How pyrodiversity shapes bat communities in a southeastern Australian woodland

Abstract

Patterns of fire are shifting worldwide and contributing to mammal declines. A proposed solution is to generate pyrodiversity—temporal and spatial variation in fires—tailored to the needs of species. However, the type and scale of pyrodiversity that promotes populations of some mammals, such as microbats, and habitats remains unclear. We aimed to determine how the amount, configuration, and diversity of fire age classes shapes microbat diversity in woodlands of southeastern Australia. We surveyed microbats at 136 sites and measured spatial context of fire at six scales (centred on sites with a radius ranging from 0.5 to 5 km). Regression models were used to quantify the influence of fire patterns on species richness and detection rate of 12 microbat species. Species richness increased with higher diversity of fire age classes at three of six spatial scales. The detection rate of nine out of 12 species increased with higher diversity of fire age classes at one or more scales. We did not detect a clear relationship between species richness and the amount of the late fire age class (>34 years post-fire). However, four species were positively associated with the amount of late fire age class at one or more scales. We detected few relationships between microbats and configuration metrics such as edge density. Microbat communities in woodlands will benefit from pyrodiversity that includes diverse fire age classes, weighted towards older classes with critical habitat resources. This knowledge will help guide management actions, including planned burning, fire suppression efforts and habitat restoration.