Heterogeneity decreases as time since fire increases in a South American grassland

Questions: Disturbances change the fundamental properties of grasslands on different spatio-temporal scales. Uruguay is part of the Río de la Plata grasslands, and 60% is occupied by native grasslands dominated by perennial species. In plant communities dominated by tall tussock grasses, patchy and...

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Main Author: López-Mársico, Luis (author)
Other Authors: Lezama, Felipe (author), Altesor, Alice (author)
Format: article
Language:English
Published: 2020
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12381/629
https://doi.org/10.1111/avsc.12521
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author López-Mársico, Luis
author2 Lezama, Felipe
Altesor, Alice
author2_role author
author
author_browse Altesor, Alice
Lezama, Felipe
López-Mársico, Luis
author_facet López-Mársico, Luis
Lezama, Felipe
Altesor, Alice
author_role author
collection REDI
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv López-Mársico, Luis
Lezama, Felipe
Altesor, Alice
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2020-08-03
2022-09-02T18:21:24Z
2022-09-03T03:05:10Z
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12381/629
POS-NAC-2013-11159
FCE-2013-100601
https://doi.org/10.1111/avsc.12521
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv eng
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Wiley
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv Acceso abierto
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Reconocimiento 4.0 Internacional. (CC BY)
2021-08-03
2021-08-03
2021-08-03
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv Applied Vegetation Science
reponame:REDI
instname:Agencia Nacional de Investigación e Innovación
instacron:Agencia Nacional de Investigación e Innovación
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Burn
Grazing
Plant coverage
Plant groups
Saccharum angustifolium
Species richness
Succession
Uruguayan grasslands
Ciencias Naturales y Exactas
Ciencias Biológicas
Ecología
Ciencias Agrícolas
Otras Ciencias Agrícolas
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Heterogeneity decreases as time since fire increases in a South American grassland
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv Artículo
info:eu-repo/semantics/article
Aceptado
info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersion
description Questions: Disturbances change the fundamental properties of grasslands on different spatio-temporal scales. Uruguay is part of the Río de la Plata grasslands, and 60% is occupied by native grasslands dominated by perennial species. In plant communities dominated by tall tussock grasses, patchy and asynchronous field burns are a traditional practice among ranchers. We asked: how do the structural characteristics of vegetation vary in patches with different time since the last fire? Location: Grassland of the Eastern Hills, Uruguay. Methods: We selected 18 grazed sites in order to obtain a spatial chronosequence with four age categories since the last fire: 6, 18, 30, and more than 60 months before sampling. Plant composition, species richness, coverage of each species, bare soil, and standing dead biomass were determined in plots of 25 m2. We used nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) and the multiresponse permutation procedure (MRPP) to determine differences in community composition, and the ANOVA or the Kruskal–Wallis test to compare structural variables between patches of different burning ages. Results: Patches of different burning age had different species compositions. Species richness, Shannon diversity index, evenness, and bare soil decreased, whereas plant coverage, standing dead biomass, and vegetation strata increased as time since the last fire increased. Conclusions: Our study confirmed occasional and localized field-burns as major driver of vegetation change and structural diversity in a grazed native grassland dominated by a tall tussock grass. On a larger scale, we observed the coexistence of patches in different successional stages and differences in species composition between patches belonging to early stages. These grasslands require asynchronous burning of patches to generate structural changes that maximize both the spatial and temporal heterogeneity.
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
format article
id anni_8914f57f8a4d37ee68f69a6f12bc91be
identifier_str_mv POS-NAC-2013-11159
FCE-2013-100601
instacron_str Agencia Nacional de Investigación e Innovación
institution Agencia Nacional de Investigación e Innovación
instname_str Agencia Nacional de Investigación e Innovación
language eng
network_acronym_str anni
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oai_identifier_str oai:redi.anii.org.uy:20.500.12381/629
publishDate 2020
publishDateSort 2020
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Wiley
reponame_str REDI
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository_id_str
rights_invalid_str_mv Acceso abierto
Reconocimiento 4.0 Internacional. (CC BY)
2021-08-03
spelling Heterogeneity decreases as time since fire increases in a South American grasslandLópez-Mársico, LuisLezama, FelipeAltesor, AliceBurnGrazingPlant coveragePlant groupsSaccharum angustifoliumSpecies richnessSuccessionUruguayan grasslandsCiencias Naturales y ExactasCiencias BiológicasEcologíaCiencias AgrícolasOtras Ciencias AgrícolasQuestions: Disturbances change the fundamental properties of grasslands on different spatio-temporal scales. Uruguay is part of the Río de la Plata grasslands, and 60% is occupied by native grasslands dominated by perennial species. In plant communities dominated by tall tussock grasses, patchy and asynchronous field burns are a traditional practice among ranchers. We asked: how do the structural characteristics of vegetation vary in patches with different time since the last fire? Location: Grassland of the Eastern Hills, Uruguay. Methods: We selected 18 grazed sites in order to obtain a spatial chronosequence with four age categories since the last fire: 6, 18, 30, and more than 60 months before sampling. Plant composition, species richness, coverage of each species, bare soil, and standing dead biomass were determined in plots of 25 m2. We used nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) and the multiresponse permutation procedure (MRPP) to determine differences in community composition, and the ANOVA or the Kruskal–Wallis test to compare structural variables between patches of different burning ages. Results: Patches of different burning age had different species compositions. Species richness, Shannon diversity index, evenness, and bare soil decreased, whereas plant coverage, standing dead biomass, and vegetation strata increased as time since the last fire increased. Conclusions: Our study confirmed occasional and localized field-burns as major driver of vegetation change and structural diversity in a grazed native grassland dominated by a tall tussock grass. On a larger scale, we observed the coexistence of patches in different successional stages and differences in species composition between patches belonging to early stages. These grasslands require asynchronous burning of patches to generate structural changes that maximize both the spatial and temporal heterogeneity.Agencia Nacional de Investigación e InnovaciónComisión Sectorial de Investigación CientíficaInstituto Nacional de Investigación AgropecuariaComisión Académica de PosgradoInter-American Institute for Global Change ResearchWiley2022-09-02T18:21:24Z2022-09-03T03:05:10Z2020-08-03Artículoinfo:eu-repo/semantics/articleAceptadoinfo:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersionhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12381/629POS-NAC-2013-11159FCE-2013-100601https://doi.org/10.1111/avsc.12521Applied Vegetation Sciencereponame:REDIinstname:Agencia Nacional de Investigación e Innovacióninstacron:Agencia Nacional de Investigación e InnovaciónengAcceso abiertoinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessReconocimiento 4.0 Internacional. (CC BY)2021-08-032021-08-032021-08-03oai:redi.anii.org.uy:20.500.12381/6292026-06-16T05:02:51Z
spellingShingle Heterogeneity decreases as time since fire increases in a South American grassland
López-Mársico, Luis
Burn
Grazing
Plant coverage
Plant groups
Saccharum angustifolium
Species richness
Succession
Uruguayan grasslands
Ciencias Naturales y Exactas
Ciencias Biológicas
Ecología
Ciencias Agrícolas
Otras Ciencias Agrícolas
status_str acceptedVersion
title Heterogeneity decreases as time since fire increases in a South American grassland
title_full Heterogeneity decreases as time since fire increases in a South American grassland
title_fullStr Heterogeneity decreases as time since fire increases in a South American grassland
title_full_unstemmed Heterogeneity decreases as time since fire increases in a South American grassland
title_short Heterogeneity decreases as time since fire increases in a South American grassland
title_sort Heterogeneity decreases as time since fire increases in a South American grassland
topic Burn
Grazing
Plant coverage
Plant groups
Saccharum angustifolium
Species richness
Succession
Uruguayan grasslands
Ciencias Naturales y Exactas
Ciencias Biológicas
Ecología
Ciencias Agrícolas
Otras Ciencias Agrícolas
url https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12381/629
https://doi.org/10.1111/avsc.12521