Predator responses to fire: a global systematic review and meta-analysis

1. Knowledge of how disturbances such as fire shape habitat structure and composition, and affect animal interactions, is fundamental to ecology and ecosystem management. Predators also exert strong effects on ecological communities, through top-down regulation of prey and competitors, which can result in trophic cascades. Despite their ubiquity, ecological importance and potential to interact with fire, our general understanding of how predators respond to fire remains poor, hampering ecosystem management. 2. To address this important knowledge gap, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of fire on terrestrial, vertebrate predators worldwide. We found 160 studies spanning 1978–2018. There were 36 studies with sufficient information for meta-analysis, from which we extracted 96 effect sizes (Hedge’s g) for 67 predator species relating to changes in abundance indices, occupancy or resource selection in burned and unburned areas, or before and after fire. 3. Stu...