000099344 001__ 99344 000099344 005__ 20210224140107.0 000099344 0247_ $$2doi$$a10.1098/rsbl.2019.0357 000099344 0248_ $$2sideral$$a122903 000099344 037__ $$aART-2019-122903 000099344 041__ $$aeng 000099344 100__ $$aGil-Romera, G. 000099344 245__ $$aLong-term fire resilience of the Ericaceous Belt, Bale Mountains, Ethiopia 000099344 260__ $$c2019 000099344 5060_ $$aAccess copy available to the general public$$fUnrestricted 000099344 5203_ $$aFire is the most frequent disturbance in the Ericaceous Belt (ca 3000- 4300 m.a.s.l.), one of the most important plant communities of tropical African mountains. Through resprouting after fire, Erica establishes a positive fire feedback under certain burning regimes. However, present-day human activity in the Bale Mountains of Ethiopia includes fire and grazing systems that may have a negative impact on the resilience of the ericaceous ecosystem. Current knowledge of Erica-fire relationships is based on studies of modern vegetation, lacking a longer time perspective that can shed light on baseline conditions for the fire feedback. We hypothesize that fire has influenced Erica communities in the Bale Mountains at millennial timescales. To test this, we (1) identify the fire history of the Bale Mountains through a pollen and charcoal record from Garba Guracha, a lake at 3950 m.a.s.l., and (2) describe the long-term bidirectional feedback between wildfire and Erica, which may control the ecosystem's resilience. Our results support fire occurrence in the area since ca 14 000 years ago, with particularly intense burning during the early Holocene, 10.8-6.0 cal ka BP. We show that a positive feedback between Erica abundance and fire occurrence was in operation throughout the Lateglacial and Holocene, and interpret the Ericaceous Belt of the Ethiopian mountains as a long-term fire resilient ecosystem. We propose that controlled burning should be an integral part of landscape management in the Bale Mountains National Park. 000099344 540__ $$9info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess$$aAll rights reserved$$uhttp://www.europeana.eu/rights/rr-f/ 000099344 590__ $$a2.869$$b2019 000099344 591__ $$aBIOLOGY$$b27 / 93 = 0.29$$c2019$$dQ2$$eT1 000099344 591__ $$aEVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY$$b20 / 50 = 0.4$$c2019$$dQ2$$eT2 000099344 591__ $$aECOLOGY$$b49 / 168 = 0.292$$c2019$$dQ2$$eT1 000099344 592__ $$a1.651$$b2019 000099344 593__ $$aAgricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous)$$c2019$$dQ1 000099344 655_4 $$ainfo:eu-repo/semantics/article$$vinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 000099344 700__ $$aAdolf, C. 000099344 700__ $$aBenito, B.M. 000099344 700__ $$aBittner, L. 000099344 700__ $$aJohansson, M.U. 000099344 700__ $$aGrady, D.A. 000099344 700__ $$aLamb, H.F. 000099344 700__ $$aLemma, B. 000099344 700__ $$aFekadu, M. 000099344 700__ $$aGlaser, B. 000099344 700__ $$aMekonnen, B. 000099344 700__ $$0(orcid)0000-0003-1856-4659$$aSevilla-Callejo, M.$$uUniversidad de Zaragoza 000099344 700__ $$aZech, M. 000099344 700__ $$aZech, W. 000099344 700__ $$aMiehe, G. 000099344 7102_ $$13006$$2010$$aUniversidad de Zaragoza$$bDpto. Geograf. Ordenac.Territ.$$cÁrea Análisis Geográfico Regi. 000099344 773__ $$g15, 7 (2019), 20190357 [5 pp]$$pBiol. Lett.$$tBiology Letters$$x1744-9561 000099344 8564_ $$s518506$$uhttps://zaguan.unizar.es/record/99344/files/texto_completo.pdf$$yVersión publicada 000099344 8564_ $$s2577148$$uhttps://zaguan.unizar.es/record/99344/files/texto_completo.jpg?subformat=icon$$xicon$$yVersión publicada 000099344 909CO $$ooai:zaguan.unizar.es:99344$$particulos$$pdriver 000099344 951__ $$a2021-02-24-12:55:39 000099344 980__ $$aARTICLE