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Fires play an important role in shaping species compostion and associations in East African grasslands. Grassland plains of Omo National Park (ONP), Ethiopia which are dominated by perennial grass species, exist in a fire-prone environment. Our objective was to determine if the current pattern of plant species composition in ONP's grassland plains was correlated with the historical pattern of fire frequency. Species composition was determined at 160 plots along 30 west-trending transects, approximately 2 km apart. Fire frequency for each plot was estimated using eleven Landsat satellite images that spanned a 23-year period. The Mantel and partial Mantel tests were used to test for correlation between species composition and fire frequency.Plots in the northern grassland plain appear to burn every other year, while plots in the southern grassland plain burn once every 4-5 years. However, no significant correlation was found between patterns in species composition and fire frequency. Likewise, a selective analysis by functional group (i.e. grass, shrubs) revealed no relationship with fire frequency. It appears that fire does play a role in dictating species composition in ONP, but only in the sense that species that can tolerate the current fire regime persist. Species distribution, however, appears to be under the influence of other factors. © 2002 East African Wild Life Society.
Cataloging Information
- Africa
- distribution
- East Africa
- East Africa
- Ethiopia
- Ethiopia
- fire frequency
- fire management
- fire regimes
- grasses
- grasslands
- grasslands
- national parks
- precipitation
- rainfall
- range management
- remote sensing
- shrubs
- wildfires
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