Aboveground biomass of functional groups in the ground layer of savannas under different fire frequencies
Marcus Vinicius Cianciaruso A C , Igor Aurélio da Silva B and Marco Antônio Batalha BA Departamento de Ecologia, ICB, Universidade Federal de Goiás, CP 131, 74001-970, Goiânia, GO, Brasil.
B Departamento de Botânica, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, CP 676, 13565-905, São Carlos, SP, Brasil.
C Corresponding author. Email: cianciaruso@gmail.com
Australian Journal of Botany 58(3) 169-174 https://doi.org/10.1071/BT09136
Submitted: 16 August 2009 Accepted: 17 February 2010 Published: 5 May 2010
Abstract
Savannas with different fire histories should have differences in aboveground biomass due to varying responses of functional groups. We investigated the effects of different fire frequencies on total aboveground biomass and also the biomass of functional groups (the tussock grass Tristachya leiostachya Nees, other grasses, small woody individuals) and dry biomass in savannas subjected to annual fires, biennial fires, and protected from fire for 12 years. Total biomass in the protected area was more than twice that of the annually burned area. T. leiostachya aboveground biomass was higher in the protected area than in annually and biennially burned areas, which were not different. Biomass of other grasses was lower in the protected area, whereas woody biomass values did not differ among areas. In the biennially burned and protected areas, we found a positive relationship between T. leiostachya and dry biomass. In the annually burned area, T. leiostachya biomass was negatively correlated with the biomass of other grasses and woody individuals. This negative correlation supports the idea that frequent fires favour the former, and may indicate an outcompeting effect. Knowledge not only about biomass but especially about its functional components is necessary to understand the processes and management consequences of different burning strategies.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to Fapesp, for scholarship and financial support granted to the first and third authors, and to CNPq, for scholarship granted to the second author. We are also in debted to S.P. Campos, P. Loiola and D.M. Silva, for helping us in the field and in the laboratory, to Charlotte Reemts, for revising the English and improving the manuscript quality, and to O. Rocha, F.M. Souza and two anonymous referees, for useful suggestions in earlier versions of the manuscript. M.A. Batalha has a productivity grant from CNPq.
Baruch Z, Bilbao B
(1999) Effects of fire and defoliation on the life history of native and invader C4 grasses in a Neotropical savanna. Oecologia 119, 510–520.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Canales J,
Trevisan MC,
Silva JF, Caswell H
(1994) A demographic study on an annual grass (Andropogon brevifolius Scharz) in burnt and unburnt savanna. Acta Oecologica 15, 261–273.
Cianciaruso MV, Batalha MA
(2009) Short-term community dynamics in seasonal and hyperseasonal cerrados. Brazilian Journal of Biology 69, 231–240.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
CAS |
Cianciaruso MV,
Batalha MA, Silva IA
(2005) Seasonal variation of a hyperseasonal cerrado in Emas National Park, central Brazil. Flora 200, 345–353.
Duckworth JC,
Kent M, Ramsay PM
(2000) Plant functional types: an alternative to taxonomic plant community description in biogeograhy? Progress in Physical Geography 24, 515–544.
Gardner TA
(2006) Tree-grass coexistence in the Brazilian cerrado: demographic consequences of environmental instability. Journal of Biogeography 33, 448–463.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Govender N,
Trollope WSW, van Wilgen BW
(2006) The effect of fire season, fire frequency, rainfall and management on fire intensity in savanna vegetation in South Africa. Journal of Applied Ecology 23, 748–758.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Hoffmann WA
(1996) The effects of cover and fire on seedling establishment in a Neotropical savanna. Journal of Ecology 84, 383–393.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Hoffmann WA
(1998) Post-burn reproduction of woody plants in a Neotropical savanna, the relative importance of sexual and vegetative reproduction. Journal of Applied Ecology 35, 422–433.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Hoffmann WA
(1999) Fire and population dynamics of woody plants in a Neotropical savanna, matrix model projections. Ecology 80, 1354–1369.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Inchausti P
(1995) Competition between perennial grasses in a Neotropical savanna, The effects of fire and of hydric-nutritional stress. Journal of Ecology 83, 231–243.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Kauffman JB,
Cummings DL, Ward DE
(1994) Relationships of fire, biomass and nutrient dynamics along a vegetation gradient in the Brazilian cerrado. Journal of Ecology 82, 519–531.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Miranda AC,
Miranda HS,
Dias IO, Souza BDF
(1993) Soil and air temperatures during prescribed Cerrado fires in central Brazil. Journal of Tropical Ecology 9, 313–320.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Moreira AG
(2000) Effects of fire protection on savanna structure in Central Brazil. Journal of Biogeography 27, 1021–1029.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Perry GLW,
Enright NJ,
Miller BP, Lamont BB
(2008) Spatial patterns in species-rich sclerophyll shrublands of southwestern Australia. Journal of Vegetation Science 19, 705–716.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Pivello VR, Norton GA
(1996) Firetool, an expert system for the use of prescribed fires in Brazilian savannas. Journal of Applied Ecology 33, 348–356.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Pucheta E,
Cabido M,
Diaz S, Funes G
(1998) Floristic composition, biomass, and above-ground net production in grazed and protected areas in a mountain grassland of central Argentina. Acta Oecologica 19, 97–105.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Ramos-Neto MB, Pivello VR
(2000) Lightning fires in a Brazilian savanna National Park, rethinking management strategies. Environmental Management 26, 675–684.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
Sarmiento G, Vera M
(1979) Composición, estructura, biomasa y producción primaria de diferentes sabanas en los llanos occidentales de Venezuela. Boletin. Sociedad Venezuelana Ciencias Naturales 136, 5–41.
Silva DM, Batalha MA
(2008) Soil-vegetation relationships in cerrados under different fire frequencies. Plant and Soil 311, 87–96.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
CAS |
Silva JF, Castro F
(1989) Fire, growth and survivorship in a Neotropical savanna grass (Andropogon semiberbis Ness Kunth) in Venezuela. Journal of Tropical Ecology 5, 387–400.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Silva JF,
Raventos J, Caswell H
(1990) Fire and fire exclusion effects on the growth and survival of two savanna grasses. Acta Oecologica 11, 783–800.
Singh RS
(1993) Effect of winter fire on primary productivity and nutrient concentration of a dry tropical savanna. Vegetatio 106, 63–71.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
