Patch Mosaic Burning for Biodiversity Conservation: a Critique of the Pyrodiversity Paradigm
Abstract
Abstract: Fire management is increasingly focusing on introducing heterogeneity in burning patterns under the assumption that “pyrodiversity begets biodiversity.” This concept has been formalized as patch mosaic burning (PMB), in which fire is manipulated to create a mosaic of patches representative of a range of fire histories to generate heterogeneity across space and time. Although PMB is an intuitively appealing concept, it has received little critical analysis. Thus we examined ecosystems where PMB has received the most attention and has been the most extensively implemented: tropical and subtropical savannas of Australia and Africa. We identified serious shortcomings of PMB: the ecological significance of different burning patterns remains unknown and details of desired fire mosaics remain unspecified. This has led to fire‐management plans based on pyrodiversity rhetoric that lacks substance in terms of operational guidelines and capacity for meaningful evaluation. We also suggest that not all fire patterns are ecologically meaningful: this seems particularly true for the highly fire‐prone savannas of Australia and South Africa. We argue that biodiversity‐needs‐pyrodiversity advocacy needs to be replaced with a more critical consideration of the levels of pyrodiversity needed for biodiversity and greater attention to operational guidelines for its implementation.
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Spatial and temporal heterogeneity of fire regimes can either increase or decrease biodiversity, but existing examples are ecosystem-dependent.
“Third, the spatial and temporal heterogeneity of fire regimes can either increase or decrease biodiversity, but existing examples are ecosystem-dependent (Martin & Sapsis, 1992;Parr & Andersen, 2006)”
From Fire as a fundamental ecological process: Research advances and frontiers (2020) · cites this paper as Parr & Andersen, 2006
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CHANGES IN BIRD ABUNDANCE AFTER WILDFIRE: IMPORTANCE OF FIRE SEVERITY AND TIME SINCE FIRE
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Laris, P. (2002) · Human Ecology · doi:10.1023/a:1015685529180 · Cited by 251 · cited 1× · see citing works
“PMB has also been linked to traditional burning by indigenous peoples in a range of ecosystems globally (e.g., Laris 2002; Vale 2002; Bowman et al. 2004; Mistry et al. 2005).”
BackgroundHistoric Fire Regime in Southern California Shrublands
Keeley, J. E., & Fotheringham, C. J. (2001) · Conservation Biology · doi:10.1046/j.1523-1739.2001.00097.x · Cited by 242 · see citing works
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Learning to coexist with wildfire
Moritz, M. A., Batllori, E., Bradstock, R. A., Gill, A. M., Handmer, J., Hessburg, P. F., Leonard, J., McCaffrey, S., Odion, D. C., Schoennagel, T., et al. (2014) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature13946 · Cited by 1,169 · see citing works
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Self-citationPyrodiversity is the coupling of biodiversity and fire regimes in food webs
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Local and global pyrogeographic evidence that indigenous fire management creates pyrodiversity
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Aboriginal hunting buffers climate-driven fire-size variability in Australia’s spinifex grasslands
Bliege Bird, R., Codding, B. F., Kauhanen, P. G., & Bird, D. W. (2012) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1204585109 · Cited by 156 · see citing works
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- Authors
- PARR, C. L., & ANDERSEN, A. N.
- Affiliations
- Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (AU)
- Corresponding author
- PARR, CATHERINE L.
- Venue
- Conservation Biology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2006-07-19
- Volume
- 20
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 1610-1619
- ISSN
- 0888-8892 (ISSN-L)
- 1523-1739
- OpenAlex
- W2121352324
- Cited by
- 455
- References
- 3
- Citations by year
- 2026: 18 · 2025: 23 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 26 · 2021: 32 · 2020: 26 · 2019: 27 · 2018: 33 · 2017: 21 · 2016: 26 · 2015: 22 · 2014: 25 · 2013: 30 · 2012: 30
- FWCI
- 10.48
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Conservation Biology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Fire effects on ecosystems
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Rangeland and Wildlife Management
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Nature and Landscape Conservation › Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies
- Keywords
- pyrodiversity, fire management, savanna fire regimes, fire history, biodiversity conservation, fire management planning, operational guidelines, Australia, Africa
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Conservation of Natural Resources, Environmental Monitoring, Fires, Humans, Population Density, Population Dynamics, Ecosystem, Biodiversity
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