Time to burn: Landscape drivers of fuel trait variability and fire regime in savanna ecosystems

Fuel traits are important determinants of fire behavior and regime in savannas and, thus, of how fire affects plant communities. However, whether these traits are correlated, predictable, and how they are influenced by biotic and abiotic drivers remains to be rigorously evaluated. We hypothesized that, given their overall dependence on grass biomass, fuel traits were mutually correlated (via correlations to grass biomass), change predictably in space and time, and that they influence fire regimes. We sampled 31 plots in Serra da Canastra National Park (Brazil) distributed in five soil classes, and measured the following surface fuel traits: fuel height, continuity, bulk density, bed flammability, composition, total load, and grass load. We also obtained data on soil clay content, fire history, climate, canopy cover, elevation (landscape predictors), and on future (post-sampling) fire incidence. We used Pearson correlation and principal component analyses to test for associations among f..., , # Data from: Time to burn: Landscape drivers of fuel trait variability and fire regime in savanna ecosystems Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.rxwdbrvpn](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.rxwdbrvpn) ## Description of the data and file structure We sampled 31 plots in Serra da Canastra National Park (Brazil) distributed in five soil classes and measured the following surface fuel traits: fuel height, continuity, bulk density, bed flammability, composition, total load, and grass load. We also obtained data on soil clay content, fire history, climate, canopy cover, elevation (landscape predictors), and on future (post-sampling) fire incidence. ### Files and variables #### File: Dataset_Canastra_Time_to_burn.csv **Description:** Data collected on field and calculated variables ##### Variables * Site: site * Longitude: longitude (°) * Latitude: latitude (°) * Elevation: elevation (m) * Date: date (DD/MM/YY) * Time: time (hour) * Class: soil class * Phyto: phytophysiognomy * Spp..Grass.Dom: dom...,