Prescribed fire is used throughout fire‐prone landscapes to conserve biodiversity. Current best practice in managing savanna systems advocates methods based on the assumption that increased fire‐mediated landscape heterogeneity (pyrodiversity) will promote biodiversity. However, considerable knowledge gaps remain in our understanding of how savanna wildlife responds to the composition and configuration of pyrodiverse landscapes. The effects of pyrodiversity on functional diversity have rarely been quantified and assessing this relationship at a landscape scale that is commensurate with fire management is important for understanding mechanisms underlying ecosystem resilience. Here, we assess the impact of spatiotemporal variation in a long‐term fire regime on avian diversity in North West Province, South Africa. We examined the relationship between (1) species richness, (2) three indices of functional diversity (i.e., functional richness, functional evenness, and functional dispersion) and four measures of pyrodiversity, the spatial extents of fire age classes, and habitat type at the landscape scale. We then used null models to assess differences between observed and expected functional diversity. We found that the proportion of newly burned (<1‐yr post‐fire), old, unburned (≥10 yr post‐fire), and woodland habitat on the landscape predicted species and functional richness. Species richness also increased with the degree of edge contrast between patches of varying fire age, while functional dispersion increased with the degree of patch shape complexity. Lower than expected levels of functional richness suggest that habitat filtering is occurring, resulting in functional redundancy across our study sites. We demonstrate that evaluating functional diversity and redundancy is an important component of conservation planning as they may contribute to previously reported fire resilience. Our findings suggest that it is the type and configuration, rather than the diversity, of fire patches on the landscape that promote avian diversity and conserve ecological functions. A management approach is needed that includes significant coverage of adjacent newly burned and older, unburned savanna habitat; the latter, in particular, is inadequately represented under current burning practices.

中文翻译：

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燃烧大草原，以提高鸟类的种类和功能多样性。

在易生火灾的整个景观中都使用规定的火种，以保护生物多样性。当前管理稀树草原系统的最佳实践主张基于以下假设的方法：以火为媒介的景观异质性（热多样性）的增加将促进生物多样性。但是，在我们对稀树草原野生生物如何响应火烧多样性景观的构成和配置的理解中，仍然存在相当多的知识空白。很少对生物多样性对功能多样性的影响进行量化，并且在与火灾管理相称的景观尺度上评估这种关系对于理解生态系统适应力的机制很重要。在这里，我们评估了南非西北省长期火灾中时空变化对鸟类多样性的影响。我们研究了（1）物种丰富度，（2）功能多样性的三个指标（即功能丰富度，功能均匀性和功能分散）与四种热度测度，火灾年龄类别的空间范围以及栖息地类型之间的关系。景观规模。然后，我们使用空模型来评估观察到的功能多样性与预期功能多样性之间的差异。我们发现景观中新燃烧的（后<1年），旧的，未燃烧的（后≥10年）和林地的比例预测了物种和功能丰富度。物种丰富度还随着不同着火年龄的斑块之间的边缘对比程度而增加，而功能分散性随斑块形状复杂程度而增加。功能丰富度低于预期水平表明存在栖息地过滤的情况，导致整个研究站点的功能冗余。我们证明，评估功能的多样性和冗余性是保护规划的重要组成部分，因为它们可能有助于先前报告的防火能力。我们的发现表明，促进鸟类多样性和保护生态功能的是景观火斑的类型和构造，而不是多样性。需要一种管理方法，包括大量覆盖邻近的新近烧毁和较旧的未烧稀树草原栖息地；尤其是后者，在目前的燃烧实践中不足以代表。我们证明，评估功能的多样性和冗余性是保护规划的重要组成部分，因为它们可能有助于先前报告的防火能力。我们的发现表明，促进鸟类多样性和保护生态功能的是景观火斑的类型和构造，而不是多样性。需要一种管理方法，包括大量覆盖邻近的新近烧毁和较旧的未烧稀树草原栖息地；尤其是后者，在目前的燃烧实践中不足以代表。我们证明，评估功能的多样性和冗余性是保护规划的重要组成部分，因为它们可能有助于先前报告的防火能力。我们的发现表明，促进鸟类多样性和保护生态功能的是景观火斑的类型和构造，而不是多样性。需要一种管理方法，包括大量覆盖邻近的新近烧毁和较旧的未烧稀树草原栖息地；尤其是后者，在当前的燃烧实践中不足以代表。需要一种管理方法，包括大量覆盖新近燃烧的和较旧的，未燃烧的稀树草原栖息地；尤其是后者，在当前的燃烧实践中不足以代表。需要一种管理方法，包括大量覆盖新近燃烧的和较旧的，未燃烧的稀树草原栖息地；尤其是后者，在当前的燃烧实践中不足以代表。