The effect of fire regime on the pyrodiversity and fuel load of the Cerrado

• Grant number: 24/15515-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: October 01, 2024
• End date: September 30, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Applied Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Alessandra Tomaselli Fidelis
• Grantee: Mariana Correa Dairel
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Rio Claro. Rio Claro , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 23/12254-9 - Where there is smoke, there is fire: the integrated fire management as a tool for the maintenance of diversity and ecosystems services at the Cerrado, AP.BTA.R

Abstract

Integrated Fire Management (IFM), in addition to being one of the main tools for controlling and managing combustible material in the Cerrado, also plays a crucial role in the conservation of the system. Due to the implementation of prescribed and controlled burns-activities conducted within the IFM plan-a complex mosaic of burned areas at different times and frequencies is created at the landscape scale, which influences the maintenance and conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services in the Cerrado. To assess the effect of IFM on biodiversity (pyrodiversity), the postdoctoral researcher will conduct the study in two previously selected Cerrado conservation units. Both study areas have implemented IFM at different times, showing different fire regimes (timing, frequency, and time since the last fire event). Therefore, the researcher will be responsible for conducting vegetation surveys to assess the diversity of the plant community under different fire regimes, as well as evaluating the structural parameters of the plant community through the collection of combustible material (biomass). Using a standardized methodology for vegetation surveys, the resulting data will contribute to an international database aimed at quantifying the richness and composition of herbaceous species in open systems around the world under different fire regimes.