Successional specialization in a reptile community cautions against widespread planned burning and complete fire suppression Smith, Annabel L., Michael Bull, C. and Driscoll, Don A. 2013, Successional specialization in a reptile community cautions against widespread planned burning and complete fire suppression, Journal of applied ecology, vol. 50, no. 5, pp. 1178-1186, doi: 10.1111/1365-2664.12119. Attached Files Name Description MIMEType Size Downloads Title Successional specialization in a reptile community cautions against widespread planned burning and complete fire suppression Author(s) Smith, Annabel L. Michael Bull, C. Driscoll, Don A. orcid.org/0000-0002-1560-5235 Journal name Journal of applied ecology Volume number 50 Issue number 5 Start page 1178 End page 1186 Total pages 9 Publisher Wiley Place of publication London, Eng Publication date 2013-10-01 ISSN 0021-8901 1365-2664 Keyword(s) disturbance fire management habitat accommodation model life-history traits mallee prescribed burning sampling effort Type II error Summary Summary: Conservation of biodiversity in fire-prone regions depends on understanding responses to fire in animal communities and the mechanisms governing these responses. We collated data from an Australian semi-arid woodland reptile community (4796 individuals captured over 6 years) to: (i) determine the ability of commonly used shorter-term (2 years) surveys to detect reptile responses to time since fire (TSF) and (ii) investigate whether ecological traits of species reliably predicted their responses to fire. Of 16 reptile species analysed, four had responses to TSF consistent with shorter-term surveys and three showed no response to TSF. Nine species had responses to TSF not detected in previous studies using smaller but substantial subsets of the same data. Among the 13 affected species, times of peak abundance ranged from 1 to 50 years after fire. Nocturnal, burrowing species tended to be early successional and leaf-litter dwellers to be late successional, but these were only weak trends. Synthesis and applications. We found only limited support for a generalizable, trait-based model of succession in reptiles. However, our study revealed that the majority of common reptile species in our study region specialize on a post-fire successional stage and may therefore become threatened if homogeneous fire regimes predominate. Our study highlights the importance of interpreting results from time- or sample-limited fire studies of reptiles with the knowledge that many ecological responses may not have been detected. In such cases, an adaptive or precautionary approach to fire management may be necessary. We found only limited support for a generalizable, trait-based model of succession in reptiles. However, our study revealed that the majority of common reptile species in our study region specialize on a post-fire successional stage and may therefore become threatened if homogeneous fire regimes predominate. Our study highlights the importance of interpreting results from time- or sample-limited fire studies of reptiles with the knowledge that many ecological responses may not have been detected. In such cases, an adaptive or precautionary approach to fire management may be necessary. Language eng DOI 10.1111/1365-2664.12119 Field of Research 050202 Conservation and Biodiversity 050211 Wildlife and Habitat Management 0501 Ecological Applications 0502 Environmental Science And Management 0602 Ecology Socio Economic Objective 970105 Expanding Knowledge in the Environmental Sciences HERDC Research category C1.1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal ERA Research output type C Journal article Copyright notice ©2013, Wiley Persistent URL http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30078715 Document type: Journal Article Collections: Faculty of Science, Engineering and Built Environment School of Life and Environmental Sciences Centre for Integrative Ecology Related Links Link Description Connect to published version Go to link with your DU access privileges     Unless expressly stated otherwise, the copyright for items in DRO is owned by the author, with all rights reserved. Versions Version Filter Type Mon, 05 Oct 2015, 13:21:50 EST Tue, 06 Oct 2015, 04:03:53 EST Tue, 06 Oct 2015, 07:37:09 EST Tue, 09 Feb 2016, 14:06:51 EST Wed, 10 Feb 2016, 05:07:37 EST Fri, 12 Aug 2016, 09:18:02 EST Fri, 19 Aug 2016, 13:42:54 EST Fri, 26 Aug 2016, 09:27:51 EST Fri, 16 Sep 2016, 10:17:24 EST Thu, 22 Sep 2016, 09:45:13 EST Filtered Full Citation counts:   Cited 40 times in TR Web of Science Cited 42 times in Scopus Search Google Scholar Access Statistics: 282 Abstract Views, 5 File Downloads  -  Detailed Statistics Created: Tue, 09 Feb 2016, 14:06:51 EST

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