Thinking big by burning small

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Life Science Weekly -- A recent paper by scientists from Wits University in South Africa shows how creative fire management can increase habitat for wildebeest and other grazing animals in national parks.

The work, published in the Journal of Applied Ecology, shows that small, repeated fires can have a concentrating effect on animals, and create “grazing-lawn ecosystems” where food quality is higher and herbivores can see predators from further away.

The research was initiated through a collaboration between the University of the Witwatersrand and the South African National Parks (SANParks). SANParks managers within Kruger National Park (South Africa’s largest protected area) have been managing fire since as early as 1957, with fires applied to achieve particular objectives.

However, recent self-analysis raised concerns that the fire-policy in the Kruger Park was resulting in a switch …

https://www.newsrx.com/Butter/#!Search:a=14786167

(2017-12-05), Thinking big by burning small, Life Science Weekly, 1592, ISSN: 1552-2474, BUTTER® ID: 014786167