary driver, with changed disturbance regimes from fire and feral livestock in recent decades reducing habitat cover and exacerbating declines. However, there is little guidance on what scale habitat and disturbance attributes are most important for threatened mammals, and what elements and scale of fire mosaics actually support mammals. In this study, we test a series of hypotheses regarding the influence of site-scale (50 × 50 m) habitat and disturbance attributes, as well as local-scale (1 km radius), meta-local scale (3 km), landscape-scale (5 km) and meta-landscape scale (10 km) fire mosaic attributes on mammal abundance and richness. We found that habitat cover (rock, perennial grass, and shrub cover) at the site-scale had a positive effect, and disturbance factors (feral cats, fire, feral livestock) had a negative influence on mammal abundance and richness. Models supported site-scale habitat and disturbance factors as more important for mammals than broader-scale (local up to meta-landscape scale) fire mosaic attributes. Finally, we found that increasing the extent of ≥ 4 year unburnt habitat, and having an intermediate percentage (ca. 25%) of recently burnt (1-year burnt) habitat within the mosaic, were the most important functional elements of the fire mosaic at broad scales for mammals. Contrary to expectations, diversity of post-fire ages (‘pyrodiversity’) was negatively associated with mammal abundance and richness. These results highlight the need for management to promote retention of longer unburnt vegetation in sufficient patches across savanna landscapes (particularly of shrub and fruiting trees), maintain low-intensity patchy fire regimes, reduce the extent of intense late dry season wildfires, and to reduce the impact of feral livestock. This study provides further evidence for the role of feral cats in northern Australian mammal declines, and highlights the need for increased research into the efficacy of cat control methodologies in reducing biodiversity impacts in these extensive landscapes.
format	article
author	Ian J. Radford Ian J. Radford Ben Corey Ben Corey Karin Carnes Erica Shedley Lachie McCaw Leigh-Ann Woolley Leigh-Ann Woolley
author_facet	Ian J. Radford Ian J. Radford Ben Corey Ben Corey Karin Carnes Erica Shedley Lachie McCaw Leigh-Ann Woolley Leigh-Ann Woolley
author_sort	Ian J. Radford
title	Landscape-Scale Effects of Fire, Cats, and Feral Livestock on Threatened Savanna Mammals: Unburnt Habitat Matters More Than Pyrodiversity
title_short	Landscape-Scale Effects of Fire, Cats, and Feral Livestock on Threatened Savanna Mammals: Unburnt Habitat Matters More Than Pyrodiversity
title_full	Landscape-Scale Effects of Fire, Cats, and Feral Livestock on Threatened Savanna Mammals: Unburnt Habitat Matters More Than Pyrodiversity
title_fullStr	Landscape-Scale Effects of Fire, Cats, and Feral Livestock on Threatened Savanna Mammals: Unburnt Habitat Matters More Than Pyrodiversity
title_full_unstemmed	Landscape-Scale Effects of Fire, Cats, and Feral Livestock on Threatened Savanna Mammals: Unburnt Habitat Matters More Than Pyrodiversity
title_sort	landscape-scale effects of fire, cats, and feral livestock on threatened savanna mammals: unburnt habitat matters more than pyrodiversity
publisher	Frontiers Media S.A.
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/b22328ba2bbb4edf90a2de8d30aa947f
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Landscape-Scale Effects of Fire, Cats, and Feral Livestock on Threatened Savanna Mammals: Unburnt Habitat Matters More Than Pyrodiversity

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