Assessment of the Role of Fire Regime as a Determinant of Habitat Selection by Medium‐Sized Grazers in a West African Savanna

ABSTRACT Fire is an important driver of habitat selection by herbivore species and savanna ecology. Several herbivores are threatened in West Africa and it's important to study how changes in habitat affect their selection behavior. The present study aims at assessing the fire role in determining the habitat selection by grazer species. We used total aerial counts of great mammals in the Pendjari Biosphere Reserve and extracted five grazer species data (hartebeest, kob, waterbuck, korrigum, and roan). We used negative binomial distribution to model grazer species' abundance in relation to fire, location, and NDVI. Our results reveal that the majority of grazer species studied displayed a strong occurrence inclination towards recently burned areas during the season, while waterbuck exhibited a different pattern, favoring areas in proximity to water sources, which are mainly unburned. Our analysis highlighted that the korrigum was found only in the core area, the Pendjari National Park (PNP), and the abundance model of kob and waterbuck was robustly impacted by the location in the reserve, with high abundance in the PNP. Additionally, the NDVI emerged as a non‐fire regime variable that significantly influenced grazer species abundance. Among fire regime variables, fire frequency emerged as a key variable impacting all species abundance, underlining its significance in shaping their abundance patterns. All grazer species studied showed positive abundance for recently burned areas, frequently burned, except kob, which showed aggregation around water sources. Our study provides valuable insights into how grazer species respond to fire regimes and habitat characteristics, shedding light on the complex interplay between these factors. These results can be used to better design a fire management plan in West African savannas which integrate habitat requirements for herbivores.