At the Mwekera Forest Reserve in northern Zambia, three areas of Miombo vegetation have been managed under different prescribed fire regimes since the 1960s. These are: 1. Early dry season burn (May) with low tree cover, 2. Late dry season burn (October) with medium tree cover, and 3. No burn with high tree cover. The experiment offers a rare opportunity to study the long-term effect of fire and it’s timing on the species diversity of the wetter Miombo ground layer.

In December 2022, FEFA collaborators; Dr Caroline Lehmann and Anya Courtenay worked with the local Kitwe herbarium team and colleagues from the University of Lubumbashi using the Global Grassy Group protocol to collect data on herbaceous diversity. The species richness and composition at each site will be compared to demonstrate changes in diversity under different fire regimes, relevant to consequences of fire management practices on biodiversity.

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