Effects of anthropogenic wildfire in low-elevation Pacific island vegetation communities in French Polynesia.

ABSTRACT: Anthropogenic (or human-caused) wildfire is an increasingly important driver of ecological change on Pacific islands including southeastern Polynesia, but fire ecology studies are almost completely absent for this region. Where observations do exist, they mostly represent descriptions of fire effects on plant communities before the introduction of invasive species in the modern era. Understanding the effects of wildfire in southeastern Polynesian island vegetation communities can elucidate which species may become problematic invasives with continued wildfire activity. We investigate the effects of wildfire on vegetation in three low-elevation sites (45-379 m) on the island of Mo'orea in the Society Islands, French Polynesia, which are already heavily impacted by past human land use and in

SUBMITTER: Newman EA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6015486 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature