Scientific Discussions on Burning

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Richprins
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Scientific Discussions on Burning

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Thinking big by burning small

20 November 2017 - Wits University

Creative management of grazing through the use small fires can draw back herbivores to grazing areas that are avoided by animals.

A recent paper by scientists from Wits University in South Africa shows how creative fire management can increase habitat for wildebeest and other grazing animals in national parks.

The work, published in the Journal of Applied Ecology (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1 ... 12956/full), shows that small, repeated fires can have a concentrating effect on animals, and create “grazing-lawn ecosystems” where food quality is higher and herbivores can see predators from further away.

The research was initiated through a collaboration between the University of the Witwatersrand and the South African National Parks (SANParks). SANParks managers within Kruger National Park (South Africa’s largest protected area) have been managing fire since as early as 1957, with fires applied to achieve particular objectives.

However, recent self-analysis raised concerns that the fire-policy in the Kruger Park was resulting in a switch to fire-adapted grasses that excluded grazing animals who need higher quality graze such as wildebeest. Managers were specifically worried that large fires resulted in grazers spreading out into the large burn scars after a fire and reduced grazing pressure in the local area.

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Working on Fire team managing a burn site in the Kruger National ParkNavashni Govender from SANParks joined up with Prof. Sally Archibald from Wits University and Prof. Catherine Parr from the University of Liverpool. Together with a team of graduate students and technicians, and with the support of Working on Fire, Govender, Archibald and Parr set up a large-scale experiment near Satara Restcamp in the Kruger Park in 2013.

Over the following three years fires of varying sizes were lit annually in the early- and late-dry season of each year and the type and number of grazers visiting burns was monitored by looking for the presence of dung on burn sites. The response of grass to the grazing herds was also measured with plots that were never burnt used to compare any changes.

“After 5 years the results are conclusive,” says Archibald. “Our PhD student, Jason Donaldson, has shown that all grazers increase their use of small burns (<25ha) after a fire, and that the number of animals on these smaller burns is large enough to keep grass short and palatable for longer periods.”

Wildebeest remained on these small burns and actively selected them over areas where burns were absent, and grass was taller. The continued high number of wildebeest on small burn patches ultimately kept grass very short (

The collaborators are now investigating whether smaller animals, like grasshoppers, benefit from the management intervention, and have found three families that were unique to short-grazed patches, increasing biodiversity overall.

“The research adds to a growing understanding of the interactions between fire, grazers and grass structure and function in savannas and highlights the importance of understanding feedbacks between fire management policies and wild herbivores,” says Donaldson. “The collaborators have been testing this management tool in other ecosystems in Africa, and are also, with collaborators from the University of Pretoria, exploring what this means for rangeland systems, where, cattle, not wildebeest are the dominant grazers.”

Working on Fire team managing a burn site in the Kruger National ParkFire management may seem like a contradictory idea to some, who view it as a destructive force of nature, but humans have been making use of effect of fire on vegetation structure and animal movement since before the rise of modern man.

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“In his book Sapiens, Yuval Noah Harari states: ‘Some human species may have made occasional use of fire as early as 800 000 years ago … A carefully managed fire could turn impassable barren thickets into prime grasslands teeming with game’,” says Donaldson.

Modern day land managers still rely heavily on fire to manage grasslands in Africa with commercial farmers and migratory pastoralists both burning savannas to provide fresh growth for livestock and to keep areas clear of thick brush.

“The research presented here adds a new layer to this story, as fire size has seldom been considered in these management decisions,” says Archibald.

The Kruger National Park is exploring the possibility of using this new insight to manage the southern Basalt plains, which are notoriously low in animals despite their high soil fertility.




https://www.wits.ac.za/news/sources/sci ... small.html


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Lisbeth
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Re: Scientific Discussions on Burning

Post by Lisbeth »

humans have been making use of the effect of fire on vegetation structure and animal movement since before the rise of modern man.
1. This fact does not mean that it is the right way.
2. It also depends very much where the fire is used and the occurrence of rain.
3. Only Wildebeests are mentioned
4. What about lizards, mice, insects and other small creatures. Kruger is supposed to be a conservation area.
5. Here we are talking of wild animals, not cattle or crobs.
etc.

Man simply is not able to leave anything alone 0*\


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Re: Scientific Discussions on Burning

Post by RogerFraser »

Interesting but pretty sure that a 5 year study window on the effects is probably about a few hundred short of understanding the full effect these have . IMHO they should be mindful of making quick decisions again like the whole water dam issue that has now swung the other way where after many decades they realized why the scarce antelopes were declining etc and possibly after they remove all the dams etc they might find they went too far and that the man made interference in changing back was too much or not enough O**.I think the recent drought already showed that there is still some need for limited interventions especially where the original interference ie fences ,roads etc might have a impact in species abilities to move during such periods . Certainly they should be putting out/managing man made fires and also mindful where roads or developments might interfere with natural occurring fires but to deliberately burn areas to encourage a certain species to flourish in an area does not seem to fit the bill as a hands off conservation practice .


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Re: Scientific Discussions on Burning

Post by Richprins »

One very far-sighted idea was building thousands of km of firebreak roads, I think. Whatever the experiments, that keeps the whole Park from burning down at once! \O


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