Pyrodiversity of boreal lake islands begets biodiversity of beetles, plants, and birds

Global fire regimes are changing, raising concerns about the ability of fire-prone ecosystems to maintain biodiversity. We tested whether the pyrodiversity-biodiversity hypothesis (i.e., variation in post-fire characteristics promotes biodiversity) or alternative hypotheses better explain patterns of biodiversity in a true island system. Using fixed-area sampling plots in a chronosequence of 42 boreal lake islands spanning gradients in island area (1-350.4 ha), isolation (0.1-7.9 km from mainland), and fire history (1-231+ year since fire), we tested whether alpha and beta diversity of beetles, plants, and birds increased with spatial (within-island variation in burn severity) and temporal (variation in time since fire among islands) pyrodiversity, respectively. Species richness of plants and birds increased with spatial pyrodiversity, indicating that habitat heterogeneity from localized variation in burn severity supported more species in some groups. Beta diversity of all taxa increas..., , , # Pyrodiversity of boreal lake islands begets biodiversity of beetles, plants, and birds

https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.tdz08kq78

These data are from a field experiment conducted in the Lac la Ronge Provincial Park region of northern Saskatchewan, Canada between 2019-2022. The experiment made use of 42 islands spanning gradients in time since fire, island area, and isolation with data collected from a single 30 x 30 m plot established on each island. The edge of each island plot was at least 15 meters from the water's edge. Information on local habitat variables as well as species data for beetles, plants, and birds that were collected from each island plot are included in the accompanying .csv and R code files.

The .csv file `'alpha_diversity_model_selection_19islands.csv'` contains information that was used in the model selection analysis of our paper. Island refers to a unique two-digit island code for each island, 'year.burned' is the calendar year of the most recent burn for each...,