Asset Details
Do you wish to reserve the book?
Effects of Controlled Fire and Livestock Grazing on Bird Communities in East African Savannas
Hey, we have placed the reservation for you!
By the way, why not check out events that you can attend while you pick your title.
Oops! Something went wrong.
Looks like we were not able to place the reservation. Kindly try again later.
Are you sure you want to remove the book from the shelf?
Effects of Controlled Fire and Livestock Grazing on Bird Communities in East African Savannas
Do you wish to request the book?
Effects of Controlled Fire and Livestock Grazing on Bird Communities in East African Savannas
Please be aware that the book you have requested cannot be checked out. If you would like to checkout this book, you can reserve another copy
We have requested the book for you!
Your request is successful and it will be processed during the Library working hours. Please check the status of your request in My Requests.
Oops! Something went wrong.
Looks like we were not able to place your request. Kindly try again later.
Journal Article
Effects of Controlled Fire and Livestock Grazing on Bird Communities in East African Savannas
2010
Overview
In East Africa fire and grazing by wild and domestic ungulates maintain savannas, and pastoralists historically set fires and herded livestock through the use of temporary corrals called bomas. In recent decades traditional pastoral practices have declined, and this may be affecting biodiversity. We investigated the effects of prescribed fires and bomas on savanna bird communities in East Africa during the first and second dry seasons of the year (respectively before and after the rains that mark the onset of breeding for most birds). We compared abundance, richness, and community composition on 9‐ha burned plots, recently abandoned bomas, and control plots in the undisturbed matrix habitat over a 3‐year period. Generally, recently burned areas and abandoned bomas attracted greater densities of birds and had different community assemblages than the surrounding matrix. The effects of disturbances were influenced by interactions between primary productivity, represented by the normalized difference vegetation index, and time. Bird densities were highest and a greater proportion of species was observed on burned plots in the months following the fires. Drought conditions equalized bird densities across treatments within 1 year, and individuals from a greater proportion of species were more commonly observed on abandoned bomas. Yearly fluctuations in abundance were less pronounced on bomas than on burns, which indicate that although fire may benefit birds in the short term, bomas may have a more‐lasting positive effect and provide resources during droughts. Several Palearctic migrants were attracted to burned plots regardless of rainfall, which indicates continued fire suppression may threaten their already‐declining populations. Most notably, the paucity of birds observed on the controls suggests that the current structure of the matrix developed as a result of fire suppression. Traditional pastoralism appears critical to the maintenance of avian diversity in these savannas.
Publisher
Blackwell Publishing Inc,Wiley-Blackwell,Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Subject
/ Animal, plant and microbial ecology
/ Animals
/ aves
/ Biological and medical sciences
/ Birds
/ bomas
/ breeding
/ Conservation of Natural Resources
/ Conservation, protection and management of environment and wildlife
/ Drought
/ fire
/ Fires
/ fuego
/ Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
/ Grasses
/ Grazing
/ habitats
/ Parks, reserves, wildlife conservation. Endangered species: population survey and restocking
/ pastoreo
/ Phytopathology. Animal pests. Plant and forest protection
/ Rain
/ sabanas
/ Savannas
/ Seasons
