DOI: 10.5061/dryad.7d7wm385p
title: Geographic variation in mammal and reptile responses to fire and livestock grazing regimes

description: Changes in land use and fire regimes are a major threat to species and
 ecosystems worldwide. Species’ responses to altered fire and livestock
 grazing likely vary depending on the local ecosystem and the attributes of
 the disturbance regimes. We used single-species, single-season occupancy
 modelling to investigate the responses of 15 commonly occurring mammal and
 reptile species to fire and grazing regime attributes in an Australian
 subtropical woodland. Thirty-one hypotheses were formed based on species’
 responses to these regime attributes reported in other studies conducted
 in Australia. We expected that our hypotheses would be more likely to be
 supported when based on results from studies nearer to our study area. Of
 the 31 relationships we tested for, only six were consistent with the
 hypothesized responses for each species, and we were unable to discern any
 geographic patterns that made this consistency more likely. Seven mammal
 species’ occupancy changed in response to a fire or grazing regime
 attribute. Four small mammals (eastern chestnut mouse Pseudomys
 gracilicaudatus, pale field rat Rattus tunneyi, delicate mouse Pseudomys
 delicatulus, central short-tailed mouse Leggadina forresti) and two large
 mammals (eastern grey kangaroo Macropus giganteus, red-necked wallaby
 Macropus rufogriseus) responded to different fire regime attributes. Pigs
 (Sus scrofa) had higher occupancy in more heavily grazed areas. Synthesis
 and applications: Based on our findings, conservation land managers should
 be cautious in using species’ responses to disturbance regimes from
 studies done in other bioregions to inform conservation practices in their
 local area. Factors that may have influenced the response of species to
 fire and livestock grazing in this region include the unique climate of
 the bioregion, prior land use history, previous large wildfires, and
 recent above-average rainfall. Given the interspecies variability to fire
 regime attributes in this study area, we recommend maintaining variation
 in time since fire, time since late-dry-season fire, and fire frequency in
 the landscape to accommodate the different fire history needs of
 individual species.
description: # Geographic variation in mammal and reptile responses to fire and
 livestock grazing regimes
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.7d7wm385p](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.7d7wm385p) ## Description of the data and file structure The following dataset consists of: * Detection history for fauna species included in the study. Each file is named as each species common name eg. bearded_dragon. * Trap response for species included in the study. Each file is named as each species common name and trap response eg. bearded*_*dragon_trapresponse. * Variables_final: This file consists of the data recorded at each site including fire, grazing, vegetation, season. Single-season single species occupancy analysis was done for each fauna species to determine responses to a range of fire and grazing variables. PLEASE NOTE: Data cells left blank within detection history and trap response csv files indicate that cameras were not operational for that full week period. Leaving these cells blank allows the *unmarked* package to process detection history and trap response correctly.  ## Code/software We used the following packages within R for statistical analyses. library(unmarked) library(AICcmodavg) # goodness of fit test library(ggplot2) library(dplyr) library(MuMIn) library(vegan) library(corrplot) library(ggpubr) library(vcd)