Impact of Wildfire on Insect Diversity in the Selous Game Reserve, Tanzania
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Date
2015
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Abstract
Occurrence of fire is inevitable in the Selous Game Reserve which is among the UNESCO world
Heritage sites. Apart from prescribed burning, un-prescribed burning was observed to occur in
this reserve which was anticipated to deteriorate the wildlife species including insects. This study
aimed at determining the impacts of fire on insects of the Selous. Pitfall traps were used in the
collection of insects samples in the three designed study sites namely; burnt grassland, un-burnt
grassland and burnt woodland. The findings showed that, fire had significant (what level of
significance) impacts on diversity and not on abundance of insects. High diversity was observed
in un-burnt grassland than in the burnt grassland. However it was eminent that, habitat
heterogeneity had significant impacts on both diversity and abundance of insects. Higher
diversity and abundance was observed in woodland habitat than in grassland. It was
recommended to adhere with the principles of prescribed burning while enforcing laws on illegal
sources of fire such as poaching.
Description
Keywords
Impact, Wildfire, Insects, Diversity, Selous
Citation
Ngongolo, K. and Nyundo, B.A., IMPACT OF WILDFIRE ON INSECT DIVERSITY IN THE SELOUS GAME RESERVE, TANZANIA.