Data from: Repeated fires reduce plant diversity in low-elevation Wyoming big sagebrush ecosystems (1984-2014)

Sagebrush is one of the most imperiled ecosystems in Western North America, having lost about half of its original 62 million hectare extent. Annual grass invasions are known to be increasing wildfire occurrence and burned area, but the lasting effects (> five years post-fire) that the resulting reburns have on these plant communities are unclear. We created a fire history atlas from 31 years (1984 to 2014) of Landsat-derived fire data to sample along a fire frequency gradient (zero to three fires) in an area of northern Nevada that has experienced frequent fire in this time period. 32% of our study area (13,000 km$^2$) burned in large fires (over 404 ha) at least once, 7% burned twice, and 2% burned three or more times. We collected plant abundance data at 28 plots (N=7 per fire frequency), with an average time-since-fire of 17 years. We examined fire’s effect on plant diversity using species accumulation curves, alpha-diversity (Shannon's dominance, Pielou's evenness and number of species), and beta diversity (Whittaker, Simpson, and Z indexes). For composition, we used non-metric multidimensional scaling. We then used PERMANOVA models to examine how disturbance history, temperature, precipitation and aridity around the time of the fire affected subsequent community composition and diversity. One fire fundamentally changed community composition and reduced species richness, and each subsequent fire reduced richness further. Alpha diversity decreased after one fire. Beta diversity declined after the third fire. Cover of exotics was 10% higher in all burned plots, and native cover was 20% lower than in unburned plots, regardless of frequency. PERMANOVA models showed fire frequency and antecedent precipitation as the strongest predictors of beta diversity, while time since fire and vapor pressure deficit for the year of the fire were the strongest predictors of community composition. Given that a single fire has such a marked effect on species composition, and repeated fires reduce richness and beta diversity, we suggest that in lower elevation big sagebrush systems fire should be minimized as much as possible, perhaps even prescribed fire. Restoration efforts should be focused on timing with wet years on cooler, wetter sites