Comparison of insect and flowering plant diversity across Fynbos sites with differing time since burn in the Western Cape, South Africa
High disturbance rates in the form of fire in the fynbos biome of the western cape of South Africa drive high biodiversity of both plants and insects. The fynbos supports high numbers of endemic and endangered taxa, and as such understanding how to manage and preserve this ecosystem is of particular conservation importance. We surveyed areas of Grootbos Private Nature Reserve, a reserve dominated by strandveld fynbos vegetation, that had received controlled burns at various recorded time points for insects and actively flowering plants. We analyzed the data from these surveys to determine the relationship between time since burning and plant and insect richness in order to better understand how fire affects both the diversity of plants and insects. We found no clear relationship between insect order richness and plant species richness, possibly due to methodological flaws. We found that actively flowering plant species were most diverse 2 years after a burn, but that all areas with different times since burn had unique plant communities. We therefore recommend a continued implementation of mosaic-pattern controlled burns at this site, along with further research into the communities of plants and insects found across varying times since burning.
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