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1
Ward, SJ. "Life-History of the Feathertail Glider, Acrobates-Pygmaeus (Acrobatidae, Marsupialia) in South-Eastern Australia." Australian Journal of Zoology 38, no. 5 (1990): 503. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/zo9900503.
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Acrobates pygmaeus was captured in nestboxes in three areas of central and southern Victoria: the Gembrook-Cockatoo area and Nar Nar Goon North east of Melbourne, and Daylesford north-west of Melbourne. Breeding was strictly seasonal and females produced two litters between July and February each year. Males also showed seasonal fluctuation in testes sizes. Mean litter size was 3.5 at birth and 2.5 at weaning. Pouch life lasted 65 days and young were weaned at approximately 100 days of age. Growth was slow and maternal investment in each young was high, and continued after weaning. Most individuals matured in the season following their birth, but some males did not mature until the second season after their birth. Maximum field longevity was at least three years. Comparisons are made with other small diprotodont marsupials.
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Krusel, N., D. Packham, and N. Tapper. "Wildfire Activity in the Mallee Shrubland of Victoria, Australia." International Journal of Wildland Fire 3, no. 4 (1993): 217. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf9930217.
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McArthur's Fire Danger Indices were developed originally as empirical models to describe fire danger in dry sclerophyll forest and grasslands of Australia. These indices are now used widely in southeastern Australia for fire danger rating and as a guideline for the issue of fire weather warnings. Nine years of historical fire reports, fire danger indices and meteorological information have been analysed objectively to develop a model to predict days of high fire activity in the mallee shrubland of northwestern Victoria. Tested on two years of independent data it was found that the use of a simple model utilising standard meteorological observations rather than the McArthur Forest Fire Danger Index reduced the false alarm rate from 98.4% to 96.7%. Although apparently a small reduction in false alarm rate, over a two year period days of high fire activity predicted incorrectly were reduced dramatically by 345 days.
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Dowdy, Andrew J., and Graham A. Mills. "Characteristics of lightning-attributed wildland fires in south-east Australia." International Journal of Wildland Fire 21, no. 5 (2012): 521. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf10145.
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Wildland fires attributed to lightning ignitions in Victoria, Australia, are examined systematically through the use of lightning occurrence data. Lightning stroke data were obtained by a network of ground-based lightning detection sensors over a 9-year period. Characteristics of these fires are examined including the temporal variability in the average chance of fire occurrence per lightning stroke and the time period from lightning ignition of a fire until the fire grows large enough to be first observed, as well as distributions of fire duration and total area burnt. It is found that the time of day that lightning occurs does not have a significant influence on the chance of fire per lightning stroke, in contrast to the time of year, for which a significant annual variation occurs. Regional variability is examined by discussing the results for Victoria, Australia, in relation to results of studies from other parts of the world.
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Woinarski, JCZ, C. Brock, A. Fisher, D. Milne, and B. Oliver. "Response of Birds and Reptiles to Fire Regimes on Pastoral Land in the Victoria River District, Northern Territory." Rangeland Journal 21, no. 1 (1999): 24. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/rj9990024.
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Birds and reptiles were censused at two sites of contrasting soil texture (clay, loam) on pastoral land in the Victoria River District, Northern Territory. Both sites comprised 16 plots (each of 2.6 ha) subjected to seven different experimental fire regimes (unburnt, burnt in the early dry season at 2, 4 and 6 year intervals, and burnt in the late dry season at 2, 4 and 6 year intervals) beginning five years before sampling (and thus, not all regimes had been operationally distinct between the onset of the experiment and this sampling). The regimes were deconstructed to four fire factors: the imposed regime, the time since last fire, the number of fires since the inception of the experiment, and the number of hot (=late dry season) fires. Of 30 species recorded from at least four plots, 12 were significantly associated with time since last fire. These responses were mostly to the extremes - some species were associated with the most recently burnt areas, and others occurred mainly in the plots which had been unburnt the longest. Longer- term responses to fire regimes were generally less clearcut, possibly because the relatively short duration of the imposed experimental fire treatments had not yet brought about substantial environmental divergence. Key words: fire regime, tropical savannas, birds, reptiles, diversity.
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Carey, Stephen P., John E. Sherwood, Megan Kay, Ian J. McNiven, and James M. Bowler. "The Moyjil site, south-west Victoria, Australia: stratigraphic and geomorphic context." Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria 130, no. 2 (2018): 14. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/rs18004.
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Shelly deposits at Moyjil (Point Ritchie, Warrnambool), Victoria, together with ages determined from a variety of techniques, have long excited interest in the possibility of a preserved early human influence in far south-eastern Australia. This paper presents a detailed analysis of the stratigraphy of the host Bridgewater Formation (Pleistocene) at Moyjil and provides the context to the shelly deposits, evidence of fire and geochronological sampling. We have identified five superposed calcarenite–palaeosol units in the Bridgewater Formation, together with two prominent erosional surfaces that may have hosted intensive human activity. Part of the sequence is overlain by the Tower Hill Tuff, previously dated as 35 ka. Coastal marine erosion during the Last Interglacial highstand created a horizontal surface on which deposits of stones and shells subsequently accumulated. Parts of the erosional surface and some of the stones are blackened, perhaps by fire. The main shell deposit was formed by probable mass flow, and additional shelly remains are dispersed in the calcareous sand that buried the surface.
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Penman, Trent D., Dan A. Ababei, Jane G. Cawson, Brett A. Cirulis, Thomas J. Duff, William Swedosh, and James E. Hilton. "Effect of weather forecast errors on fire growth model projections." International Journal of Wildland Fire 29, no. 11 (2020): 983. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf19199.
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Fire management agencies use fire behaviour simulation tools to predict the potential spread of a fire in both risk planning and operationally during wildfires. These models are generally based on underlying empirical or quasi-empirical relations and rarely are uncertainties considered. Little attention has been given to the quality of the input data used during operational fire predictions. We examined the extent to which error in weather forecasts can affect fire simulation results. The study was conducted using data representing the State of Victoria in south-eastern Australia, including grassland and forest conditions. Two fire simulator software packages were used to compare fire growth under observed and forecast weather. We found that error in the weather forecast data significantly altered the predicted size and location of fires. Large errors in wind speed and temperature resulted in an overprediction of fire size, whereas large errors in wind direction resulted in an increased spatial error in the fire’s location. As the fire weather intensified, fire predictions using forecast weather under predicted fire size, potentially resulting in greater risks to the community. These results highlight the importance of on-ground intelligence during wildfires and the use of ensembles to improve operational fire predictions.
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BARKER, PHILIP C. J. "Podocarpus lawrencei (Hook. f.): Population structure and fire history at Goonmirk Rocks, Victoria." Austral Ecology 16, no. 2 (June 1991): 149–58. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1442-9993.1991.tb01042.x.
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Harris, Sarah, Graham Mills, and Timothy Brown. "Variability and drivers of extreme fire weather in fire-prone areas of south-eastern Australia." International Journal of Wildland Fire 26, no. 3 (2017): 177. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf16118.
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Most of the life and property losses due to bushfires in south-eastern Australia occur under extreme fire weather conditions – strong winds, high temperatures, low relative humidity (RH) and extended drought. However, what constitutes extreme, and the values of the weather ingredients and their variability, differs regionally. Using a gridded dataset to identify the highest 10 fire weather days from 1972 to 2012, as defined by McArthur’s Forest Fire Danger Index (FFDI), for 24 sites across Victoria and nearby, we analyse the extent and variability of these highest 10 FFDI days, and of the contributing temperature, RH, wind speed, wind direction and drought indices. We document the occurrence of these events by time of day, month of occurrence and inter-annual variability. We find there is considerable variability among regions in the highest FFDI days and also the contributing weather and drought parameters, with some regional groupings apparent. Many major fire events occurred on these highest 10 fire weather days; however there are also days in which extreme fire weather occurred yet no known major fires are recorded. The results from this study will be an additional valuable resource to fire agencies in fire risk planning by basing fire management decisions on site-specific extreme fire weather conditions.
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Cary, Geoffrey J., Wade Blanchard, Claire N. Foster, and David B. Lindenmayer. "Effects of altered fire intervals on critical timber production and conservation values." International Journal of Wildland Fire 30, no. 5 (2021): 322. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf20129.
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Forests exhibit thresholds in disturbance intervals that influence sustainability of production and natural values including sawlog production, species existence and habitat attributes. Fire is a key disturbance agent in temperate forests and frequency of fire is increasing, threatening sustainability of these forest values. We used mechanistically diverse, theoretical fire interval distributions for mountain ash forest in Victoria, Australia, in the recent past and future to estimate the probability of realising: (i) minimum sawlog harvesting rotation time; (ii) canopy species maturation; and (iii) adequate habitat hollows for fauna. The likelihood of realising fire intervals exceeding these key stand age thresholds diminishes markedly for the future fire regime compared with the recent past. For example, we estimate that only one in five future fire intervals will be sufficiently long (~80 years) to grow sawlogs in this forest type, and that the probability of forests developing adequate habitat hollows (~180 years) could be as low as 0.03 (3% of fire intervals). Therefore, there is a need to rethink where sawlogs can be sourced sustainably, such as from fast-growing plantations that can be harvested and then regrown rapidly, and to reserve large areas of existing 80-year-old forest from timber harvesting.
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Bennett, Andrew F., Greg J. Holland, Anna Flanagan, Sarah Kelly, and Michael F. Clarke. "Fire and its interaction with ecological processes in box-ironbark forests." Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria 124, no. 1 (2012): 72. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/rs12072.
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Box-Ironbark forests extend across a swathe of northern Victoria on the inland side of the Great Dividing Range. Although extensively cleared and modified, they support a distinctive suite of plants and animals. Historical fire regimes in this ecosystem are largely unknown, as are the effects of fire on most of the biota. However, knowledge of the ecological attributes of plant species has been used to determine minimum and maximum tolerable fire intervals for this ecosystem to guide current fire management. Here, we consider the potential effects of planned fire in the context of major ecological drivers of the current box-ironbark forests: namely, the climate and physical environment; historical land clearing and fragmentation; and extractive land uses. We outline an experimental management and research project based on application of planned burns in different seasons (autumn, spring) and at different levels of burn cover (patchy, extensive). A range of ecological attributes will be monitored before and after burns to provide better understanding of the landscape-scale effects of fire in box-ironbark forests. Such integration of management and research is essential to address the many knowledge gaps in fire ecology, particularly in the context of massively increased levels of planned burning currently being implemented in Victoria.
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Wilson, BA, and WS Laidlaw. "Habitat characteristics for New Holland mouse Pseudomys novaehollandiae in Victoria." Australian Mammalogy 25, no. 1 (2003): 1. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/am03001.
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Pseudomys novaehollandiae is ‘Endangered’ in Victoria, where it is presently considered to be extant at only three localities Loch Sport, Providence Ponds, and Wilsons Promontory. This study aimed to determine indicators of suitable habitat for the species that could assist in identifying potential habitat and sites for planned re-introductions as part of a recovery program. Vegetation and site data (soils, topography, rainfall, fire age-time since fire) were assessed at localities where P. novaehollandiae was recorded. The species occurred in five structural vegetation groups - open-forest, woodland, heathland, shrubland, grassland, with the most common being open-forest and woodland. Grassland and shrubland were restricted to coastal sand-dunes in south Gippsland. Understorey vegetation at most sites was dominated by sclerophyllous shrubs ranging in cover from 10 - 70%. Classification of quadrats produced eight floristic groups in which the trend was for quadrats to cluster according to geographical location. Ordination confirmed the classification pattern and vector-fitting produced significant correlations between vector points and five variables: species richness, latitude, longitude, fire age and annual rainfall. The study identified a range of vegetation communities where P. novaehollandiae occurs and provided evidence that the species is not restricted to floristically rich and diverse heathlands. The findings can be used to determine further localities with suitable habitat. However, factors other than vegetation are also likely to be important in predicting suitable habitat.
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Sherwood, John E. "The Moyjil site, south-west Victoria, Australia: prologue — of people, birds, shell and fire." Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria 130, no. 2 (2018): 7. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/rs18003.
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Moyjil (also known as Point Ritchie) is the site of an unusual shell deposit in south-west Victoria showing many characteristics of a midden. Earlier research established an age of 60 ka or older for the shell deposit but could not establish whether humans or animals such as seabirds were responsible for its formation. This paper, the first of six in this special issue, summarises the most recent phase (~10 years) of investigations. The site’s age is now fixed as Last Interglacial and following the stage MIS 5e sea-level maximum (i.e. younger than 120–125 ka). Fragmentation and the limited size distribution of the dominant marine shellfish (Lunella undulata syn. Turbo undulatus) confirm the site as a midden. There is also evidence for fire (charcoal and discoloured and fractured stones) and two hearth-like features, one of which has been archaeologically excavated. None of the evidence collected is able to conclusively demonstrate a human versus animal origin for the site. Significantly, a human origin remains to be disproved. These papers provide the basis for a new phase of research into the possible cultural status of the Moyjil site.
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HEAD, LESLEY. "Holocene vegetation, fire and environmental history of the Discovery Bay region, south-western Victoria." Austral Ecology 13, no. 1 (March 1988): 21–49. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1442-9993.1988.tb01415.x.
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May, Tom W., and Sapphire J. M. Mcmullan-Fisher. "Don’t be afraid of the f-word: prospects for integrating fungi into biodiversity monitoring." Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria 124, no. 1 (2012): 79. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/rs12079.
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Fungi are diverse and functionally significant components of ecosystems yet are omitted from current ecological monitoring in Victoria, especially in relation to fire. The taxonomic and morphological diversity of fungi complicates identification but sampling by molecular profiling is now a practical alternative to specialised and time-consuming methods of culturing and fruit-body survey. Suggestions are provided to guide the implementation of ecological monitoring of fungi.
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Gill, A. Malcolm. "Fire regimes, biodiversity conservation and prescribed-burning programs." Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria 124, no. 1 (2012): 1. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/rs12001.
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In the trend towards the domestication, or taming, of fire regimes in Victoria, Australia, the level of prescribed burning has been stepped up due to a recommendation from the 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission. While prescribed burning programs may be instituted for a number of reasons, especially the protection of life and property, they have consequences for the conservation of biodiversity. Not all vegetation types can be prescribed burned because the weather does not always allow it to occur under safe working conditions; where prescribed burning programs are carried out, unplanned fires may still occur. Thus, the general issue is the effect on biodiversity of both prescribed and unplanned fires, neither alone. Here, the importance to biodiversity conservation of all the components of the fire regime– interval, season, intensity and type (peat fire or otherwise) – and their domain of variability is emphasized. If conservation of biodiversity is to be guaranteed in a changing fire world, then much more knowledge about the systems being managed, gained in large part through effective monitoring, is needed. Issues such as targets and some assumptions of management are addressed here.
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Bowler, Jim M., David M. Price, John E. Sherwood, and Stephen P. Carey. "The Moyjil site, south-west Victoria, Australia: fire and environment in a 120,000-year coastal midden — nature or people?" Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria 130, no. 2 (2018): 71. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/rs18007.
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At Moyjil (Point Ritchie), a cliffed site at the mouth of the Hopkins River at Warrnambool, south-eastern Australia, an erosional disconformity of Last Interglacial age on both a rock stack and the adjacent headland represents a surface of possible human occupation. Shells of edible marine molluscs occur on the disconformity, together with a distinctive population of transported stones derived from a calcrete of MIS 7 age and bearing variable dark grey to near-black colouration suggestive of fire. Experimental fire produced similar thermal alteration of calcrete. A strong correlation exists between intensity and depth of dark staining on one hand and increased magnetic susceptibility on the other. Thermal luminescence analyses of blackened stones provide ages in the MIS 5e range, 100–130 ka, consistent with independent stratigraphic evidence and contemporaneous with the age of the surface on which they lie. The distribution of fire-darkened stones is inconsistent with wildfire effects. Two hearth-like features closely associated with the disconformity provide further indications of potential human agency. The data are consistent with the suggestion of human presence at Warrnambool during the Last Interglacial.
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Morgan, J. W. "Relationship between fire frequency and nitrogen limitation on foliage production in a native grassland community in Victoria, Australia." Rangeland Journal 29, no. 1 (2007): 101. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/rj06046.
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The relationship between fire frequency (annual v. infrequent) and nitrogen (N) limitation to foliage production in a temperate native grassland community in western Victoria, Australia, was assessed over one growing season using a simple ammonium nitrate addition experiment. Fire history affected the magnitude of the vegetation responses to N addition. At the community level, mean live biomass in infrequently-burned grasslands declined by 20 ± 8% in response to N addition. In contrast, mean biomass increased by 60 ± 15% in annually-burned grasslands in response to N addition. Both grasses and forbs responded positively to N addition in annually-burned grasslands, with forbs responding more substantially than grasses. Foliage production in annually-burned native grasslands therefore appears to be constrained by N availability. The results of this study may have important implications for understanding species coexistence and invasion by non-native species in temperate native grasslands.
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McLennan, Jim, Glenn Elliott, and Mary Omodei. "Householder decision-making under imminent wildfire threat: stay and defend or leave?" International Journal of Wildland Fire 21, no. 7 (2012): 915. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf11061.
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The study examined aspects of decision-making that distinguish between those who stay and defend their property and those who leave for an assumed safer location when a community comes under imminent threat from a severe wildfire. The data were obtained from field interviews with 49 survivors of the Murrindindi wildfire (Victoria, Australia, 7 February 2009) in which 38 people perished and that destroyed the small township of Marysville. Uncertainty about the level of threat was a major feature of the decision-making context in the period immediately preceding the impact of the fire. The majority of those who stayed and defended did so because they were committed to this plan of action. For most of those who left, the action of leaving was triggered by realisation of the severe threat posed by the intensity or location of the fire.
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Russell-Smith, Jeremy, Cameron Yates, Andrew Edwards, Grant E. Allan, Garry D. Cook, Peter Cooke, Ron Craig, Belinda Heath, and Richard Smith. "Contemporary fire regimes of northern Australia, 1997 - 2001: change since Aboriginal occupancy, challenges for sustainable management." International Journal of Wildland Fire 12, no. 4 (2003): 283. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf03015.
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Considerable research has been undertaken over the past two decades to apply remote sensing to the study of fire regimes across the savannas of northern Australia. This work has focused on two spatial scales of imagery resolution: coarse-resolution NOAA-AVHRR imagery for savanna-wide assessments both of the daily distribution of fires ('hot spots'), and cumulative mapping of burnt areas ('fire-scars') over the annual cycle; and fine-resolution Landsat imagery for undertaking detailed assessments of regional fire regimes. Importantly, substantial effort has been given to the validation of fire mapping products at both scales of resolution. At the savanna-wide scale, fire mapping activities have established that: (1) contrary to recent perception, from a national perspective the great majority of burning in any one year typically occurs in the tropical savannas; (2) the distribution of burning across the savannas is very uneven, occurring mostly in sparsely settled, higher rainfall, northern coastal and subcoastal regions (north-west Kimberley, Top End of the Northern Territory, around the Gulf of Carpentaria) across a variety of major land uses (pastoral, conservation, indigenous); whereas (3) limited burning is undertaken in regions with productive soils supporting more intensive pastoral management, particularly in Queensland; and (4) on a seasonal basis, most burning occurs in the latter half of the dry season, typically as uncontrolled wildfire. Decadal fine-resolution fire histories have also been assembled from multi-scene Landsat imagery for a number of fire-prone large properties (e.g. Kakadu and Nitmiluk National Parks) and local regions (e.g. Sturt Plateau and Victoria River District, Northern Territory). These studies have facilitated more refined description of various fire regime parameters (fire extent, seasonality, frequency, interval, patchiness) and, as dealt with elsewhere in this special issue, associated ecological assessments. This paper focuses firstly on the patterning of contemporary fire regimes across the savanna landscapes of northern Australia, and then addresses the implications of these data for our understanding of changes in fire regime since Aboriginal occupancy, and implications of contemporary patterns on biodiversity and emerging greenhouse issues.
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Jones, S. D., M. F. Garvey, and G. J. Hunter. "Where's the fire? Quantifying uncertainty in a wildfire threat model." International Journal of Wildland Fire 13, no. 1 (2004): 17. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf02050.
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Models of wildfire threat are often used in the management of fire-prone areas for purposes such as planning fire education campaigns and the deployment of fire prevention and suppression resources. While the use of spatial or geographic data is common to all wildfire threat models, the key question arises: Is the accuracy of the spatial data used in wildfire threat models sufficient for the intended decision-making purpose? To help answer this question, a quantitative uncertainty assessment technique was applied to a wildfire threat model used by the Country Fire Authority in Victoria, Australia. The technique simulates known or estimated spatial data error by modifying data values to represent the range of all probable errors present in the input dataset. The wildfire threat model is then run multiple times using these modified ‘error’ layers in order to simulate and observe the effect these errors have on the model outputs. For the model concerned, the results suggest that errors in digital elevation surfaces have only minimal impact upon the outputs, resulting in relatively stable wildfire management decisions. On the other hand inaccuracies in land cover maps (with implied differences in fuel load estimations) result in larger changes in the model outputs, whereas changes in fire weather data can result in highly unstable outputs. Knowledge of these effects can facilitate better wildfire management since any improvements that are to be made to the model’s accuracy can be focussed directly upon the problem datasets.
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Williams, Richard J., Carl-Henrik Wahren, Arn D. Tolsma, Glenn M. Sanecki, Warwick A. Papst, Bronwyn A. Myers, Keith L. McDougall, Dean A. Heinze, and Ken Green. "Large fires in Australian alpine landscapes: their part in the historical fire regime and their impacts on alpine biodiversity." International Journal of Wildland Fire 17, no. 6 (2008): 793. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf07154.
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The fires of summer 2003 in south-eastern Australia burnt tens of thousands of hectares of treeless alpine landscape. Here, we examine the environmental impact of these fires, using data from the Bogong High Plains area of Victoria, and the Snowy Mountains region of New South Wales. Historical and biophysical evidence suggests that in Australian alpine environments, extensive fires occur only in periods of extended regional drought, and when severe local fire weather coincides with multiple ignitions in the surrounding montane forests. Dendrochronological evidence indicates that large fires have occurred approximately every 50–100 years over the past 400 years. Post-fire monitoring of vegetation in grasslands and heathlands indicates that most alpine species regenerate rapidly after fire, with >90% of species present 1 year after fire. Some keystone species in some plant communities, however, had not regenerated after 3 years. The responses of alpine fauna to the 2003 fires were variable. The core habitat (closed heathland) of several vulnerable small mammals was extensively burnt. Some mammals experienced substantial falls in populations, others experienced substantial increases. Unburnt patches of vegetation are critical to faunal recovery from fire. There was, however, no evidence of local extinction. We conclude that infrequent extensive fires are a feature of alpine Australia. For both the flora and fauna, there is no quantitative evidence that the 2003 fires were an ecological disaster, and we conclude that the flora and fauna of alpine Australia are highly resilient to infrequent, large, intense fires.
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Holmes, Alexander W., Christoph Rüdiger, Sarah Harris, and Nigel Tapper. "Determining the minimum sampling frequency for ground measurements of burn severity." International Journal of Wildland Fire 27, no. 6 (2018): 387. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf17055.
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Understanding burn severity is essential to provide an overview of the precursory conditions leading to fires as well as understanding the constraints placed on fire management services when mitigating their effects. Determining the minimum sampling frequency for ground measurements is not only essential for accurately assessing burn severity, but also for fire managers to better allocate resources and reduce the time and costs associated with sampling. In this study, field sampling methods for assessing burn severity are analysed statistically for 10 burn sites across Victoria, Australia, with varying spatial extents, topography and vegetation. Random and transect sampling methods are compared against each other using a Monte Carlo simulation to determine the minimum sample size needed for a difference of 0.02 (2%) in the severity classes proportions relative to the population proportions. We show that, on average, transect sampling requires a sampling rate of 3.16% compared with 0.59% for random sampling. We also find that sites smaller than 400 ha require a sampling rate of between 1.4 and 2.8 times that of sites larger than 400 ha to achieve the same error. The information obtained from this study will assist fire managers to better allocate resources for assessing burn severity.
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TOLHURST, KEVIN G., and MARK BURGMAN. "Simulation of bracken cover in forested areas in Victoria in response to season, overstorey and fire conditions." Austral Ecology 19, no. 3 (September 1994): 306–18. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1442-9993.1994.tb00494.x.
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Curtis, N. Peter. "A Post-fire Ecological Study of Xanthorrhoea australis Following Prescribed Burning in the Warby Range State Park, North-eastern Victoria, Australia." Australian Journal of Botany 46, no. 2 (1998): 253. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/bt97018.
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Xanthorrhoea australis R.Br. is considered a fire-tolerant species, a statement evidently based on established adaptive traits rather than fire recorded studies. This two-year post-fire study of X. australis in areas that have been subjected to prescribed burning in 1976 and 1991 compares results with a site unburnt for about 100 years. In the sites burnt in 1991, arborescent plants had a mortality of between 10% and 40% (average 21%), with highest mortality in the youngest and oldest plants, and in the site with the lowest plant density. In the site burnt in 1976, plants were still dying. Mortality of plants in the unburnt site was 4%. Flowering in the first post-fire spring varied from 0–100% throughout the size classes, with no flowering observed in plants smaller than 0.5 m. In the unburnt sites and the 1976 burnt sites, where understorey protected seedlings, recruitment was significantly higher (P < 0.001) than in the areas burnt in 1991 that had little ground cover. Plants with severe burn damage to stems at ground level often developed leans (P < 0.001) that were more often opposite to the burnt side (P < 0.001). Leans increased from 2.5˚ to 35˚, and some plants continued to grow, lying horizontally. In all fire sites the horizontal plants had a mortality of 44–92% compared with 29% for those in the unburnt site. In some sites, particularly in areas of high soil moisture, 3–10% of plants developed epicormic shoots after their stems fractured, or their shoot apices died. The study showed that fire has a long-term deleterious effect on large plants of this species. These data should be taken into account by authorities engaged in prescribed burning in forests with significant stands of this species.
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Brown, Geoff W., Peter Robertson, and Ben G. Fanson. "Digging in: a review of the ecology and management of a threatened reptile with a small disjunct distribution – the heath skink, Liopholis multiscutata, in Victoria, south-eastern Australia." Pacific Conservation Biology 25, no. 3 (2019): 222. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/pc17057.
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The central issue for species that are highly localised habitat specialists and occur in relatively small numbers is vulnerability to extinction processes. The heath skink, Liopholis multiscutata, is considered Critically Endangered in Victoria, in part because it is restricted to essentially four small and highly disjunct populations in semiarid mallee dunefields. It provides an example of a rare and cryptic species that is especially vulnerable to decline and consequently provides management challenges. Here, we crystallise available information on the ecology and life history of this threatened lizard, and review monitoring data to evaluate population status, primary threats and management imperatives. There has been a substantial decrease across the known range of the lizard in Victoria, most likely due to predation and fire. Recent monitoring of the four potentially viable populations revealed a general trend of decline. Recommendations for research and management priorities for the lizard in Victoria are provided; generally, these include further exploration of the lizard’s phylogeny and ecology, and ongoing monitoring of the trajectory of the lizard’s population status, threats to the lizard’s persistence and the effectiveness of management actions employed to ameliorate extinction threats.
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Chessman, BC. "Impact of the 1983 wildfires on river water quality in East Gippsland, Victoria." Marine and Freshwater Research 37, no. 3 (1986): 399. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/mf9860399.
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Eleven stream stations within the basins of the Bemm, Cann, Thurra, Wingan and Genoa Rivers were sampled during a 3-month interval following a prolonged drought and intense and extensive forest fires. Emphasis was placed on flows resulting from three major storms that occurred during this period. Water-quality impacts of the fires were intermingled with those of the preceding drought, and flow- related comparisons with pre-drought data showed appreciable increases in colour, turbidity, suspended solids, potassium and nitrogen levels in the Bemm River, which was only marginally affected by the fires. In the Cann and Genoa Rivers, with much larger proportions of catchment burnt, electrical conductivity and phosphorus concentrations also rose substantially. Marked depletion of dissolved oxygen (to <6 mg I-1) was unique to streams with burnt catchments, but resulted from stagnant conditions at the end of the drought as well as from changes occurring at the time of the first post-fire storm. The fires had little obvious effect on temperature and pH regimes. Peak turbidities and concentrations of suspended solids and phosphorus were much greater in the Cann and Genoa river systems than elsewhere. Maximum values for these indicators were 130 NTU, 2300 mg I-1 and over 0.8 mg I-1, respectively. In the Thurra and Wingan basins, which were also burnt, stream suspended-solids levels were lower (<200 mg I-1), but solutes sometimes reached very high maxima (indicated by peak electrical conductivities of up to 110 mS m-1). Variations in catchment topography and soils and the relative importance of surface and subsurface flow probably account for these differences. The first post-fire storm produced the highest measured levels of many indicators in most streams, although the greatest flows were associated with the third storm. Nitrite and ammonia were notable exceptions to this generalization. Estimates of catchment exports indicated high sediment yields and moderate to high phosphorus yields from the Cann and Genoa catchments, by comparison with other Australian data.
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Burns, Phoebe A., Karen M. C. Rowe, Benjamin P. Holmes, and Kevin C. Rowe. "Historical resurveys reveal persistence of smoky mouse (Pseudomys fumeus) populations over the long-term and through the short-term impacts of fire." Wildlife Research 42, no. 8 (2015): 668. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wr15096.
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Context Range contractions are often the first indicator that a species is in decline. However, natural population fluctuations, characteristic of many Australian rodents, make differentiating between natural lows and unsustainable declines challenging. The endangered smoky mouse (Pseudomys fumeus) is a prime example. Surveys have failed to detect the species across much of its range over the past decade, but P. fumeus is known to experience fluctuations in abundance and periods of low detectability. Aims We compared past and current distributions of P. fumeus in the Victoria Range, Grampians–Gariwerd National Park (Victoria, Australia), to assess long-term population persistence over 40 years and short-term population persistence following a high-severity fire. Methods To evaluate the efficacy of surveys in detecting P. fumeus, we conducted analyses to explicitly model detectability using historical (1974, 2002) and modern (2013) survey data. We also tested the short-term impacts of fire on the presence of P. fumeus by surveying burned and unburned sites 3 months prior to, and 7 to 21 months following, a severe wildfire. Key results Our surveys detected P. fumeus at five new sites, confirmed presence at one historical site, and absence from two historical sites. The species persisted in situ through fire, and for at least 21 months following. We detected resident populations in burned and unburned wet drainage systems. Conclusions Despite periods of low density in which the species was undetected, P. fumeus persisted in an 8 km radius area of the eastern escarpment of Victoria Range of the Grampians–Gariwerd National Park for at least four decades through droughts, the presence of invasive predators, and the short-term impacts of wildfire. Implications Although P. fumeus persisted through a severe fire, factors influencing survival must be assessed before generalisations are made about the impacts of wildfire on the species. Management of P. fumeus should recognise that the species survives and breeds in wet drainage systems. Regular resurveys incorporating statistical estimates of detectability are necessary to identify and track distributional changes of threatened species, like P. fumeus, particularly in the context of natural, sustainable fluctuations.
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Olsen, Christine S., and Emily Sharp. "Building community–agency trust in fire-affected communities in Australia and the United States." International Journal of Wildland Fire 22, no. 6 (2013): 822. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf12086.
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As a result of the increasing environmental and social costs of wildfire, fire management agencies face ever-growing complexity in their management decisions and interactions with the public. The success of these interactions with community members may be facilitated through building community–agency trust in the process of providing public input opportunities and community engagement and education activities. Without trust, the public may become frustrated in their interactions with the agency and withhold support for management decisions. This study takes a comparative case approach using interview data from communities near the King Valley fires in Victoria, Australia, and the Bear & Booth Complex fires in Oregon, USA. Several themes emerge that are common to both sites, including components of trustworthiness and actions or activities that contribute to a trusting relationship or environment. Key findings suggest trust and trustworthiness can be addressed interpersonally and institutionally and that flexible policies are important for implementation of locally appropriate outreach and management plans.
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Crase, Beth, Ian D. Cowie, and Carrie R. Michell. "Distribution and conservation status of the rare plants Melaleuca triumphalis and Stenostegia congesta (Myrtaceae), Victoria River district, northern Australia." Australian Journal of Botany 54, no. 7 (2006): 641. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/bt05159.
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Targeted searches of approximately 150 km of cliff lines for two rare sandstone shrubs, Melaleuca triumphalis Craven and Stenostegia congesta A.R.Bean, thought to be restricted to the Victoria River gorge system within Gregory National Park, increased the number of known populations from 3 and 6 to 31 and 37, respectively. Both species occur predominantly in rocky and often fire-protected niches on sandstone cliffs and scree slopes, and are frequently associated with permanent drip-lines and seepage areas. Although their broad habitat requirements are similar, the two species do occur in slightly different niches. The data presented here suggest that M. triumphalis is reasonably fire tolerant, whereas S. congesta appears to be more fire sensitive. Weeds and introduced animals are not thought to pose a threat to these rare species. Models developed using remotely sensed and landscape-scale data (digital elevation models, radiometrics, geology and distance to rivers and streams) suggest that these species may also occur outside Gregory National Park in other areas of the Northern Territory such as on Bullo River and Bradshaw stations and in Keep River National Park. It is suggested that both species be regarded as Vulnerable under the IUCN guidelines.
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McDougall, Keith L. "Grazing and fire in two subalpine peatlands." Australian Journal of Botany 55, no. 1 (2007): 42. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/bt06096.
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The floristic composition and structure of peatland vegetation in adjoining subalpine catchments of the Bogong High Plains (north-eastern Victoria) were monitored between 1979 and 2006. Grazing by cattle had been excluded from one catchment since 1946, when it was fenced. Peatland vegetation in both catchments was partially burnt in a wildfire in 2003. Between 1979 and 1999, in the ungrazed peatland, the cover of Sphagnum cristatum Hampe and Baeckea gunniana Schauer increased and the cover of pools decreased, whereas in the grazed peatland the cover of B. gunniana and Epacris paludosa R.Br. decreased and the cover of Empodisma minus (Hook.f.) L.A.S.Johnson & D.F.Cutler increased. The cover of all recorded species decreased following a fire in 2003. Between 2004 and 2006, a significant increase in cover was detected in two of eight species measured in burnt areas. In burnt areas, the number of native species per quadrat increased in the grazed peatland and the numbers of exotic species per quadrat increased in both peatlands over that period. By 2006, the peatlands had largely recovered floristically from the 2003 fires but it is likely to be decades before the cover of S. cristatum and Richea continentis B.L.Burtt. reaches pre-fire levels. Control of several exotic species that established after the fire (especially Salix cinerea L. and Juncus spp.) may be required.
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Miller, Claire, Matt Plucinski, Andrew Sullivan, Alec Stephenson, Carolyn Huston, Kay Charman, Mahesh Prakash, and Simon Dunstall. "Electrically caused wildfires in Victoria, Australia are over-represented when fire danger is elevated." Landscape and Urban Planning 167 (November 2017): 267–74. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2017.06.016.
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Comino, E., B. P. Miller, and N. J. Enright. "Soil seedbanks in natural and restored boxironbark forests at Stawell Gold Mine, Victoria." Pacific Conservation Biology 10, no. 1 (2004): 9. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/pc040009.
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Natural communities have the capacity to regenerate themselves, and this functional ecosystem attribute must be regarded as a key indicator of success for revegetation programmes. The accumulation of species (and individuals) as dormant propagules in a soil seedbank, representing potential future states for the vegetation, is one possible index of revegetation success. Here, we investigate the soil seedbanks for five natural vegetation (Box-Ironbark forest) remnants, a topsoil stockpile and three revegetated mine-site areas associated with gold mining at Stawell (Victoria, Australia). The revegetation efforts largely date from 1987 and, in terms of their composition and structure, are relatively similar to natural vegetation remnants. Soil samples were treated with heat or smoke (plus control) and were monitored for seedling emergence, species composition and density in the glasshouse for 150 days. Seedling densities in treated seedbank samples were high (2 200 to 17 500 seedlings m-2) while species richness was low, ranging from 10 to 20 species per sample. Exotic species made up 22?61 % of emergents and 33?50% of species observed. Correlation of seedbank composition and density with chemical attributes of soils, and with above ground (extant) vegetation at sites showed few significant relationships. Total species richness and the proportion of exotic species varied significantly between natural bushland remnants and revegetation areas. Richness was highest, and the proportion of exotic species was lowest in natural bushland samples. Total emergent numbers and the density of exotic emergents did not vary significantly between remnant bushland and revegetation areas. Declining vigour of some woody species in revegetation sites that are well represented in the seedbank, including Acacia pycnantha and A. genistifolia, indicates that the reintroduction of fire might be an appropriate management practice to facilitate long-term recovery of a functional community on these revegetated surfaces, but the potential for the establishment of weed species from the seed-bank following fire may pose a challenge to management.
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Stevens, Mike, John White, and Raylene Cooke. "Short-term impact of a mega-fire on small mammal communities during prolonged drought." Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria 124, no. 1 (2012): 61. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/rs12061.
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Increased size, severity and frequency of wildfire is predicted as a consequence of prolonged droughts associated with climate change. In south-eastern Australia severe landscape-scale wildfires (mega-fires) have elicited a strong anthropocentric response due to the significant life and property impacts. However, the impact of mega-fires on fauna, habitat and subsequent management actions are poorly understood. Small mammals were surveyed to examine mega-fire impact using the post-2006 wildfire landscape of the Grampians National Park, Victoria, Australia. Long-term research sites were established with 9620 trap nights completed in autumn 2008 across thirty-six sampling units. Vegetation structure, floristics, fire severity, patch size and overall fuel hazard were measured to investigate correlations with changes in small mammal abundance.Two years post-wildfire, rapid resurgence of house mouse (Mus musculus) was detected, conversely the abundance of native small mammal species was severely impacted. No sampling category within the burnt perimeter provided superior refuge presenting potential conservation implications. A habitat vacancy model is introduced where small mammal recolonisation post-wildfire depends on a lack of isolation and connectivity of populations. Floristic and structural contributions of vegetation to higher overall fuel hazard areas are essential in maintaining diverse fauna assemblages. As such, prescribed burning or fire suppression tactics such as ‘patching out’ or ‘burning out’ require consideration when contributing to further reduction of complex habitat patches following fires.
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Gill, AM, and A. Mcmahon. "A Postfire Chronosequence of Cone, Follicle and Seed Production in Banksia ornata." Australian Journal of Botany 34, no. 4 (1986): 425. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/bt9860425.
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The fire-sensitive shrub Banksia ornata relies on seed stored in serotinous 'cones' for its regeneration. Seed release takes place largely as a result of fire but a very small percentage of fruits may open spontaneously. In a chronosequence studied in heaths of the Little Desert of north-western Victoria, we found no seedling establishment in the absence of fire except in the oldest stand, dated at 50+ years since fire. Seed quantity was low in stands 6-7 years old but rose to a peak in the 38-year-old stand. The decline of seed quantity in the 50+ year-old stand was due to dieback and death of bushes. There was no evidence for an increase in the proportion of seeds predated with age of stand. An average of about 70% of the seed was regarded as 'intact' (no sign of damage) and about 80% of these seeds germinated under ideal laboratory conditions. It was estimated that the amount of seed available for regeneration increased with stand age up to 38 years but declined by 50+ years. It was suggested that a period of 16 years without fire could be needed to achieve stand replacement of populations of this species. The age at which full replacement can be achieved will vary, however, according to fire intensity and seasonal weather conditions. Further quantitative research is needed.
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Foreman, Paul. "The 1840 Western Port journey and Aboriginal fire history in the grassy ecosystems of lowland, mesic south-eastern Australia." Australian Journal of Botany 68, no. 4 (2020): 320. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/bt19088.
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The historic influence of human fire and the role of ‘top-down’ vs ‘bottom-up’ drivers on ecosystems globally is highly contested, and our knowledge of regime diversity is poor. This paper uses an early European account as a case study to describe Aboriginal fire history in south-eastern Australia based on links between fire and: grasslands, native foods and culture. The route and observations detailed in Assistant Protector William Thomas’ 1840 account of a journey led by Aborigines to Western Port, Victoria, were overlayed with grass-tree boundaries compiled from historic plans. The narrative provides direct evidence of up to moderate-scale and intensity burns (with minimal fine-scale patchiness), undertaken in the height of the dry season, opportunistically linked to rainfall. The fires targeted open grassy ‘plains’ to maintain and access preferred hunter-gathering grounds. A synthesis of the earliest records supports high frequency anthropogenic burning maintaining alternative vegetation states with dynamic boundaries on elevated alluvial plains and, in places, adjoining swamps. The narrative represents an important primary source for studying traditional society, including the description of a local historic fire regime (‘koyuga burning’). Establishing such a fire regime ‘benchmark’ has the potential to stimulate new interdisciplinary research around the complex processes controlling grass-tree patterns, and build confidence that fire-stick farming was potentially instrumental in grassland formation, and integral to grassland maintenance throughout this region.
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Harris, JM, and RL Goldingay. "Distribution, habitat and conservation status of the eastern pygmy-possum Cercartetus nanus in Victoria." Australian Mammalogy 27, no. 2 (2005): 185. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/am05185.
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We review the distribution, habitat and conservation status of the eastern pygmy-possum (Cercartetus nanus) in Victoria. Data on the habitat occurrences and rates of detection were gleaned from 133 published and unpublished fauna surveys conducted from 1968 to 2003 in Gippsland; northern Victoria; the Melbourne area and south-western region. C. nanus was reported from a broad range of vegetation communities, which predominantly included a dense mid-storey of shrubs rich in nectar-producing species such as those from the families Proteaceae and Myrtaceae. Survey effort using a range of methods was immense across surveys: 305,676 Elliott/cage trap-nights, 49,582 pitfall trap-nights, 18,331 predator remains analysed, 4424 spotlight hours, and 7346 hair-sampling devices deployed, 1005 trees stagwatched, and 5878 checks of installed nest-boxes. The surveys produced 434 records of C. nanus, with Elliott/cage trapping, pitfall trapping and analysis of predator remains responsible for the vast majority of records (93%). These data and those from the Atlas of Victorian Wildlife indicate that although C. nanus has a widespread distribution in Victoria, it is rarely observed or trapped in fauna surveys. Only 11 (8%) of the surveys we reviewed detected >10 individuals. C. nanus is likely to be sensitive to several recognised threatening processes in Victoria (e.g., feral predators, high frequency fire, feral honeybees). There is also evidence of range declines in several regions, which suggests that the species is vulnerable to extinction. Therefore, we recommend that it be nominated as a threatened species in Victoria.
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Hoffmann, Benjamin D. "Responses of ant communities to experimental fire regimes on rangelands in the Victoria River District of the Northern Territory." Austral Ecology 28, no. 2 (April 2003): 182–95. http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1442-9993.2003.01267.x.
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Ashton, DH, and JA Chappill. "Secondary Succession in Post-Fire Scrub Dominated by Acacia verticillata (L'hérit) Willd at Wilsons Promontory, Victoria." Australian Journal of Botany 37, no. 1 (1989): 1. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/bt9890001.
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Senescence and death of 30-year-old post-fire Acacia verticillata scrub in areas originally supporting sclerophyll eucalypt forest were studied over a 6-year period at Wilsons Promontory, Victoria. The potential for eucalypt regeneration was also examined. On drier sites, A. verticillata has been replaced by drought-resistant Kunzea ambigua while on wet sites it has been replaced by waterlogging-tolerant Melaleuca ericifolia. In mid slopes A. verticillata is regenerating from soil seed in gaps in the field layer of Pteridium esculentum and Goodenia ovata and forming a patchy, uneven-aged stand. The composition of the mid-slope community is determined by the relative resistance of species to browsing and grazing. The failure of eucalypts to reclaim the scrub areas at this critical time has been due to poor seed crops, seed harvesting by ants and intense selective browsing. Exclosure plots have demonstrated the importance of herbivory in modifying this vegetation and indicate potential means of reafforestation without the intervention of fire.
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Budd, GM, JR Brotherhood, AL Hendrie, SE Jeffery, FA Beasley, BP Costin, W. Zhien, MM Baker, NP Cheney, and MP Dawson. "Project Aquarius 1. Stress, Strain, and Productivity in Men Suppressing Australian Summer Bushfires With Hand Tools: Background, Objectives, and Methods." International Journal of Wildland Fire 7, no. 2 (1997): 69. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf9970069.
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This is the first in a series of 13 papers about the safety and productivity of firefighters suppressing wildland fires ('bushfires' in Australia) with hand tools, with particular emphasis on their physiological and subjective responses and the factors that influence them. The measurements were made during a broader investigation to determine the most intense fire that could be suppressed by hand tools, by bulldozers, and by air tankers. The investigation was carried out during three successive summers in dry eucalypt forests of Western Australia and Victoria. Four crews, each of 7 or 8 male firefighters, were studied while they attempted, for periods of 35-220 minutes, to suppress well-developed experimental bushfires with hand tools, and also while they built fireline in the same way without fire. Additional studies were made under controlled conditions: outdoors in the forest, indoors in field laboratories, and in a climatic chamber in Sydney. Most of the measurements were also made on the scientific observers, who shared the firefighters' environment but performed less strenuous work. All findings were highly consistent over the four crews, three summers, and two States and are thus generally applicable to bushfire suppression with hand tools in southern Australia.
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Ashton, DH, and DG Martin. "Regeneration in a Pole-Stage Forest of Eucalyptus regnans Subjected to Different Fire Intensities in 1982." Australian Journal of Botany 44, no. 4 (1996): 393. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/bt9960393.
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In 1982, fire burnt stands of Eucalyptus regnans F.Muell. in a relatively dry site in Victoria. In one area, the fire killed both canopy and understorey; in an adjacent area, only understorey was destroyed. Regeneration in the two areas was similar over the following year, but diverged thereafter to produce understoreys with different species dominance. In both stands, a poor supply of mature E. regnans seed in the crowns at the time of the fire resulted in relatively low initial density of seedlings: in the firekilled stand, this meant that closure of the canopy of the stratum was delayed for 5 or 6 years; however, in the understorey-killed stand, none of the E. regnans seedlings survived for 2 years. The soil seed bank was reduced more severely in the fire-killed than in the understorey-killed stand, although not all seed germinated in the first year. Vegetative regeneration of herbs and shrubs occurred from shallower layers of soil in the understorey-killed than in the fire-killed stand. An increase in soil fertility after the fire, as measured by seedling bioassay, was apparent only in the first season after the fire and was correlated with higher levels of available P. In the understorey-killed stand, fertility in the topsoil was greater than that in the fire-killed stand, and growth in diameter at breast height of dominant trees was significantly greater than in adjacent unburnt stands in the first few years after the fire. By comparison, when fire burnt through a site of higher rainfall after the maturation of the current crop of canopy-stored seed, regeneration was initially denser and growth considerably greater than that in the drier site. The study demonstrated that the course of secondary succession depends on site quality, timing of the fire in relation to seed production, soil seed germination, vegetative growth from protected organs, the severity of the fire, the presence or absence of browsing, and, in the long term, the frequency of recurrent fire.
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Coates, Fiona, and Michael Duncan. "Demographic variation between populations of Caladenia orientalis - a fire-managed threatened orchid." Australian Journal of Botany 57, no. 4 (2009): 326. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/bt08144.
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Caladenia orientalis (G.W.Carr) Hopper & A.P.Br. is a critically endangered orchid. The largest known populations are confined to fire-managed coastal heathland in southern Victoria. Trends in population dynamics at two closely occurring sites were evaluated against time since fire and rainfall, between 2000 and 2008, to provide ecological and biological information relevant to population management. At both sites, decreased plant size was inversely correlated with time since fire and the number of non-reproductive plants was positively correlated with time since fire. Rates of flowering were inversely correlated with time since fire at only one site (Population 2). The vegetation at this site rapidly accumulated after fire, whereas recovery was relatively slow at the other site. Rainfall was not correlated with rates of flowering or leaf width at either of the study sites, although there was a weak inverse relationship between rainfall and the number of non-reproductive plants at one site (Population 1). Rates of pollen transport and fruit set were within reported ranges for deceptive species. Fruiting plants were significantly smaller in the following year, whereas non-reproductive plants remained the same size. The results suggest that there may be costs associated with reproductive effort, and that hand-pollinating plants to boost seed production may lead to decreased plant size in the following year. Annual variation in rates of flowering may be influenced by previous reproductive effort. However, long-term population trends are better explained by competition from dominant shrubs, which become increasingly abundant with a lack of fire. Future management prescriptions should include site-specific fire regimes to maintain an open heathland.
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Lock, M. L., and B. A. Wilson. "The distribution of the New Holland mouse (Pseudomys novaehollandiae) with respect to vegetation near Anglesea, Victoria." Wildlife Research 26, no. 4 (1999): 565. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wr97050.
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The distribution and abundance of the New Holland mouse (Pseudomys novaehollandiae) was assessed at Anglesea, Victoria, between February 1995 and October 1996. Twenty sites were trapped within the Forest Road Flora Reserve during April and May 1995. The twenty sites were distributed over four vegetation communities, and four successional post-fire ages. Pseudomys novaehollandiaewas found at only four sites, two located in heathy woodland vegetation, and two within a regenerating pine plantation. All four sites had a post-fire age of 7-9 years. Sites inhabited by P. novaehollandiae were found to have a high floristic richness of heath plants, and density of the understorey vegetation was greatest at a level below 20 cm. The population density of P. novaehollandiae was found to be high (10-20 ha-1 ) during early 1995 but declined after June 1995 to 3-10 ha-1 . Home ranges of males and females were similar and overlap occurred amongst individuals at the four sites, indicating that the populations on the four grids formed a single contiguous population.
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Hamilton, SD, AC Lawrie, P. Hopmans, and BV Leonard. "Effects of Fuel-Reduction Burning on a Eucalyptus obliqua Forest Ecosystem in Victoria." Australian Journal of Botany 39, no. 3 (1991): 203. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/bt9910203.
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An autumn fuel-reduction burn of low intensity (200-250 kW m-1) was performed in a Eucalyptus obliqua forest near Gembrook, Victoria. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of a single burn on floristics, biomass, N content and N2 fixation. The fire burnt 50% of the area in a mosaic pattern, significantly reducing understorey vegetation cover (by 90%) and plant density (by 70%) in burnt areas immediately after the fire. Understorey cover was restored to 40% of the original value 1 year later, but 33% of the understorey species were still absent from burnt areas. In the whole site mosaic, biomass declined by 30 t ha-1 (3 kg m-2) (10%) and N content by 100 kg ha-1 (10 g m-2) (18% excluding soil N, 2% including soil N). These losses were due to significant losses of biomass and N from the understorey only (88%, 85%), standing dead trees (57%, 62%), fallen wood (73%, 60%) and litter (69%, 70%). One year later, there was no significant increase in either biomass or N content. Burnt areas had five times the total nitrogenase activity of unburnt areas, owing to significantly greater specific nitrogenase (C2H2 reduction) activity, three times the nodule weight and 20 times the plant density of unburnt areas for the dominant legume (Pultenaea scabra). Using a calibration ratio for C2H2:N2 of 2.68 :1 derived from glasshouse growth studies, N2 fixation for P. scabra was estimated as 15 g ha-1 year-1 in burnt areas and 3 g ha-1 year-1 in unburnt areas, with a mean of 9 g ha-1 year-' for the whole site mosaic. Adding superphosphate to burnt areas increased estimated N2 fixation significantly by 14%, mainly by increasing nodulation. Losses of N due to the burn (100 kg ha-1) were considerably greater than gains from increases in N2 fixation (6 g ha-1 year-1) one year after the burn. Even allowing for N2 fixation by other, infrequent legumes and greater N2 fixation in subsequent years, these data suggest that the N lost in the burn is more likely to be replaced by inputs from soil reserves and rainwater than from N2 fixation by legumes.
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Lindenmayer, David, and Chris Taylor. "Diversifying Forest Landscape Management—A Case Study of a Shift from Native Forest Logging to Plantations in Australian Wet Forests." Land 11, no. 3 (March 10, 2022): 407. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/land11030407.
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Natural forests have many ecological, economic and other values, and sustaining them is a challenge for policy makers and forest managers. Conventional approaches to forest management such as those based on maximum sustained yield principles disregard fundamental tenets of ecological sustainability and often fail. Here we describe the failure of a highly regulated approach to forest management focused on intensive wood production in the mountain ash forests of Victoria, Australia. Poor past management led to overcutting with timber yields too high to be sustainable and failing to account for uncertainties. Ongoing logging will have negative impacts on biodiversity and water production, alter fire regimes, and generate economic losses. This means there are few options to diversify forest management. The only ecologically and economically viable option is to cease logging mountain ash forests altogether and transition wood production to plantations located elsewhere in the state of Victoria. We outline general lessons for diversifying land management from our case study.
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Battistel, Dario, Elena Argiriadis, Natalie Kehrwald, Maddalena Spigariol, James M. Russell, and Carlo Barbante. "Fire and human record at Lake Victoria, East Africa, during the Early Iron Age: Did humans or climate cause massive ecosystem changes?" Holocene 27, no. 7 (December 15, 2016): 997–1007. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0959683616678466.
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Organic molecular markers determined in a sediment core (V95-1A-1P) from Lake Victoria (East Africa) were used to reconstruct the history of human impact and regional fire activity during the Early Iron Age (~2400 to ~1100 yr BP). Fire history was reconstructed using levoglucosan and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) as markers for biomass burning that demonstrate two distinct fire periods peaking at 1450–1700 and 1850–2050 cal. yr BP. A partial correlation between levoglucosan and PAHs is interpreted as different transport behaviors and burn temperatures affecting the proxies. A fecal sterol index (CoP-Index) indicates the presence of humans near the lakeshore, where the CoP-Index lags a few centuries behind the fire peaks. The CoP-Index peaks between 1850 and1950 cal. yr BP and between 1400 and 1500 cal. yr BP. Retene, a PAH that indicates softwood combustion, differs from other PAHs and levoglucosan by abruptly increasing at ~1650 cal. yr BP and remaining high until 1200 cal. yr BP. This increase may potentially signal human activity in that the development of metallurgy and/or ceramic production requires highly efficient fuels. However, this increase in retene occurs at the same time as severe drought events centered at ~1500 and ~2000 yr BP where the droughts and associated woodland to grassland transition may have resulted in more intense fires. The grassland expansion could have created favorable conditions for human activities and triggered settlement growth that in turn may have created a positive feedback for further landscape opening.
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Groves, RH, PJ Hocking, and A. Mcmahon. "Distribution of Biomass, Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Other Nutrients in Banksia marginata and B. ornata Shoots of Different Ages After Fire." Australian Journal of Botany 34, no. 6 (1986): 709. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/bt9860709.
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The heathland form of Banksia marginata Cav. regenerates rarely from seed but commonly by resprout- ing from buds on lateral roots, whereas Banksia ornata F. Muell. regenerates only from seed, usually released after fire. The two species co-occur in heath vegetation on nutrient-poor soils in south-eastern South Australia and western Victoria. Shoots were sampled from stands of B. marginata aged from 1 to 25 years and of B. ornata aged from 1 to 50+ years after fire in the Little Desert National Park, western Victoria. B. marginata, the resprouter, distributed a greater proportion of the total shoot dry matter and content of all nutrients to vegetative growth over its shorter life span than B. ornata, the non-sprouter. About 50% of the total phosphorus in B. ornata shoots at 50+ years was present in cones (including seeds) compared with only about 20% in B. marginata shoots at a comparable stage of senescence (25 years). This difference between the species was also true to a lesser degree for nitrogen. There were considerable differences between other nutrients in their distribution patterns in shoots. Nutrients could be grouped together on the basis of distribution in shoots more satisfactorily than on presumed physio- logical roles. Stems were major sites of nutrient accumulation in both species. The content of a particular nutrient in seeds as a proportion of the content in the living parts of the shoot ranged from 0.03% (Na, Mn) to 2.0% (P) in B. marginata, and from 0.3% (Na) to as high as 31% (P) in B. ornata. Concen- trations of all nutrients except sodium were much higher in seeds than in the woody cones or vegetative organs of both species; seeds of B. ornata were particularly rich in calcium and manganese. We conclude that the different patterns of distribution of biomass and nutrients, especially nitrogen and phosphorus, within shoots of the two species reflect their different regenerative modes after fire. Introduction Phosphorus and, to a lesser extent, nitrogen limit the growth of sclerophyllous shrubs on nutrient-poor soils in southern Australia
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Shipway, S., K. M. C. Rowe, and K. C. Rowe. "Persistence of the broad-toothed rat (Mastacomys fuscus) across Victoria is correlated with climate and elevation." Wildlife Research 47, no. 3 (2020): 267. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wr19077.
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Abstract ContextThe broad-toothed rat (Mastacomys fuscus; BTR) is distributed throughout south-eastern Australia, but its populations are restricted and dispersed. BTRs prefer cooler, wetter habitats and, as such, future climate change is projected to lead to further range reductions. However, recent changes in its distribution have not been well documented, and there is limited knowledge about the current occupancy and population size of the species in Victoria. AimsTo evaluate recent historical changes in the distribution of BTRs in Victoria, and to test whether changes in distribution are correlated with climate and elevation. MethodsWe obtained all documented records of BTRs in the state before 1990 and used field notes and verbal descriptions to geo-reference their historical localities. We then used a repeated sampling design to resurvey all historically occupied sites with a geographic coordinate uncertainty of 4km or less. We tested for the effects of climate and elevation on the persistence of BTRs. Key resultsWe detected BTRs at 32 of 68 historical sites surveyed. Consistent with climate model predictions, site persistence was more likely to occur at sites of higher elevation and precipitation and less likely to occur at sites with a higher temperature. Minimum temperature of the coldest month was the single best predictor of persistence. ConclusionsThese results demonstrated a substantial decline in the persistence of BTRs at historical sites across Victoria and provided a benchmark for future monitoring and management efforts. ImplicationsThe decline of BTRs from historically occupied sites across Victoria is consistent with their listing as endangered in the state, and climate correlations suggest further declines, with projected climate change compounding other threats to the species such as introduced predators, feral herbivores, fire and land use. However, the status of BTRs in Victoria and understanding of the threats to their persistence are based on sparse data, highlighting the critical need for more effective monitoring of the species.
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Gell, Peter A., Iain-Malcom Stuart, and J. David Smith. "The response of vegetation to changing fire regimes and human activity in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia." Holocene 3, no. 2 (June 1993): 150–60. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/095968369300300206.
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Sharp, Ben R., and David M. J. S. Bowman. "Patterns of long-term woody vegetation change in a sandstone-plateau savanna woodland, Northern Territory, Australia." Journal of Tropical Ecology 20, no. 3 (April 21, 2004): 259–70. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0266467403001238.
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Aerial photographs were used to assess changes in woody vegetation cover at 122 locations within a sandstone-plateau savanna woodland in the Victoria River region, Northern Territory, Australia. Despite locally variable vegetation responses, there has been little change in total woody vegetation cover since 1948. Thirty-three locations were also surveyed on the ground. It was found that sites for which vegetation cover had changed over the 50-y period were not significantly different from stable sites in terms of floristic composition, recent fire history, demographic stability among the dominant tree species, or edaphic setting. However, two of the dominant overstorey tree species – Eucalyptus tetrodonta and Eucalyptus phoenicea – showed significantly higher mortality on sites that had experienced vegetation cover decline since 1948. We suggest that observed changes in woody vegetation cover are a consequence of natural cycles of die-back and recovery of at least these two species in response to spatially heterogenous variables such as dry-season moisture stress. Although the widespread decline of fire-sensitive Callitris intratropica populations clearly indicates a historical shift from lower- to higher-intensity burning conditions within the study area, we reject the hypothesis of a landscape-wide process such as changing fire regimes or climatic change as the driving factor behind large-scale vegetation changes detected by aerial photographic analysis.
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Burns, Phoebe A. "Testing the decline of the New Holland mouse (Pseudomys novaehollandiae) in Victoria." Australian Mammalogy 42, no. 2 (2020): 185. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/am19006.
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Many Australian rodent species have become extinct or undergone substantial range contractions since European invasion. Limited and haphazard survey efforts across much of Australia mean we are unsure of many species’ current and former ranges, hampering our ability to identify and remedy causes of decline. The New Holland Mouse (NHM; Pseudomys novaehollandiae) is an endangered rodent species native to south-east Australia that is suspected of undergoing rapid and dramatic range contractions and local extinctions in recent decades. Here, I reassess the species’ distribution across Victoria using extensive survey efforts and, subsequently, provide a summation of potential key threatening processes. In only 40 years, the NHM has been lost from seven of the 12 isolated areas where it once occurred in Victoria. Habitat loss and fragmentation, invasive predators, and potentially disease and genetic inbreeding have likely contributed to the species’ rapid and continuing decline. Conservation priorities include ongoing monitoring and research, cat and fox control, exclusion of rabbit poison-baiting, targeted fire and habitat management, and reintroduction to historically occupied regions where threatening processes have been mitigated.