title: Collapse and recovery of livestock systems shape fire regimes on the Eurasian steppe: a review of ecosystem and biodiversity implications
abstract: Shifts in fire regimes can trigger rapid changes in ecosystem functioning and biodiversity. We synthesize evidence for patterns, causes and consequences of recent change in fire regimes across the Eurasian steppes, a neglected global fire hotspot. Political and economic turmoil following the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991 triggered abrupt land abandonment over millions of hectares and a collapse of livestock populations. The build-up of vegetation as fuel, rural depopulation and deteriorat