Table 1 The search string to which the combined database searches are equivalent

Population terms

(forest* OR woodland* OR “wood* pasture*” OR “wood* meadow*” OR stand* OR plantation* OR wood* OR tree* OR clone* OR tract* OR savanna*)

AND

Intervention terms

((prescribed OR control* OR experiment* OR prescri* OR introduce* OR broadcast) AND (burn* OR fire))

AND

Outcome terms

(*diversity OR (species AND (richness OR focal OR target OR keystone OR umbrella OR red-list* OR threatened OR endangered OR rare)) OR “species density” OR “number of species” OR indicator* OR abundance OR “forest structure” OR habitat* OR richness)