Water and Fire Management

Strategies in Protected Areas

Ajay Srivastav
Wildlife Institute of India
 Determine priorities for action

Principles and Approaches

Any intervention will have some benefits to some

species, yet may harm some others.

Determine priorities for action

Understand your systems

Do not obsess about naturalness

Systems have significantly changed due to human induced changes
 Principles and Approaches

Think about processes

To understand ecological processes incorporate sufficient
time depth in thinking

Undertake efficient inventories and

monitoring
Knowledge of the key environmental assets
Maps are very important
Monitor through permanent plots, fixed photo points,
occupancy statements.
 Water Management

Sponge effect of vegetation in trapping rainwater

and regulating flow

Preservation of hydrological function depends on

Susceptibility of catchment to erosion

Susceptibility of the river to flooding

Seasonality of water availability

Socio-economic importance of the watershed

 Water Management
Understand natural drainage systems
Prepare a Water Map
Strategies need to be catchment based –maintain thick vegetation
Maintenance of discharge, flow regimes and water quality
Improve water management on more upstream sites

Use structural methods carefully

Check dams, gabion structures, contour bunds etc.

Dams change the flow regime, sediment load, temperature and
oxygen status of stream system.
Importance of Water Resources

Water is a crucial factor in wildlife management

By creating or closing water resources –
* Animal use of habitat can be regulated
* Manipulation of habitat
By providing additional sources of water
* Dry season use of habitats (removing a limiting factors)
* Animals can be drawn away from human settlements
(reducing conflict and risk of disease transmission from domestic animals)
* Animals can be drawn closer to observation point
 Surveying and Mapping of water sources

Objectives
• To identify seasonal gaps in water availability
• To decide where the provision of additional water
source needed
Survey for Perennial Sources
• Location of perennial sources 5x 5 Km Grid
• Any Grid square without a perennial sources represent
a gap
• Decision – Whether additional water should be made
available ? If Yes , then survey of non perennial sources
• GIS maps
 Survey for non perennial water sources

• How long these non perennial sources last into the dry
season
• Inspection at regular intervals ( post monsoon and
inspection intervals should be shortened prior to final
drying up)
• At the end of the survey – non availability of water in a
specific grid cell in a particular period
• Data collection /Records of Water Resources
• Permanence – Period during which the source normally contains water ( July-
September , July-December, July-March & July-June(perennial source) )
• Type – Natural sources ( River , lake , pond ,spring , seepage) or Artificial (check
dam , reservoir , well , borehole with tank etc)
• Access- Times and seasons of difficult access
Development of Supplementary Water Sources

• Only after careful consideration , if its necessity and

objectives have been firmly established .
A GAP IN WATER SUPPLY IS NOT IN ITSELF SUFFICIENT REASON TO ESTABLISH
AN ADDITIONAL WATER SOURCE. CLEAR OBJECTIVES MUST BE ESTABLISHED
• An unreliable supplementary supply is worse than no
supply
• Providing access to natural water sources is preferable
to constructing artificial ones.
• A large number of small and widely scattered sources
are better than a few large sources
Development of Supplementary Water Sources
– constraints
• Withdrawal of water , particularly ground water , may
alter natural processes of water cycling and lead to
significant changes in ecosystem .
• Water sources in buffer areas may bring domestic stock
into contact with wildlife – increasing the chance of
disease transmission .
• Water development Food availability
• Impact on Endemic and rare plant species – water
development should be avoided in areas where these are
present.
• Water development may trigger erosion on steep lands
and fragile soils
Guidelines for choosing a site for water
development
• Near habitat edges ( ecotones) where species from
different habitats congregate

• Site which has shade trees and tall shrub or grass –

(escape cover nearby)

• Site which are likely to be disturbed frequently by

livestock, local people or traffic should be avoided

• In wildlife viewing areas – waterhole shape should

be irregular (they should look like natural source)
Artificial Pond
Melghat Tiger Reserve
LAYING OF HDPE SHEET
PEBBLES LAYER
FILLING WATERHOLE WITH WATER TANKER
BANDHARA – CENTRAL INDIA
 Fire Management
Rapid chemical combination of fuel (C), oxygen and heat

Should relate to asset protection and the maintenance of

key components of diversity

Look for frequency, intensity and seasonality of fire occurrence

Control fuel load on the forest floor

Fire Suppression Principles

Cooling heat removal – pour water

Smothering remove O2-beating fire, use soil
Starving remove fuel or create breaks
 Systematic Fire Management:

Fire Management
Systematic Fire Management

A fire awareness and prevention campaign with local people

Clearing and burning fire lines before the season

Weekly clearing of leaf litter from firelines

Fire patrols and immediate fire suppression

Effective communication – pre fire season orders, during fire season

Participatory fire management

Possible effects of fire on ecological processes

Natural Succession
• Curtailment of natural succession.
• Creation of bare areas which facilitates invasion of weed.
• Progressive increase in uniformity with fewer eco-systems.
• Migration and concentration of herbivores in areas with a
flush of new, nutritious plant growth.
Organic production and decomposition
• Loss of biomass.
• Reduced primary production and energy capture due to
leaf loss.
• Reduction of organic turnover by decomposition.
Possible effects of fire on ecological processes

Nutrient circulation
• Loss of elements by wind blow of ash, smoke and volatization.
• Reduced retention of nutrient capital in organic matter.
• Enhanced loss of elements by surface run off and leaching.
• Changed rate of Nitrogen fixation.
Water circulation
• Reduction in interception of precipitation.
• Increase in through fall.
• Reduction in transpiration.
• Increase in surface run off.
• Reduction in moisture in upper soil layers due to greater evaporation.
• Increase in water discharge.
Possible effects of fire on ecological processes

Soil development
• Increase in soil erosion with loss of vegetation cover.
• Formation of a base rich soil surface layer.
• Increase in pH of soil surface layer affecting micro-
organisms.
• Darkening of soil with charcoal and loss of vegetation
resulting in higher soil temperature.
• Death and decomposition of plant roots.
• Increase in nutrient loss by leaching.
• Possible progressive long term decline in soil nutrient
capital.
• Increased salinity with loss of trees and raised water table.
Impact of Fire on animal species
• Altering patterns of resource availability
Cover , Food , Water
• Altering patterns of distribution
• Possibility of mortality
• Micro-organisms initially decline but increase to higher
levels later:
• Rodents may decline but increase later
• Many animals in fire prone environments have adapted
• Habitat changes resulting from fire exclusion can result in
low reproduction and eventual displacement of some
wildlife.
 Fire Management in Protected Areas
• Normally use of fire is forbidden in order to maintain pristine
conditions
• It is widely known that fire is an important ecological agent and can
improve and restore ecosystems, and it is important for biodiversity
(Simberloff 1999)
• Prescribed burning is recognised as an important management
practice in wildlife management in African grassland and savanna
ecosystems (Trollope, 2007)
• Fire can be used as a tool for landscape management.
• Fire can enhance the recruitment of desired species to maintain
habitat diversity and structure.
• The sustainable use of fire can be an opportunity to maintain
traditional land-uses, restore ecosystems and fuel management.
Fire as a management tool
• Restoring natural ecosystems
• Reducing wildfire hazards
• Improving wildlife habitat
• Increasing regeneration of
native species
• Removing pests and
diseased trees
• Reducing invasive species
populations
Assessment of Ecological Status and Condition
of Vegetation for Prescribed Burning
Grass Sward
• The condition of the grass sward determines whether Grassland
should be considered for burning as it reflects the ecological status
of the ecosystem and the presence of, or its ability, to produce
adequate grass fuel to carry and support a fire
• Quantitative techniques have been developed to assess the
condition of the grass sward in relation to prescribed burning.
• The first technique involves determining the condition of the grass
sward in terms of its botanical composition, ecological status and
basal cover.
Tree/Shrub Vegetation
• Detailed survey will be required to assess the condition of the
tree/shrub component of the vegetation- (Adapted PCQ Survey )
 Classification the different grass species
into different ecological categories

DECREASER SPECIES - Grass & herbaceous species which

decrease when rangeland is under or over grazed.

INCREASER I SPECIES - Grass & herbaceous species which

increase when rangeland is under or selectively grazed.

INCREASER II SPECIES - Grass & herbaceous species which

increase when rangeland is over grazed.
 Fire Management
No prescribed burning –
• If the grass sward is in a pioneer condition dominated
by Increaser II grass species caused by overgrazing.
• When grassland is developing to a more productive
stage dominated by Decreaser grass species

When the grass sward is in an under grazed condition

dominated by Increaser I species, it needs to be burnt to
increase the better fire adapted and more productive and
palatable Decreaser grass species
 Fire Regime for Prescribed Burning

Fire intensity –
Burning to remove moribund and/or
Fire Intensity (kJ/s/m) Description
unacceptable grass material -- Cool Fire
<500 Very cool
( air temperature is <20°C and the relative
501 - 1000 Cool
humidity >50% )
1001 – 2000 Moderately hot
Burning to control undesirable plants like
2001 - 3000 Hot
encroaching bush – Hot fire
>3000 Extremely hot
(grass fuel load is >4000 kg/ha, the air
temperature is >25°C and the relative
humidity <30% )

Cool fire

Hot fire
 Post-Fire Grassland Management

• To stop overgrazing it is important to ensure that the burnt area

exceeds the short term forage requirements of the grazing animals
that are attracted to the highly palatable and nutritious regrowth
that develops after a burn (Trollope, 1992)
• Possible strategies - Series of patch burns at regular intervals
throughout the duration of the burning window during the
dormant season - This has the effect of attracting the grazing
animals to the newly burnt areas after each successive fire
thereby spreading the impact of grazing and thus avoiding the
detrimental effects of heavy continuous grazing after the burns
• Area can be sub-divided into three to four blocks that are then
burnt at approximately monthly intervals commencing in
November/December during the winter period.
• Strip burning – Dudhwa TR
Control Burning – Kanha Tiger Reserve
 Conclusion

All management interventions should be

Consistent with strategic plan and conservation
objectives

Based upon knowledge of the distribution of area’s

key environmental assets

Periodically monitored to assess impact of

interventions on objectives of management of the PA.
Thank you