Wetlands ( IF 1.8 ) Pub Date : 2023-05-05 , DOI: 10.1007/s13157-023-01691-6 Bruno Henrique dos Santos Ferreira , Maxwell da Rosa Oliveira , Julia Abrantes Rodrigues , Fernanda M. Fontoura , Neiva M.R. Guedes , Judit K. Szabo , Renata Libonati , Letícia Couto Garcia
Changes in fire regimes can increase extinction risk of species with distribution restricted to fire-prone habitats. The extent of the area burnt in the Brazilian Pantanal reached a record high in 2020, resulting in an environmental catastrophe. This globally important wetland is the main area of occurrence of the Hyacinth Macaw (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus). Distribution modelling suggests that the macaw occupies areas, where its major food sources, the palms Attalea phalerata and Acrocomia aculeata are present and Sterculia apetala provides nesting hollows. To estimate the proportion of suitable habitat lost to fire over the years, we overlaid modelled distributions of the macaw and two plant species (Attalea phalerata and Sterculia apetala) with the extent of area burnt in the Pantanal in 2003–2020. We estimated the phenological predictability of the two food plants and evaluated the consequences of fire on the availability of these resources. Considering historical fire recurrence data, Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus, Sterculia apetala, and Attalea phalerata are predominantly present in areas with no or low annual fire occurrence. We found that over 25% of Hyacinth Macaw habitat had been affected by fire in 2020, which is about five times higher than the historical annual average. The length and seasonality of the fire season was confirmed by circular statistics, suggesting that the number of large fires increased in 2020 compared to the historical series. Consequently, in the catastrophic season of 2020, wildfires were much more extensive and occurred earlier in the year. We did not detect significant correlation between food availability and historical fire seasonality. Hence, it difficult to predict how changes in the temporal pattern of fires may affect resource availability for the macaw. Moreover, the macaw’s peak egg laying occurs in August and nestlings hatch around September, and habitat loss resulting from megafires can compromise the conservation of even large, flying species. This justifies adaptive fire management as an important conservation action to preserve suitable habitat for the Hyacinth Macaw.
中文翻译:
野火危及风信子金刚鹦鹉 (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus) 的栖息地,这是巴西潘塔纳尔湿地保护的旗舰物种
火灾规律的变化会增加分布在易发生火灾的栖息地的物种的灭绝风险。巴西潘塔纳尔湿地的烧毁面积在 2020 年创下历史新高,造成了一场环境灾难。这片全球重要的湿地是风信子金刚鹦鹉( Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus )的主要出没地。分布模型表明,金刚鹦鹉占据的区域是其主要食物来源,棕榈树Attalea phalerata和Acrocomia aculata存在,而无瓣梧桐提供了筑巢的空洞。为了估计多年来因火灾而丧失的适宜栖息地的比例,我们叠加了金刚鹦鹉和两种植物(Attalea phalerata )的模型分布和Sterculia apetala)以及 2003-2020 年潘塔纳尔湿地被烧毁的面积。我们估计了这两种食用植物的物候可预测性,并评估了火灾对这些资源可用性的影响。考虑历史火灾复发数据, Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus、Sterculia apetala和 Attalea phalerata 主要出现在每年没有或很少发生火灾的地区。我们发现,2020 年超过 25% 的风信子金刚鹦鹉栖息地受到火灾影响,大约是历史年平均水平的五倍。圆形统计数据证实了火灾季节的长度和季节性,这表明与历史系列相比,2020 年大火的数量有所增加。因此,在 2020 年的灾难性季节,野火的范围要大得多,而且发生在当年的早些时候。我们没有发现食物供应与历史火灾季节性之间存在显着相关性。因此,很难预测火灾时间模式的变化如何影响金刚鹦鹉的资源可用性。此外,金刚鹦鹉的产卵高峰出现在 8 月,雏鸟在 9 月左右孵化,特大火灾导致的栖息地丧失甚至会危及大型飞行物种的保护。这证明适应性火灾管理是保护风信子金刚鹦鹉合适栖息地的重要保护行动。