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Distance sampling surveys reveal 17 million vertebrates directly killed by the 2020’s wildfires in the Pantanal, Brazil

2021; Nature Portfolio; Volume: 11; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1038/s41598-021-02844-5

2045-2322

Walfrido Moraes Tomás, Christian Niel Berlinck, Rafael Morais Chiaravalloti, Gabriel Paganini Faggioni, Christine Strüssmann, Renata Libonati, Carlos Roberto Abrahão, Gabriela do Valle Alvarenga, Ana Elisa de Faria Bacellar, Flávia Regina de Queiroz Batista, Thainan Silva Bornato, André Restel Camilo, Judite Castedo, Adriana Maria Espinóza Fernando, Gabriel Oliveira de Freitas, Carolina García, Henrique Santos Gonçalves, Mariella Butti de Freitas Guilherme, Viviane Maria Guedes Layme, Ana Paula Gomes Lustosa, Aílton Carneiro de Oliveira, Maxwell da Rosa Oliveira, Alexandre de Matos Martins Pereira, Julia A. Rodrigues, Thiago Borges Fernandes Semedo, Rafael Augusto Ducel de Souza, Fernando Rodrigo Tortato, Diego Francis Passos Viana, Luciana Vicente-Silva, Ronaldo Gonçalves Morato,

Wildlife Ecology and Conservation

Abstract Anthropogenic factors have significantly influenced the frequency, duration, and intensity of meteorological drought in many regions of the globe, and the increased frequency of wildfires is among the most visible consequences of human-induced climate change. Despite the fire role in determining biodiversity outcomes in different ecosystems, wildfires can cause negative impacts on wildlife. We conducted ground surveys along line transects to estimate the first-order impact of the 2020 wildfires on vertebrates in the Pantanal wetland, Brazil. We adopted the distance sampling technique to estimate the densities and the number of dead vertebrates in the 39,030 square kilometers affected by fire. Our estimates indicate that at least 16.952 million vertebrates were killed immediately by the fires in the Pantanal, demonstrating the impact of such an event in wet savanna ecosystems. The Pantanal case also reminds us that the cumulative impact of widespread burning would be catastrophic, as fire recurrence may lead to the impoverishment of ecosystems and the disruption of their functioning. To overcome this unsustainable scenario, it is necessary to establish proper biomass fuel management to avoid cumulative impacts caused by fire over biodiversity and ecosystem services.