In fire‐prone regions, the occurrence of some faunal species is contingent on the presence of resources that arise through post‐fire plant succession. Through planned burning, managers can alter resource availability and aim to provide the conditions required to promote biodiversity. Understanding how species occurrence changes at different spatial and temporal scales after fire is essential to achieve this goal. However, many fire prescriptions are guided primarily by the responses of fire‐sensitive plants when setting tolerable fire intervals. This approach assumes that maintaining floristic diversity will satisfy the requirements of fauna. We surveyed bird species in two semi‐arid vegetation types across an environmental gradient in south‐eastern Australia. We conducted four surveys at each of 253 sites across a 75‐year chronosequence of time since fire and used generalized additive mixed models to examine changes in the occurrence of birds in response to time since fire. Model predictions were compared to plant‐derived fire prescriptions currently guiding fire management in the region. Time since fire was a significant predictor for 18 of 28 species modeled, in at least one vegetation type, over a gradient of 1.3° of latitude. We detected considerable variation in the responses of some species, both between vegetation types and geographically within a vegetation type. Our evaluation of plant‐derived fire prescriptions suggests that the intervals considered acceptable for maintaining floristic diversity may not be sustainable for populations of birds requiring longer unburnt vegetation, with 6 of the 12 species assessed attaining a mean occurrence probability of 20.3% by the minimum tolerable fire interval, and 57.3% by the maximum tolerable fire interval, in their respective vegetation types. Our findings highlight the potential vulnerability of fire‐responsive bird species if fire prescriptions are applied in a manner that fails to account for the slow development of habitat resources needed by some species, and the variation detected within the responses of species. This highlights the need for species‐specific data collected at an appropriate spatial scale to inform management plans.

中文翻译：

---

植物来源的防火管理处方对防火鸟类的影响


在火灾多发地区，一些动物物种的出现取决于火灾后植物演替产生的资源的存在。通过有计划的焚烧，管理人员可以改变资源可用性，并旨在提供促进生物多样性所需的条件。了解火灾后物种出现在不同空间和时间尺度上的变化对于实现这一目标至关重要。然而，许多防火处方主要以对火敏感的植物在设置可容忍的防火间隔时的反应为指导。这种方法假设保持植物区系多样性将满足动物群的要求。我们调查了澳大利亚东南部环境梯度中两种半干旱植被类型的鸟类。我们在火灾后 75 年的时间序列中，在 253 个地点中的每一个地点进行了四次调查，并使用广义加性混合模型来检查鸟类对火灾后时间的反应变化。将模型预测与目前指导该地区火灾管理的植物衍生火灾处方进行了比较。在纬度 1.3° 的梯度上，至少在一种植被类型中建模的 28 个物种中，火灾后的时间是 18 个物种的重要预测因子。我们检测到一些物种的响应存在相当大的差异，无论是在植被类型之间还是在植被类型内的地理上。我们对植物来源的火处方的评估表明，对于需要较长未燃烧植被的鸟类种群来说，被认为可以维持植物区系多样性的间隔可能不可持续，评估的 12 个物种中有 6 个物种在最小可容忍的火间隔下达到 20.3% 的平均发生概率，以及 57 个。3% 按各自植被类型的最大可容忍火灾间隔。我们的研究结果强调了如果以未能解释某些物种所需栖息地资源的缓慢开发以及在物种反应中检测到的变异的方式应用火势鸟类的潜在脆弱性。这突出表明需要在适当的空间尺度上收集特定物种的数据，以便为管理计划提供信息。