Data: Prescribed fire enhances seed removal by ants in a Neotropical savanna

Data collection was carried out in a protected area of Cerrado in southeastern Brazil. To investigate the effect of prescribed fire on seed removal we performed removal experiments with seeds of Miconia rubiginosa and sunflower. Sampling was done at three sites > 1.7 km apart. Each site has areas subjected to prescribed burning and controls where we established sampling transects. Each transect contained four seed removal stations 10 m apart from each other. Each removal station received two paired-treatments ca. 30 cm from each other: an open control accessible to all animals and a selective exclosure allowing only ant access to the seeds. We placed 10 seeds of each species per treatment combination. After 24 hr, we counted the number of seeds removed or preyed on at the spot. To test the impact of fire in microhabitat variables and a cascading effect in seed removal, we measured microhabitat features of canopy and ground layer vegetation around all seed removal stations. To evaluate the density of the ground layer vegetation, we held a graduated pole vertically above ground in four points (north, south, east and west), one meter from where the seeds were placed. We counted the number of vegetation intersections at two levels of the pole: from 0 to 0.5 m and from 0.5 to 1 m from the ground. To estimate canopy and ground layer cover we visually assigned an index for plant cover scored from 0 to 4, as 0 = uncovered, 1 = up to 25% cover, 2 = 25 to 50% cover, 3 = 50 to 75% cover and 4 = over 75 % cover. Canopy cover (percentage) was estimated within a 5 m radius centred at the removal station, while for the ground layer a 2 m radius was considered. Additionally, we counted the total number of trees (>10 cm DBH) and shrubs (woody plants branched up to 1 m above ground) within a 2 m radius from the removal stations.