Academic literature on the topic 'Dry sclerophyll forest'

Replicated sampling regimes were used to assess the numbers of Rattus fuscipes in cool temperate rainforests and dry sclerophyll forests, on Gloucester Tops, N.S.W. R. fuscipes was significantly more abundant in the rainforest habitat than in the sclerophyll habitat, and this result was consistent under a number of different sampling regimes. Numbers changed significantly between April 1978 and March 1980, but the patterns of change were similar in each habitat. Fire and logging contributed to the spatial and temporal heterogeneity of the Gloucester Tops, and the cool temperate rainforests appeared to be more protected from disturbance than the dry sclerophyll forests. The cool temperate rainforests may be important refuges for populations of R. fuscipes, and may provide recruits for areas of sclerophyll forest the populations of which have been reduced by logging or fire.

Data from 152 plots (0·8 ha) and 659 small quadrats (0·04 ha) were used to assess rooting activity by feral pigs in forest communities in north Queensland. Study sites spanned the rainforest–sclerophyll-forest gradient along the western margin of the wet tropics region. Detailed floristic, physiognomic and edaphic data were recorded for each plot and used to develop a predictive model of pig activity in these habitats. The most striking result was that rooting activity varied markedly among different forest types. Wet sclerophyll forests consistently had the greatest area disturbed, followed by mesic and dry sclerophyll forests. Both rainforest and rainforest-invaded sclerophyll forests had relatively low activity levels. There were some differences in rooting activity among different geographic regions, but few effects of local topography, soil type or proximity to water. A mathematical model was developed to predict the ecological associations of pig rooting activity, using generalised linear modeling. Pig rooting was associated with certain attributes of wet sclerophyll forests and with slopes and ridge tops, but the model had limited effectiveness, with fitted values explaining 16% of the actual variation in rooting activity. This may have resulted because microhabitat preferences of pigs varied among different forest types and seasons. We suggest that pigs could be consuming fungal fruit-bodies in sclerophyll forests, and if so they may compete for food with some native, mycophagous mammals.

Experimental trampling was carried out in recently-burned and unburned areas of a dry sclerophyll forest. Percentage cover was greatly reduced by burning and trampling. Plant numbers were relatively unaffected by burning, and trampling had approximately the same effect on plant numbers in recently-burned and unburned areas.The reduction of cover and plant numbers to 50% of their original value by fewer than 16 passages was near to that predicted on the basis of the low primary productivity of the ground-flora, and suggests that this type of vegetation is quite vulnerable to trampling.

Chytrids are common microfungi in soils, but their distribution and diversity in Australian soils is poorly described. In this study we analyzed chytrid distribution and diversity in soils from four collection sites representing a subtropical rain forest, wet sclerophyll forest, dry sclerophyll forest, and open heath, using a defined and reproducible sampling protocol. The greatest number of chytrid species was observed from dry sclerophyll forest soils, while the least number of species occurred in the open heath soils, although each soil sample of the open heath harbored more species per sample. Differences in patterns of distribution of chytrid species were statistically significant between subtropical rain forest and open heath. Patterns in other habitats differed but could not be verified statistically to be significant at the 5% level. Observed differences in chytrid distribution, diversity, and freqency indicate that their ecological strategies may be in response to environmental cues such as specific edaphic conditions and substrate availability, and their capacity to respond to the environment.Key words: Chytridiomycota, frequency, habitat, sampling.

Bee assemblages were investigated in heathy coastal forest, shrubby dry sclerophyll forest, and shrubby subalpine forest near Hobart, in southern Tasmania, during spring, summer, and autumn between September 1996 and October 1997. Several taxa previously unknown from the state were encountered, including the first Tasmanian records of the halictid subfamily Nomiinae. Assemblages varied both temporally and spatially. Temporal variation within particular vegetation types was due to interspecific differences in flight periods. Spatial variation resulted from most species being restricted to one or two of these vegetation types, with species richness being substantially lower in the subalpine area than the two vegetation types at lower altitude. This variation also involved several species being more or less restricted to one habitat. In particular, Lasioglossum (Austrevylaeus pertribuarium) was a subalpine specialist while numerous species were more or less restricted to either coastal or dry sclerophyll forests. There was also an interaction between these two forms of variation, in the form of divergence in the flight periods of individual species in different vegetation types.

At 38 sites in the dry sclerophylJ forests of south-east Queensland, Australia, hollow-bearing trees were studied to determine the effects of past forestry practices on their density, size and spatial distribution. The density of hollow-bearing trees was reduced at sites that had been altered by poisoning and ringbarking of unmerchantable trees. This was especially the case for living hollow-bearing trees that were now at densities too low to support the full range of arboreal marsupials. Although there are presently enough hollow-bearing stags (i.e., dead hollow-bearing trees) to provide additional denning and nesting opportunities, the standing life of these hollow-bearing stags is lower than the living counterparts which means denning and nesting sites may be limited in the near future. The mean diameter at breast height (DBH) of hollow-bearing stags was significantly less than that of living hollow-bearing trees. This indicated that many large hollow-bearing stags may have a shorter standing life than smaller hollow-bearing stags. Hollow-bearing trees appear to be randomly distributed throughout the forest in both silviculturally treated and untreated areas. This finding is at odds with the suggestion by some forest managers that hollow-bearing trees should have a clumped distribution in dry sclerophyll forests of south-east Queensland.

Comprehensive records of the host-plant associations of Amorbus obscuricornis (Westwood) and Gelonus tasmanicus (Le Guillou), undertaken over three years at field sites in southern Tasmania, are presented for the first time. Also presented are the results of performance experiments conducted predominantly with native Tasmanian Eucalyptus species. Both insect species were found to be oligophagous for Eucalyptus. However, A. obscuricornis was found to feed more widely than G. tasmanicus; that is, the former species fed upon eucalypts belonging to the ash, gum and peppermint groups whilst the latter was confined to the ash and gum species of Eucalyptus in Tasmania. On the basis of collection records, A. obscuricornis was found to be abundant in both wet and dry sclerophyll forest habitats whilst G. tasmanicus was more abundant in wet sclerophyll forests. The wider degree of oligophagy exhibited by A. obscuricornis than by G. tasmanicus is suggested as being related to this species’ preference for floristically diverse habitats, for example dry sclerophyll forest. In addition, inter- and intraspecific host selection in the exclusively shoot- feeding A. obscuricornis was found to be positively influenced by the architecture, in particular the coppicing phenology, of hosts. The significance of factors such as plant architecture, resource abundance and nutritional quality to the host-plant associations of both species are discussed in relation to secondary chemistry and habitat preferences.

Comprehensive records of the host-plant associations of Amorbus obscuricornis (Westwood) and Gelonus tasmanicus (Le Guillou), undertaken over three years at field sites in southern Tasmania, are presented for the first time. Also presented are the results of performance experiments conducted predominantly with native Tasmanian Eucalyptus species. Both insect species were found to be oligophagous for Eucalyptus. However, A. obscuricornis was found to feed more widely than G. tasmanicus; that is, the former species fed upon eucalypts belonging to the ash, gum and peppermint groups whilst the latter was confined to the ash and gum species of Eucalyptus in Tasmania. On the basis of collection records, A. obscuricornis was found to be abundant in both wet and dry sclerophyll forest habitats whilst G. tasmanicus was more abundant in wet sclerophyll forests. The wider degree of oligophagy exhibited by A. obscuricornis than by G. tasmanicus is suggested as being related to this species’ preference for floristically diverse habitats, for example dry sclerophyll forest. In addition, inter- and intraspecific host selection in the exclusively shoot- feeding A. obscuricornis was found to be positively influenced by the architecture, in particular the coppicing phenology, of hosts. The significance of factors such as plant architecture, resource abundance and nutritional quality to the host-plant associations of both species are discussed in relation to secondary chemistry and habitat preferences.

In this thesis I present and test a methodology for developing a stand scale index of structural complexity. If properly designed such an index can act as a summary variable for a larger set of stand structural attributes, providing a means of ranking stands in terms of their structural complexity, and by association, their biodiversity and vegetation condition. This type of index can also facilitate the use of alternative policy instruments for biodiversity conservation, such as mitigation banking, auctions and offsets, that rely on a common currency – the index value – that can be compared or traded between sites. My intention was to establish a clear and documentable methodology for developing a stand scale index of structural complexity, and to test this methodology using data from real stands.¶ As a starting point, I reviewed the literature concerning forest and woodland structure and found there was no clear definition of stand structural complexity, or definitive suite of structural attributes for characterising it. To address this issue, I defined stand structural complexity as a combined measure of the number of different structural attributes present in a stand, and the relative abundance of each of these attributes. This was analogous to approaches that have quantified diversity in terms of the abundance and richness of elements. It was also concluded from the review, that stand structural complexity should be viewed as a relative, rather than absolute concept, because the potential levels of different structural attributes are bound within certain limits determined by the inherent characteristics of the site in question, and the biota of the particular community will have evolved to reflect this range of variation. This implied that vegetation communities with naturally simple structures should have the potential to achieve high scores on an index of structural complexity.¶ I proposed the following five-stage methodology for developing an index of stand structural complexity: 1. Establish a comprehensive suite of stand structural attributes as a starting point for developing the index, by reviewing studies in which there is an established relationship between elements of biodiversity and structural attributes. 2. Develop a measurement system for quantifying the different attributes included in the comprehensive suite. 3. Use this measurement system to collect data from a representative set of stands across the range of vegetation condition (highly modified to unmodified) and developmental stages (regrowth to oldgrowth) occurring in the vegetation communities in which the index is intended to operate. 4. Identify a core set of structural attributes from an analysis of these data. 5. Combine the core attributes in a simple additive index, in which attributes are scored relative to their observed levels in each vegetation community.¶ Stage one of this methodology was addressed by reviewing a representative sample of the literature concerning fauna habitat relationships in temperate Australian forests and woodlands. This review identified fifty-five studies in south-east and south-west Australia, in which the presence or abundance of different fauna were significantly (p<0.05) associated with vegetation structural attributes. The majority of these studies concerned bird, arboreal mammal, and ground mammal habitat requirements, with relatively fewer studies addressing the habitat requirements of reptiles, invertebrates, bats or amphibians. Thirty four key structural attributes were identified from these fifty-five studies, by grouping similar attributes, and then representing each group with a single generic attribute. This set, in combination with structural attributes identified in the earlier review, provided the basis for developing an operational set of stand level attributes for the collection of data from study sites.¶ To address stages two and three of the methodology, data were collected from one woodland community –Yellow Box-Red Gum (E. melliodora-E. Blakelyi ) – and two dry sclerophyll forest communities – Broadleaved Peppermint-Brittle Gum (E. dives-E. mannifera ), Scribbly Gum-Red Stringybark (E. rossii E. macrorhyncha ) – in a 15,000 km2 study area in the South eastern Highlands Bioregion of Australia. A representative set of 48 sites was established within this study area, by identifying 24 strata, on the basis of the three vegetation communities, two catchments, two levels of rainfall and two levels of condition, and then locating two sites (replicates) within each stratum. At each site, three plots were systematically established, to provide an unbiased estimate of stand level means for 75 different structural attributes.¶ I applied a three-stage analysis to identify a core set of attributes from these data. The first stage – a preliminary analysis – indicated that the 48 study sites represented a broad range of condition, and that the two dry sclerophyll communities could be treated as a single community, which was structurally distinct from the woodland community. In the second stage of the analysis, thirteen core attributes were dentified using the criteria that a core attribute should:¶ 1. Be either, evenly or approximately normally distributed amongst study sites; 2. Distinguish between woodland and dry sclerophyll communities; 3. Function as a surrogate for other attributes; 4. Be efficient to measure in the field. The core attributes were: Vegetation cover <0.5m Vegetation cover 0.5-6.0m; Perennial species richness; Lifeform richness; Stand basal area of live trees; Quadratic mean diameter of live stems; ln(number of regenerating stems per ha+1); ln(number of hollow bearing trees per ha+1);ln(number of dead trees per ha+1);sqrt(number of live stems per ha >40cm dbh); sqrt(total log length per ha); sqrt(total largelog length per ha); Litter dry weight per ha. This analysis also demonstrated that the thirteen core attributes could be modelled as continuous variables, and that these variables were indicative of the scale at which the different attributes operated.¶ In the third and final stage of the analysis, Principal Components Analysis was used to test for redundancy amongst the core attributes. Although this analysis highlighted six groupings, within which attributes were correlated to some degree, these relationships were not considered sufficiently robust to justify reducing the number of core attributes.¶ The thirteen core attributes were combined in a simple additive index, in which, each attribute accounted for 10 points in a total index value of 130. Attributes were rescaled as a score from 0-10, using equations that modelled attribute score as a function of the raw attribute data. This maintained a high correlation (r > 0.97, p< 0.0001) between attribute scores and the original attribute data. Sensitivity analysis indicated that the index was not sensitive to attribute weightings, and on this basis attributes carried equal weight. In this form my index was straightforward to apply, and approximately normally distributed amongst study sites.¶ I demonstrated the practical application of the index in a user-friendly spreadsheet, designed to allow landowners and managers to assess the condition of their vegetation, and to identify management options. This spreadsheet calculated an index score from field data, and then used this score to rank the site relative to a set of reference sites. This added a regional context to the operation of the index, and is a potentially useful tool for identifying sites of high conservation value, or for identifying sites where management actions have maintained vegetation quality. The spreadsheet also incorporated the option of calculating an index score using a subset of attributes, and provided a measure of the uncertainty associated with this score.¶ I compared the proposed index with five prominent indices used to quantify vegetation condition or habitat value in temperate Australian ecosystems. These were: Newsome and Catling’s (1979) Habitat Complexity Score, Watson et al.’s (2001) Habitat Complexity Score, the Site Condition Score component of the Habitat Hectares Index of Parkes et al. (2003), the Vegetation Condition Score component of the Biodiversity Benefits Index of Oliver and Parkes (2003), and the Vegetation Condition Score component of the BioMetric Assessment Tool of Gibbons et al. (2004). I found that my index differentiated between study sites better than each of these indices. However, resource and time constraints precluded the use of a new and independent data set for this testing, so that the superior performance of my index must be interpreted cautiously.¶ As a group, the five indices I tested contained attributes describing compositional diversity, coarse woody debris, regeneration, large trees and hollow trees – these were attributes that I also identified as core ones. However, unlike these indices, I quantified weeds indirectly through their effect on indigenous plant diversity, I included the contribution of non-indigenous species to vegetation cover and did not apply a discount to this contribution, I limited the direct assessment of regeneration to long-lived overstorey species, I used stand basal area as a surrogate for canopy cover, I quantified litter in terms of biomass (dry weight) rather than cover, and I included the additional attributes of quadratic mean diameter and the number of dead trees.¶ I also concluded that Parkes et al. (2003), Oliver and Parkes (2003), and Gibbons et al. (2004), misapplied the concept of benchmarking, by characterising attributes in terms of a benchmark range or average level. This ignored processes that underpin variation at the stand level, such as the increased development of some attributes at particular successional stages, and the fact that attributes can respond differently to disturbance agents. It also produced indices that were not particularly sensitive to the differences in attribute levels occurring between stands. I suggested that a more appropriate application of benchmarking would be at the overarching level of stand structural complexity, using a metric such as the index developed in this thesis. These benchmarks could reflect observed levels of structural complexity in unmodified natural stands at different successional stages, or thresholds for structural complexity at which a wide range of biota are present, and would define useful goals for guiding on-ground management.

The Hunter Region, between the Hawkesbury and Manning rivers in eastern New South Wales, hosts a rich diversity of vegetation, with many species found nowhere else. Spanning an area from the coast to the tablelands and slopes, its rainforests, wet and dry sclerophyll forests, woodlands, heathlands, grasslands and swamps are known for their beauty and ecological significance. Flora of the Hunter Region describes 54 endemic trees and large shrubs, combining art and science in a manner rarely seen in botanical identification guides. Species accounts provide information on distribution, habitat, flowering, key diagnostic features and conservation status, along with complete taxonomic descriptions. Each account includes stunning botanical illustrations produced by graduates of the University of Newcastle's Bachelor of Natural History Illustration program. The illustrations depict key diagnostic features and allow complete identification of each species. This publication will be a valuable resource for those interested in the plants of the region, including researchers, environmental consultants, horticulturalists and gardeners, bush walkers, herbaria, and others involved in land management.