  Using 3D spectroscopy with a scanning Fabry-Perot interferometer, we study
the ionized gas kinematics in 59 nearby dwarf galaxies. Combining our results
with data from literature, we provide a global relation between the gas
velocity dispersion (sigma) and the star formation rate (SFR) and H\alpha
luminosity for galaxies in a very broad range of star formation rates
SFR=0.001-300 Msun/yr. We find that the SFR-sigma relation for the combined
sample of dwarf galaxies, star forming, local luminous, and ultra-luminous
infrared galaxies can be fitted as sigma~ SFR^(5.3+-0.2). This implies that the
slope of the L-sigma relation inferred from the sample of rotation supported
disc galaxies (including mergers) is similar to the L-sigma relation of
individual giant HII regions. We present arguments that the velocity dispersion
of the ionized gas does not reflect the virial motions in the gravitational
potential of dwarf galaxies, and instead is mainly determined by the energy
injected into the interstellar medium by the ongoing star formation.
