The conservation of threatened species requires information on how management activities influence habitat quality. The Critically Endangered black rhinoceros Diceros bicornis is restricted to savannahs representing c. 5% of its historical range. Fire is used extensively in savannahs but little is known about how rhinos respond to burning. Our aim was to understand rhino responses to fire by studying habitat selection and foraging at multiple scales. We used resource selection functions and locations of 31 rhinos during 2014–2016 to study rhino habitat use in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. Rhino selectivity was quantified by comparing forage consumption to plant species availability in randomly sampled vegetation plots; rhino diets were subsequently verified through DNA metabarcoding analysis of faecal samples. Rhino habitat use was a unimodal function of fire history, with highly occupied sites having fire frequencies of < 0.6 fires/year and maximum occupancy occurring at a fire frequency of 0.1 fires/year. Foraging stations had characteristic plant communities, with 17 species associated with rhino foraging. Rhinos were associated with, and disproportionately consumed, woody plants, forbs and legumes, all of which decreased in abundance with increasing fire frequency. In contrast to common management practices, multiple lines of evidence suggest that the current fire regime in the Serengeti negatively influences rhino habitat use and foraging and that frequent fire limits access of rhinos to preferred forage. We outline a conceptual model to guide managers and conservationists in the use of fire under variable habitat conditions.

中文翻译：

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亟待解决的问题：火是否会影响东非大草原黑犀牛 Diceros bicornis 的栖息地选择和草料偏好？

受威胁物种的保护需要有关管理活动如何影响栖息地质量的信息。极度濒危的黑犀牛双角斗牛士仅限于代表 c 的大草原。其历史范围的 5%。大草原广泛使用火，但对于犀牛对燃烧的反应知之甚少。我们的目标是通过研究栖息地选择和多尺度觅食来了解犀牛对火灾的反应。我们在 2014-2016 年间使用 31 头犀牛的资源选择功能和位置来研究坦桑尼亚塞伦盖蒂国家公园的犀牛栖息地利用情况。通过比较随机采样的植被地块中的草料消耗与植物物种可用性来量化犀牛的选择性；随后通过粪便样本的 DNA 元条形码分析验证了犀牛饮食。犀牛栖息地使用是火灾历史的单峰函数，高度占用的地点的火灾频率< 0.6 火灾/年，最大入住率发生在火灾频率为 0.1 火灾/年。觅食站有特色植物群落，有17种与犀牛觅食有关。犀牛与木本植物、杂草和豆类有关，并且不成比例地消耗，所有这些都随着火灾频率的增加而减少。与常见的管理做法相比，多条证据表明塞伦盖蒂当前的火灾状况对犀牛栖息地的使用和觅食产生了负面影响，并且频繁的火灾限制了犀牛获得首选草料的机会。我们概述了一个概念模型，以指导管理者和环保主义者在不同的栖息地条件下使用火。所有这些都随着火灾频率的增加而减少。与常见的管理做法相比，多条证据表明塞伦盖蒂当前的火灾状况对犀牛栖息地的使用和觅食产生了负面影响，并且频繁的火灾限制了犀牛获得首选草料的机会。我们概述了一个概念模型，以指导管理者和环保主义者在不同的栖息地条件下使用火。所有这些都随着火灾频率的增加而减少。与常见的管理做法相比，多条证据表明塞伦盖蒂当前的火灾状况对犀牛栖息地的使用和觅食产生了负面影响，并且频繁的火灾限制了犀牛获得首选草料的机会。我们概述了一个概念模型，以指导管理者和环保主义者在不同的栖息地条件下使用火。