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1
W. Norton, Tony, and Neil D. Mitchell. "Towards the sustainable management of southern temperate forest ecosystems: lessons from Australia and New Zealand." Pacific Conservation Biology 1, no. 4 (1994): 293. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/pc940293.
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The temperate forest ecosystems of Australia and New Zealand have had a similar history of exploitation and destruction since European settlement. This differed markedly from the previous use of these forests by indigenous peoples. Australian Aborigines are considered to have used the forests on a sustainable basis. Fire was the primary management tool and probably had its greatest effect on floristic composition and structure. The Maori of New Zealand initially cleared substantial areas of forest, but by the time of European settlement they appear to have been approaching sustainable management of the remainder. In both countries, the arrival of Europeans disrupted sustainability and significantly changed the evolutionary history of the forests and their biota. The exploitation and destruction of temperate forests by Europeans in both countries has been driven largely by agricultural and forestry activities, based around settlement and export industries. The Australian continent never had substantial forest cover but this has been reduced by more than half in just 200 years. New Zealand has suffered a similar overall level of further loss; although in the lowlands this can reach 95 per cent. In recent times, forest production and management policies in the two countries have diverged. In both countries the majority of remaining indigenous forests are on publicly-owned land. Australia still maintains indigenous forest production as an industry exploiting old growth forests, the management being split between an emphasis on production forestry and nature conservation. New Zealand has largely abandoned indigenous forestry on public lands, the management being vested in a single conservation department. In New Zealand the production emphasis has mostly moved to sustainable plantation forestry, whereas in Australia, despite recommendations to halt or markedly reduce old growth forest logging, the transition to primary dependence on plantation production has yet to occur.
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Bougher, NL, BA Fuhrer, and E. Horak. "Taxonomy and biogeography of Australian Rozites species mycorrhizal with Nothofagus and Myrtaceae." Australian Systematic Botany 7, no. 4 (1994): 353. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/sb9940353.
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Seven species of the putatively obligately ectomycorrhizal fungal genus Rozites are described from Australian Nothofagus and myrtaceaeous forests. Rozites metallica, R. armeniacovelata, R. foetens, and R. occulta are new species associated with Nothofagus in south eastern Australia. Rozites fusipes, previously known only from New Zealand, is reported from Tasmanian Nothofagus forests. Rozites roseolilacina and R. symea are new species associated with Eucalyptus in south eastern and south western Australia respectively. The significance of these Rozites species to mycorrhizal and biogeographical theories, such as the origin of ectomycorrhizal fungi associated with myrtaceous plants in Australia are discussed. The diversity of Rozites species in Australia, which equals or exceeds that of other southern regions, furthers the notion that many species of the genus co-evolved with Nothofagus in the Southern Hemisphere. Rozites symea in Western Australia occurs well outside the current geographic range of Nothofagus. It is considered to be a relict species that has survived the shift in dominant ectomycorrhizal forest tree type from Nothofagus to Myrtaceae (local extinction of Nothofagus 4–5 million years ago), and is most likely now confined to the high rainfall zone in the south west. Data on Rozites in Australia support the concept that at least some of the present set of ectomycorrhizal fungi associated with Myrtaceae in Australia are those which successfully completed a host change from Nothofagus, and adapted to changing climate, vegetation and soil conditions during and since the Tertiary. We suggest that the ancient stock of Rozites arose somewhere within the geographical range of a Cretaceous fagalean complex of plant taxa. By the end of the Cretaceous, Rozites and the fagalean complex may have spanned the Asian–Australian region including perhaps many Southern Hemisphere regions. A northern portion of the ancestral Rozites stock gave rise to extant Northern Hemisphere Rozites species and a southern portion speciated as Nothofagus itself speciated.
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Craig, Michael D. "The ecology of the rufous treecreeper in the jarrah forest of south-western Australia and implications for its conservation and management." Australian Journal of Zoology 55, no. 1 (2007): 41. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/zo06046.
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Rufous treecreepers (Climacteris rufa) are common in southern jarrah forests of Western Australia, but nothing has been recorded of their ecology in the region. I investigated the foraging and nesting ecology of the species in the southern jarrah forests from January 1994 to April 1996. Rufous treecreepers foraged exclusively on two eucalypt species, jarrah and marri, and foraged on trees that were significantly larger and taller than random. Foraging on the ground, logs and fallen trees was relatively infrequent. Nest hollows were also located exclusively in jarrah and marri trees that were significantly larger and taller than random. The important foraging and nesting resources for the species in the southern jarrah forest appear to be large mature and overmature eucalypts. Anthropogenic impacts in the region, primarily logging, should aim to retain these resources in affected areas to improve the survival prospects of the species. When compared with studies in wandoo woodlands, the results of the present study indicate that the conservation of ground-layer habitat is likely to be of less importance in the jarrah forest. These habitat differences indicate that site-specific information is critical if the management and conservation of individual species is to be effective.
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Cuyckens, Griet An Erica, Flavia Mazzini, Rocío F. Julián, David E. Medina, and Gustavo F. Guzmán. "Effect of livestock on regeneration of queñoa (Polylepis australis Bitt.) forest in the Southern Andean Yungas of northwestern Argentina." Revista Chapingo Serie Ciencias Forestales y del Ambiente 27, no. 2 (April 30, 2020): 215–28. http://dx.doi.org/10.5154/r.rchscfa.2020.05.035.
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Introduction: Polylepis forest is an ecosystem stated with conservation priority and threatened by anthropogenic effects; extensive livestock is one of the most frequent disturbances. Objective: To study the effect of livestock on the early stages of regeneration of a queñoa (Polylepis australis Bitt.) forest. Materials and methods: Within a pure forest of P. australis at Parque Provincial Potrero de Yala, Jujuy, Argentina, densities of seedlings (˂1 year) and saplings (˃1 year and ˂30 cm) were measured in the presence (0.23 heads∙ha-1) and absence of livestock, for a year. Linear mixed models(normal distribution) were adjusted for density of seedlings and saplings. Data was analyzed with a Chi-square test (X2). Results and discussion: Presence of livestock had no impact on seedling density, but significantly decreased density of saplings (P < 0.001); in areas without livestock (10.58 ± 6.64 individuals∙m-2) was three times higher than with presence of livestock (3.17 ± 3.86 individuals∙m-2). Difference in density of seedlings and saplings was significantly (P < 0.001) over time. This indicates that there is potential for natural regeneration, but livestock would affect stages after seedling emergence, representing a threat to the forest. Conclusion: This study provides important information on livestock management in mountain forests of P. australis. A long-term study of the effect of livestock on seedling and sapling density, and over the entire distribution range, is needed.
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Recher, Harry F., and William E. Davis Jr. "Foraging Ecology of a Mulga Bird Community." Wildlife Research 24, no. 1 (1997): 27. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wr96052.
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Mulga is a distinctive woodland or shrub community with a wide distribution across the semi-arid zone of southern and central Australia. Mulga (Acacia aneura) is the dominant shrub and small tree, but other species of Acacia are common. Typical of Australian habitats in the arid zone, mulga has a core of resident bird species that is augmented by nomadic (opportunistic) species when conditions are favourable. This paper describes the foraging behaviour and habitat use of a mulga avifauna in the vicinity of Alice Springs during late winter, when many opportunistic species were present. Data were obtained for 24 species, of which 16 were confirmed as nesting. Many birds, regardless of their normal foraging habits, converged on a common food resource: a geometrid moth (Geometridae) that was abundant on mulga plants. Despite their use of a common food resource, species differed in their foraging behaviour, proportions of different substrates used, and foraging heights. Ground-foraging species dominated the avifauna, but in most respects the guild structure of the community was a scaled-down version of Eucalyptus forest avifaunas. Differences in guild structure between mulga and eucalypt forest are best explained by differences between the two habitats in the kinds of resources (e.g. foraging substrates, types of food) that are available.
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Kanowski, Peter, and Peter Edwards. "Forests under the Southern Cross: The forest environmental frontier in Australia and New Zealand." Ambio 50, no. 12 (October 9, 2021): 2183–98. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13280-021-01636-5.
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Plucinski, M. P., A. L. Sullivan, and W. L. McCaw. "Comparing the performance of daily forest fire danger summary metrics for estimating fire activity in southern Australian forests." International Journal of Wildland Fire 29, no. 10 (2020): 926. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf19185.
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Fire danger indices integrate weather and fuel variables to indicate the potential for wildland fires to ignite, spread, resist suppression and cause damage. McArthur’s Forest Fire Danger Index (FFDI) is applied across much of Australia, with the forecast daily maximum value used to inform fire management planning decisions and issuance of public warnings. Variations in daily maximum FFDI and the hourly changing of FFDI values during the day (including use of different soil moisture deficit indices) were compared against five binary fire activity statistics in six forested areas in southern Australia, with performance assessed using Theil–Sen regression lines fitted to rank percentile curves. Fire activity rates were similar on days with wide and narrow hourly FFDI distributions except in one study area where days with wide distributions experienced more fires. The maximum hourly FFDI metric performed the best of all the metrics tested, though there were no statistically significant differences among any of them. There was also little difference in the performance of metrics determined using alternative calculations and different drought indices. These results suggest that the current use of the forecast hourly maximum FFDI is appropriate and that using alternative methods to determine Drought Factor offers little benefit.
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GONZÁLEZ, GUILLERMO, and HERMES E. ESCALONA. "Two new species of the ladybird beetle Hong Ślipiński from Chile (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae: Microweiseinae)." Zootaxa 3616, no. 4 (February 21, 2013): 387–95. http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3616.4.7.
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The ladybird beetle genus Hong Ślipiński was previously known from a single female specimen from a subtropical forest in South East Queensland, Australia. Hong guerreroi sp. nov. and H. slipinskii sp. nov. from a temperate forests of Central and Southern Chile are described and illustrated. A key for the species of the genus and complementary characters, in-cluding the first description of males, are provided.
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Barrett, DJ, TJ Hatton, JE Ash, and MC Ball. "Transpiration by Trees From Contrasting Forest Types." Australian Journal of Botany 44, no. 3 (1996): 249. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/bt9960249.
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Temperate rainforests and eucalypt forests of coastal south-eastern Australia are distributed differentially with aspect. Rainforests, in which Ceratopetalum apetalum D.Don and Doryphora sassafras Endl. are the dominant tree species, occur on slopes of southerly aspect and along gully bottoms, whereas eucalypt forests, dominated by Eucalyptus maculata Hook., occur on upper slopes of northerly aspect and on ridge tops. Whether transpiration rates of trees differed across the rainforest-eucalypt forest boundary on north and south facing aspects was tested by measuring stem sap flow in trees in a single catchment during winter, summer and autumn. Differences in transpiration rate by trees in these stands were due to various combinations of biological and physical factors. Firstly, mean maximum transpiration rate per tree (crown area basis) was greater in rainforest on the gully bottom where deep soil water from down-slope drainage was greater than in eucalypt forest located upslope on the northern aspect. By contrast, there was no difference between maximum transpiration rates in rainforest and eucalypt forest on the southern aspect. Variation in transpiration rate between seasons was not related to variation in surface soil moisture content (< 0.35 m depth). Secondly, transpiration rates per unit crown area in rainforest at the gully bottom were associated with higher leaf area indices than upslope on the northern aspect. However, in rainforest upslope on the southern aspect, higher transpiration rates were not associated with higher leaf area indices. Thirdly, trees in eucalypt forest maintained similar sapwood moisture contents in summer as in winter and autumn, whereas sapwood moisture contents declined in rainforest trees in summer, suggesting that eucalypts had access to water from deep within the soil profile which was unavailable to more shallow rooting rainforest trees. Fourthly, higher modal and maximal sap velocities in eucalypt trees were partly due to wider xylem vessels and resulted in faster maximum sap flow and greater daily total water use in all seasons on both aspects than in rainforest species. Finally, as atmospheric demand for water increased from winter to summer, transpiration rates were mediated by stomata1 closure as indicated by lower average midday shoot conductance to water vapour during summer than other seasons. The interaction between microenvironment, which deteimines water availability, and physiological attsibutes, which determine tree water acquisition and use, may contribute to the differential distribution of rainforest and eucalypt forest with aspect in south-eastern Australia.
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Goldingay, RL. "Socioecology of the Yellow-Bellied Glider (Petaurus-Australis) in a Coastal Forest." Australian Journal of Zoology 40, no. 3 (1992): 267. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/zo9920267.
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The social organisation of the yellow-bellied glider was examined at Kioloa in southern New South Wales. Gliders lived in family groups that initially included several adult females and, in one instance, two females in the same group lactated concurrently, suggesting that gliders at this site are capable of polygyny. Group size at this time numbered five to six individuals but later declined to three individuals (an adult pair with offspring), coinciding with three consecutive years of flower failure by Eucalyptus maculata, the major winter food resource. Mean group size between 1986 and 1989 was 4.2 individuals. Females gave birth predominantly between February and April, which is several months earlier than at other sites in southern Australia and which is presumed to be determined by the availability of certain food resources. Home ranges of glider groups were exclusive and averaged 34 ha (minimum convex polygon). Glider density averaged 0.10-0.16 individuals per ha. Parallels are drawn between the socioecology of gliders at this site and that in north Queensland and contrasted with that at other sites in southern Australia.
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Parris, Kirsten M. "The distribution and habitat requirements of the great barred frog (Mixophyes fasciolatus)." Wildlife Research 29, no. 5 (2002): 469. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wr01107.
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The great barred frog (Mixophyes fasciolatus) is a common, ground-dwelling frog from the forests of eastern Australia, with a wide geographic distribution extending from mid-east Queensland to southern New South Wales. This paper presents a quantitative assessment of the distribution and habitat requirements of M. fasciolatus, using data collected during a stratified survey across its geographic and environmental range. I found M. fasciolatus at 55 of 124 sites, and in all areas of forest surveyed except for Girraween National Park in Queensland and the southern highlands of New South Wales. I detected 42 other species of frogs during the survey, including the introduced cane toad (Bufo marinus). Statistical habitat modelling indicated that in forests within its climatic range, M. fasciolatus was most likely to occur in wetter forests (wet sclerophyll forest and rainforest), in areas with lower precipitation and intermediate temperatures in the warmest (summer) quarter of the year. When present at a site, the number of individuals of M. fasciolatus detected during a survey (a measure of relative abundance) was predicted to decrease with increasing summer precipitation. This frog survey represents one of the largest ever undertaken in Australia, with a study area of 125�000 km2, and 124 survey sites in 21 State Forests and nine National Parks. Field data collected during the study and the resulting habitat models provide a baseline against which future changes in the distribution or abundance of M. fasciolatus may be assessed.
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Duke, NC. "An endemic mangrove species, Avicennia integra sp. nov. (Avicenniaceae), in northern Australia*." Australian Systematic Botany 1, no. 2 (1988): 177. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/sb9880177.
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This taxon was recognised in Australian mangrove assemblages as Avicennia oficinalis L., which is commonly found in Indo-Malesia and southern New Guinea. However, it is morphologically distinct, and the major distinguishing character of entire margins for calyx and bracts is unique in the genus. This species, described here as A. integra, occurs only in the Northern Territory of Australia. It therefore has the dual distinction for an Australian mangrove species of not only being endemic, but also being absent from the floristically rich tidal forests of north-eastern Queensland. Notes on its floral phenology, distribution and ecology are also given.* Aust. Inst. Marine Sci. Contrib. No. 417.
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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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Fulton, Graham R. "Owl survey of the Peel–Harvey Estuary in south-western Australia." Australian Journal of Zoology 65, no. 2 (2017): 71. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/zo17027.
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Little is known of owls in south-western Australia compared with the owls of southern and eastern Australia. Surveys of forest owls in the south-west are almost completely lacking. This study sought to determine the abundance and detectability of owls immediately around the Peel–Harvey Estuary in south-western Australia. The southern boobook (Ninox boobook) and the masked owl (Tyto novaehollandiae) were the only owls detected (n = 23 and n = 1 respectively), although the nocturnal tawny frogmouth (Podargus strigoides) was detected from unelicited calls on three occasions. Southern boobooks were found to be common in this area though they are reported to be in decline in south-eastern and inland Australia. Their detectability was significantly greater in August (late winter) than at other times through unelicited calls; otherwise, there were no detections in winter. A variety of small mammals were detected during the surveys, including: a little red flying-fox (Pteropus scapulatus), a western ringtail possum (Pseudocheirus occidentalis), 19 southern brown bandicoots (Isoodon obesulus), 4 common brushtail possums (Trichosurus vulpecula), 21 rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus), a black rat (Rattus rattus), 2 red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and 22 microbats.
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Johnson, C. N., and A. P. McIlwee. "Ecology of the Northern Bettong, Bettongia tropica, a Tropical Mycophagist." Wildlife Research 24, no. 5 (1997): 549. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wr96034.
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The diet and seasonal ecology of the northern bettong, Bettongia tropica, was studied at three sites along a moisture gradient from closed Allocasuarina-Eucalyptus forest to dry open woodland in north-eastern Queensland. At each site, fungi (sporocarps of hypogeous ectomycorrhizal species) were the major food, and most of the remainder of the diet consisted of grass leaf and stem, roots and tubers, and lilies. Forbs and invertebrates were also eaten, but in small quantities. Fungus consumption was greatest at the wettest forest type and least at the driest site. Seasonal variation was insignificant except at the driest site, where fungus consumption peaked in the late wet season and dropped during the dry season; this seasonal fall in fungus consumption was associated with an increase in consumption of grass and roots and tubers. There was little seasonal variation in body condition, except at the driest site, where the dry-season decline in the proportional representation of fungus in the diet was associated with a decline in body condition. Breeding was continuous and aseasonal. B. tropica is found only in a narrow zone of sclerophyll forest along the western edge of wet tropical rainforest in north-eastern Queensland. We suggest that this species (like bettongs and potoroos in southern Australia) depends on hypogeous fungi, and that expansion of its geographical range into drier forest types is prevented by shortages of fungus during the dry season.
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OLIVEIRA, SARAH SIQUEIRA, and DALTON DE SOUZA AMORIM. "Four new species of Paratrizygia Tonnoir from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest (Diptera, Mycetophilidae, Sciophilinae)." Zootaxa 2629, no. 1 (September 29, 2010): 29. http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.2629.1.2.
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Paratrizygia Tonnoir was originally described for P. conformis, from Australia, and since then only four species have been added to the genus, from Chile and Southern Argentina. We add four new species to the genus Paratrizygia—P. balbii sp. nov., P. alvesi sp. nov., P. camargoi sp. nov., and P. albidens sp.nov.—from the southern part of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Comments are made about the possible relationships of the Brazilian and other Neotropical species of the genus. An identification key to the Neotropical species of the genus is provided.
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Berry, PE, JJ Skvarla, D. PartridgeA, and MK Macphail. "Fuchsia pollen from the tertiary of Australia." Australian Systematic Botany 3, no. 4 (1990): 739. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/sb9900739.
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Pollen of Diporites aspis, corresponding to the extant genus Fuchsia, is reported from Late Oligocene to Early Miocene strata in two new localities in Australia. They extend the range of Diporites pollen in Australia from the Otway Basin in Victoria to the Capricorn Basin offshore Queensland, and they bring to six the number of Diporites specimens in Australia, from five different sites. These reports establish the presence of Fuchsia in Australasia from at least the Early Oligocene, when mesic forests were widespread across Australia. Fuchsia reached New Zealand by the Late Oligocene and has survived there until the present, but is not known to have survived in Australia past the late Miocene. These results support the hypothesis of an early Tertiary origin of the genus in southern temperate forests.
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Spencer, Peter B. S., Karlene Bain, Matthew W. Hayward, Mia Hillyer, and J. A. Tony Friend. "Persistence of remnant patches and genetic loss at the distribution periphery in island and mainland populations of the quokka." Australian Journal of Zoology 67, no. 1 (2019): 38. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/zo19055.
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Understanding the spatial structure of populations is important in developing effective management options for threatened species, and for managing habitat connectivity for metapopulation function, and for demographic and genetic heterogeneity. We used genetic information to investigate the structure of populations of the quokka, Setonix brachyurus, in south-west Western Australia. We hypothesised that movement between known populations would be relatively rare and result in significant genetic structuring. Genetic analyses from 412 adult individuals at 14 nuclear markers (microsatellite) from 33 sampling locations identified structure, diversity and spatial separation of quokkas across their mainland distribution and on two islands. We identified nine inferred (K = 9) populations of quokka that would be otherwise difficult to define with standard ecological techniques. The highest genetic diversity was evident in a large central population of quokka in the southern forest area and genetic diversity was lower at the peripheries of the distribution. The Rottnest Island population contained 70% of the genetic diversity of the mainland populations but the genetic diversity of animals on Bald Island was markedly lower. Populations of quokka in the northern jarrah forest were the only ones to show evidence of recent or long-term population bottlenecking. Of particular interest was the recently identified population at the Muddy Lakes area (the only remaining locality on the Swan Coastal Plain), which was identified as being genetically associated with the southern forest population. Overall, spatial and population cluster analysis showed small insular populations in the northern jarrah forest area, but in the southern forests there appears to be a large panmictic population.
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Liu, Xiaoni, Baisen Zhang, Beverley Henry, Jinglan Zhang, and Peter Grace. "Assessing the impact of historical and future climate change on potential natural vegetation types and net primary productivity in Australian grazing lands." Rangeland Journal 39, no. 4 (2017): 387. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/rj17081.
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The study investigated the impact of historical and future climate changes on potential natural vegetation (PNV) types and net primary productivity (NPP) in Australia, using the Comprehensive and Sequential Classification System model and the Miami model coupled with climate of the 1931–70 and 1971–2010 periods and the projected climate in 2050. Twenty-eight vegetation classes were classified based on the key climate indicators with four of them being the major vegetation classes corresponding to Australian rangelands and accounting for 75% of total land area. There was a substantial shift in areas of vegetation classes from the 1931–70 period to the 1971–2010 period due to the increased rainfall over large areas across Australia. The modelling projected a range of changes in vegetation classes for 2050 depending on the climate-change scenario used. Many vegetation classes with more intense land use (e.g. steppe and forest) were projected to decrease in 2050, which may have significant impact on the grazing industry and biodiversity conservation. By 2050, NPP was projected to increase in central and northern Australia and to decrease in southern and eastern coastal areas and was projected to be higher on average than that of the 1931–70 period. The vegetation classes approximately corresponding to Australian rangelands mostly had increased NPP projections compared with the 1931–70 period. Although actual response will partially depend on human management activities, fire and extreme events, the projected increase in average NPP in 2050 indicates that Australian vegetation, particularly the rangeland vegetation, will likely be a net carbon sink rather than a carbon source by 2050, with the exception of a ‘warm-dry’ scenario.
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Gates, Genevieve M., Caroline Mohammed, Tim Wardlaw, David A. Ratkowsky, and Neil J. Davidson. "The ecology and diversity of wood-inhabiting macrofungi in a native Eucalyptus obliqua forest of southern Tasmania, Australia." Fungal Ecology 4, no. 1 (February 2011): 56–67. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.funeco.2010.07.005.
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EDWARD, KAREN L., and MARK S. HARVEY. "A review of the Australian millipede genus Atelomastix (Diplopoda: Spirostreptida: Iulomorphidae)." Zootaxa 2371, no. 1 (February 25, 2010): 1. http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.2371.1.1.
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A review of the Australian endemic millipede genus Atelomastix reveals the presence of 28 species, including the type species A. albanyensis Attems, A. nigrescens Attems, and 25 new species from Western Australia, as well as A. solitaria Jeekel from Victoria. All species are from the high rainfall zone of southern Australia. The new species are: A. anancita, A. attemsi, A. bamfordi, A. brennani, A. culleni, A. danksi, A. dendritica, A. ellenae, A. flavognatha, A. francesae, A. gibsoni, A. grandis, A. julianneae, A. lengae, A. longbottomi, A. mainae, A. melindae, A. montana, A. poustiei, A. priona, A. psittacina, A. rubricephala, A. sarahae, A. tigrina and A. tumula. Most species are shown to have extremely small distributions and all are classified as short-range endemic species. Most species have been collected at very few locations, occurring in discontinuous habitats such as mountain ranges, islands, granite outcrops, or fragments of wet forest.
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Russell-Smith, Jeremy, Cameron P. Yates, Peter J. Whitehead, Richard Smith, Ron Craig, Grant E. Allan, Richard Thackway, et al. "Bushfires 'down under': patterns and implications of contemporary Australian landscape burning." International Journal of Wildland Fire 16, no. 4 (2007): 361. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf07018.
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Australia is among the most fire-prone of continents. While national fire management policy is focused on irregular and comparatively smaller fires in densely settled southern Australia, this comprehensive assessment of continental-scale fire patterning (1997–2005) derived from ~1 km2 Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) imagery shows that fire activity occurs predominantly in the savanna landscapes of monsoonal northern Australia. Statistical models that relate the distribution of large fires to a variety of biophysical variables show that, at the continental scale, rainfall seasonality substantially explains fire patterning. Modelling results, together with data concerning seasonal lightning incidence, implicate the importance of anthropogenic ignition sources, especially in the northern wet–dry tropics and arid Australia, for a substantial component of recurrent fire extent. Contemporary patterns differ markedly from those under Aboriginal occupancy, are causing significant impacts on biodiversity, and, under current patterns of human population distribution, land use, national policy and climate change scenarios, are likely to prevail, if not intensify, for decades to come. Implications of greenhouse gas emissions from savanna burning, especially seasonal emissions of CO2, are poorly understood and contribute to important underestimation of the significance of savanna emissions both in Australian and probably in international greenhouse gas inventories. A significant challenge for Australia is to address annual fire extent in fire-prone Australian savannas.
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Penman, T. D., and B. A. Cirulis. "Cost effectiveness of fire management strategies in southern Australia." International Journal of Wildland Fire 29, no. 5 (2020): 427. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf18128.
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Fire-management agencies invest significant resources to reduce the impacts of future fires. There has been increasing public scrutiny over how agencies allocate fire-management budgets and, in response, agencies are looking to use quantitative risk-based approaches to make decisions about expenditure in a more transparent manner. Advances in fire-simulation software and computing capacity of fire-agency staff have meant that fire simulators have been increasingly used for quantitative fire-risk analysis. Here we analyse the cost trade-offs of future fire management in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and surrounding areas by combining fire simulation with Bayesian Decision Networks. We compare potential future-management approaches considering prescribed burning, suppression and fire exclusion. These data combined costs of treatment and impacts on assets to undertake a quantitative risk analysis. The proposed approach for fuel treatment in ACT and New South Wales (NSW) provided the greatest reduction in risk and the most cost-effective approach to managing fuels in this landscape. Past management decisions have reduced risk in the landscape and the legacy of these treatments will last for at least 3 years. However, an absence of burning will result in an increased risk from fire in this landscape.
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BOURGUIGNON, THOMAS, MAURICE LEPONCE, and YVES ROISIN. "Revision of the Termitinae with snapping soldiers (Isoptera: Termitidae) from New Guinea." Zootaxa 1769, no. 1 (May 14, 2008): 1. http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.1769.1.1.
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Up to now, three described species of Termitinae with snapping soldier mandibles (the Termes–Capritermes group) were known from New Guinea: Termes odontomachus (Desneux), Macrognathotermes errator Miller and Pericapritermes schultzei (Holmgren). Here, we report the presence of seven additional species, among which three are new to science: Pericapritermes parvus, P. pilosus and P. papuanus. The other four, collected in southern Papuan savannas, were previously known from northern Australia: Ephelotermes paleatus Miller, E. cheeli (Mjöberg), Lophotermes aduncus Miller, and L. brevicephalus Miller. We reassign T. odontomachus to Protocapritermes Holmgren. Diagnostic characters andillustrations are provided for all species. The Oriental affinities of the forest fauna of New Guinea and the similarities between Australian and New Guinean savannas are emphasized.
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Noack, Ann, Jyri Kaapro, Kathryn Bartimote-Aufflick, Sarah Mansfield, and Harley Rose. "Efficacy of Imidacloprid in the Control of Thaumastocoris peregrinus on Eucalyptus scoparia in Sydney, Australia." Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 35, no. 4 (July 1, 2009): 192–96. http://dx.doi.org/10.48044/jauf.2009.032.
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Thaumastocoris peregrinus, an Australian native, is a new and serious pest of urban eucalypts planted in Sydney and commercial centers of Australia. In recent years, it has spread to and attained pest status in South African Eucalyptus plantations and, more recently, has been discovered in Argentina and Uruguay. Mature Eucalyptus scoparia street trees, growing in a southern Sydney suburb, were microinjected with imidacloprid at three concentrations and monitored for three years. The abundance of T. peregrinus on treated eucalypts declined significantly compared to untreated trees over this time. Further, at the lowest concentration of chemical this insect was effectively controlled for two years. Imidacloprid (SilvaShield®; Bayer Environmental Science) has been registered in Australia for the control of T. peregrinus.
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Reid, Nick, and Simon F. Shamoun. "Contrasting research approaches to managing mistletoes in commercial forests and wooded pasturesThis minireview is one of a collection of papers based on a presentation from the Stem and Shoot Fungal Pathogens and Parasitic Plants: the Values of Biological Diversity session of the XXII International Union of Forestry Research Organization World Congress meeting held in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, in 2005." Botany 87, no. 1 (January 2009): 1–9. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/b08-109.
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Many mistletoe species are pests in agricultural and forest ecosystems throughout the world. Mistletoes are unusual “weeds” as they are generally endemic to areas where they achieve pest status and, therefore, classical biological control and broad-scale herbicidal control are usually impractical. In North American coniferous forests, dwarf mistletoe ( Arceuthobium spp.) infection results in major commercial losses and poses a public liability in recreation settings. Hyperparasitic fungi have potential as biological control agents of dwarf mistletoe, including species which attack shoots, berries, and the endophytic systems of dwarf mistletoe. Development of an inundative biological control strategy will be useful in situations where traditional silvicultural control is impractical or undesirable. In southern Australia, farm eucalypts are often attacked and killed by mistletoes ( Amyema spp.) in grazed landscapes where tree decline and biodiversity loss are major forms of land degradation. Although long-term strategies to achieve a balance between mistletoe and host abundance are promoted, many graziers want short-term options to treat severely infected trees. Recent research has revisited the efficiency and efficacy of silvicultural treatments and selective herbicides in appropriate situations. The results of recent research on these diverse management strategies in North America and Australia are summarized.
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MESIBOV, ROBERT. "A new genus of burrowing and cave-dwelling millipedes (Diplopoda: Polydesmida: Dalodesmidae) from Tasmania, Australia." Zootaxa 1034, no. 1 (August 11, 2005): 21. http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.1034.1.2.
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Atalopharetra johnsi n. gen., n. sp. and A. bashfordi n. sp. are forest-dwelling, burrowing millipedes with overlapping distributions in southern and southwestern Tasmania. A. clarkei n. sp. and A. eberhardi n. sp. are troglomorphic, cavernicolous species from limestone karst near Ida Bay and Precipitous Bluff, respectively, within the ranges of A. bashfordi and A. johnsi.
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FRAMENAU, VOLKER W. "Description of a new orb-weaving spider species representing the first record of Novaranea in Australia (Araneae: Araneidae: Araneinae)." Zootaxa 2793, no. 1 (March 17, 2011): 47. http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.2793.1.4.
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The orb-weaving spider genus Novaranea Court & Forster, 1988, previously known only from New Zealand, is here reported from Australia for the first time with the description of a new species. Generic affinities, here based on characteristic shapes of the median and terminal apophyses of the male pedipalp, remain somewhat ambiguous as some of the endemic New Zealand araneine genera remain to be tested within a rigorous phylogenetic analysis. Novaranea courti n. sp. is found in the southeastern parts of Australia, including New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. Mature spiders are generally found between January and March, although some specimens were collected in April, June and November. Novaranea courti n. sp. appears to prefer forest habitats (e.g. Southern Beech (Nothofagus) forest and Eucalyptus/Casuarina woodland), but was also found in more open areas such as grassand heathland.
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Frey, Wolfgang, and Friederike Schaumann. "Records of rare southern South American bryophytes: Studies in austral temperate rain forest bryophytes 18." Nova Hedwigia 74, no. 3-4 (May 1, 2002): 533–43. http://dx.doi.org/10.1127/0029-5035/2002/0074-0533.
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Wayne, A. F., C. G. Ward, J. F. Rooney, C. V. Vellios, and D. B. Lindenmayer. "The life history of Trichosurus vulpecula hypoleucus (Phalangeridae) in the jarrah forest of south-western Australia." Australian Journal of Zoology 53, no. 4 (2005): 265. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/zo05008.
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The common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) is noted for its morphological, biological and ecological variability across its range. Despite having suffered substantial population declines since European settlement, relatively little has been published on the south-western Australian subspecies, the koomal (T. v. hypoleucus). This study reports morphological, reproductive and general life-history data from an 18-month study of a population in the southern jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata) forest at Chariup (part of Perup), near Manjimup, in south-western Australia. As one of the smallest subspecies, adult males of T. v. hypoleucus averaged 1616 g and females averaged 1470 g. Sexual dimorphism also occurred with head length and pes length, but not tail length. A single autumn breeding season occurred in both 2002 and 2003, in which all adult females bred and produced a single young between February and May. The onset of autumn births was associated with the end of the summer drought. Unlike many other Trichosurus populations, no spring breeding pulse or ‘double-breeding’ events were observed. At least 83% of pouch young survived to pouch emergence. The growth rate of offspring was initially linear, but became curvilinear and approached an asymptote after ~5 months. Most females bred for the first time when they were 1 year old. On the basis of testis size, males also matured at 1 year old. The body condition of adult males, but not adult females, changed significantly over time and followed an apparently seasonal pattern in which their condition was poorest in winter and best in summer. While many of the life-history traits of the Chariup population were similar to those of other south-western Australian populations of T. v. hypoleucus, the most striking variations included age at maturity, extent of spring breeding pulse and female fecundity. Further comparisons with conspecifics elsewhere in Australia and New Zealand also highlight the variability exhibited by T. vulpecula across its range. Some aspects of the biology of T. v. hypoleucus were particularly similar to those observed for T. v. arnhemensis in northern Australia.
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Conran, John G., Raymond J. Carpenter, and Gregory J. Jordan. "Early Eocene Ripogonum (Liliales: Ripogonaceae) leaf macrofossils from southern Australia." Australian Systematic Botany 22, no. 3 (2009): 219. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/sb08050.
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We present evidence that fossil leaves from an early Eocene estuarine mudstone deposit at Lowana Road in western Tasmania include the oldest records of the extant monocot genus, Ripogonum (Ripogonaceae). These fossils are similar to the extant eastern Australian and Papua New Guinean R. album R.Br. and New Zealand R. scandens J.R. et G.Forst., and are described as a new species, R. tasmanicum Conran, R.J.Carp. & G.J.Jord. The venation, cuticular and other leaf features of this fossil are included in a morphology-based phylogenetic analysis for the genus, and character evolution is discussed in relation to the ecology of the extant species and the palaeoenvironments of known Ripogonaceae fossil sites. The fossil (albeit on leaf characters) was placed close to the base of a black-fruited, Australian endemic Ripogonum clade. This suggests that the family have a long and conservative evolutionary history in association with moist forests, with the fossil locality showing palaeoclimate similar to the environments that most Ripogonum species still occupy today.
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Liu, Xiaoying, Robyn J. Watts, Julia A. Howitt, and Nicole McCasker. "Carbon and nutrient release from experimental inundation of agricultural and forested floodplain soil and vegetation: influence of floodplain land use on the development of hypoxic blackwater during floods." Marine and Freshwater Research 71, no. 2 (2020): 213. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/mf18452.
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Overbank floods in modified lowland rivers often inundate a mosaic of different land uses (e.g. forests, crops and pastures) on the floodplain. We used a glasshouse experiment to investigate dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and nutrient (TP, NH4+, NOx) releases, chemical oxygen demand (COD) and dissolved oxygen (DO) depletion in water following inundation of soil and vegetation from a lowland river floodplain in southern Australia. Six replicate samples of six intact soil and groundcover treatments were collected during summer; three from a forest (bare soil, wallaby grass and leaf litter) and three from an adjacent paddock (bare soil, wheat and ryegrass). Samples were placed in pots, inundated with river water over 16 days, and their leachates were compared with a river-water control. All vegetated groundcover treatments had significantly higher DOC and COD and significantly less DO at both Day 1 and Day 16 than did the soil-only treatments or the control. Leachates from paddock treatments were less coloured than those from forest treatments, despite having similar concentrations of DOC. Our findings imply that the inundation of any vegetation during summer floods can be a major source of DOC and a major contributor to DO depletion.
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Liu, Xiaoying, Robyn J. Watts, Julia A. Howitt, and Nicole McCasker. "Corrigendum to: Carbon and nutrient release from experimental inundation of agricultural and forested floodplain soil and vegetation: influence of floodplain land use on the development of hypoxic blackwater during floods." Marine and Freshwater Research 71, no. 2 (2020): 261. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/mf18452_co.
Full textAbstract:
Overbank floods in modified lowland rivers often inundate a mosaic of different land uses (e.g. forests, crops and pastures) on the floodplain. We used a glasshouse experiment to investigate dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and nutrient (TP, NH4+, NOx) releases, chemical oxygen demand (COD) and dissolved oxygen (DO) depletion in water following inundation of soil and vegetation from a lowland river floodplain in southern Australia. Six replicate samples of six intact soil and groundcover treatments were collected during summer; three from a forest (bare soil, wallaby grass and leaf litter) and three from an adjacent paddock (bare soil, wheat and ryegrass). Samples were placed in pots, inundated with river water over 16 days, and their leachates were compared with a river-water control. All vegetated groundcover treatments had significantly higher DOC and COD and significantly less DO at both Day 1 and Day 16 than did the soil-only treatments or the control. Leachates from paddock treatments were less coloured than those from forest treatments, despite having similar concentrations of DOC. Our findings imply that the inundation of any vegetation during summer floods can be a major source of DOC and a major contributor to DO depletion.
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Duke, NC. "A mangrove hybrid Sonneratia xurama (Sonneratiaceae) from northern Australia and southern New Guinea." Australian Systematic Botany 7, no. 5 (1994): 521. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/sb9940521.
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The putative hybrid tree taxon, Sonneratia alba x S. lanceolata, previously reported for two incomplete herbarium specimens from northern Australia and south-east West Irian, has since been observed and collected in mangrove forests of southern Papua New Guinea. It is morphologically uniform and is described as S. xurama. Notes on its floral phenology, distribution and ecology are given, including a key to all major Sonneratia taxa in this region.
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MAHONY, MICHAEL J., TRENT PENMAN, TERRY BERTOZZI, FRANK LEMCKERT, ROHAN BILNEY, and STEPHEN C. DONNELLAN. "Taxonomic revision of south-eastern Australian giant burrowing frogs (Anura: Limnodynastidae: Heleioporus Gray)." Zootaxa 5016, no. 4 (August 9, 2021): 451–89. http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5016.4.1.
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The rarely encountered giant burrowing frog, Heleioporus australiacus, is distributed widely in a variety of sclerophyll forest habitats east of the Great Dividing Range in south-eastern Australia. Analyses of variation in nucleotide sequences of the mitochondrial ND4 gene and thousands of nuclear gene SNPs revealed the presence of two deeply divergent lineages. Multivariate morphological comparisons show the two lineages differ in body proportions with > 91% of individuals being correctly classified in DFA. The two lineages differ in the number and size of spots on the lateral surfaces and the degree by which the cloaca is surrounded by colour patches. The mating calls are significantly different in number of pulses in the note. The presence of a F2 hybrid in the area where the distribution of the two taxa come into closest proximity leads us to assign subspecies status to the lineages, as we have not been able to assess the extent of potential genetic introgression. In our sampling, the F2 hybrid sample sits within an otherwise unsampled gap of ~90km between the distributions of the two lineages. The nominate northern sub-species is restricted to the Sydney Basin bioregion, while the newly recognised southern subspecies occurs from south of the Kangaroo Valley in the mid-southern coast of New South Wales to near Walhalla in central Gippsland in Victoria. The habitat of the two subspecies is remarkably similar. Adults spend large portions of their lives on the forest floor where they forage and burrow in a variety of vegetation communities. The southern subspecies occurs most commonly in dry sclerophyll forests with an open understory in the south and in open forest and heath communities with a dense understory in the north of its distribution. The northern subspecies is also found in dry open forests and heaths in association with eroded sandstone landscapes in the Sydney Basin bioregion. Males of both taxa call from both constructed burrows and open positions on small streams, differing from the five Western Australian species of Heleioporus where males call only from constructed burrows. Using the IUCN Red List process, we found that the extent of occupancy and area of occupancy along with evidence of decline for both subspecies are consistent with the criteria for Endangered (A2(c)B2(a)(b)).
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Jones, Penelope J., Ian Thomas, and Michael-Shawn Fletcher. "Long-term environmental change in eastern Tasmania: Vegetation, climate and fire at Stoney Lagoon." Holocene 27, no. 9 (February 16, 2017): 1340–49. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0959683617690591.
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Tasmania’s dry, inland east is ideally positioned to inform models of late Quaternary environmental change in southern Australasia. Despite this, it remains poorly represented in the palaeoecological record. Here, we seek to address this with a >13,000-year vegetation and fire history from Stoney Lagoon, a site at the eastern margin of Tasmania’s inland Midlands plains. Pollen and charcoal analysis indicates that here, a relatively moist early deglacial was followed by a dry later deglacial (ca. 14,000–12,000 cal. BP), when sclerophyll forests became well established and burning increased. This suggests that the Midlands’ vegetation responded to the climatic signals characterising Australia’s south-eastern coast rather than those governing developments in western Tasmania. Dry sclerophyll forest persisted throughout the Holocene; with a pronounced transition from more to less grassy understoreys between ca. 9000 and 7000 cal. BP. From the mid-Holocene, the sclerophyll community remains relatively stable. However, increased fire activity and trends in moisture-sensitive taxa suggest generally drier conditions coupled with greater hydroclimatic variability under the strengthening influence of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Overall, these results highlight the role of macro-scale climatic shifts in shaping vegetation development in Tasmania’s inland east, while hinting at the concurrent importance of local ecological drivers. This highlights the need for spatially diverse studies to understand interactions between drivers of long-term environmental change in sub-humid southern Australia. This research also supports conservation by strengthening understandings of pre-colonial baselines in this highly modified landscape.
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Seddon, Nathalie, Jonathan M. M. Ekstrom, David R. Capper, Isabel S. Isherwood, Raymond Muna, Robert G. Pople, Ernesti Tarimo, and Jonas Timothy. "Notes on the ecology and conservation status of key bird species in Nilo and Nguu North Forest Reserves, Tanzania." Bird Conservation International 9, no. 1 (March 1999): 9–28. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0959270900003312.
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SummaryOrnithological surveys were conducted in Tanzanian submontane forest at Nilo Forest Reserve in the East Usambaras and Nguu North Forest Reserve in the Nguu Mountains in July-September 1995. Information on the ecology of poorly known bird species of conservation interest was collected and combined with previously published information to assess their conservation status. Sixteen species of conservation interest were recorded during fieldwork, including five Vulnerable (Usambara Eagle Owl Bubo vosseleri, East Coast Akalat Sheppardia gunningi, Amani Sunbird Anthreptes pallidigaster, Banded Green Sunbird Anthreptes rubritorques and Usambara Weaver Ploceus nicolli); three Near-threatened (Southern Banded Snake Eagle Circaetus fasciolatus, Fischer's Turaco Tauraco fischeri and Moreau's Sunbird Nectarinia moreaui); one regionally Endangered (Southern Hyliota Hyliota australis); one regionally Vulnerable (Uluguru Violet-backed Sunbird Anthreptes neglectus), two regionally Near-threatened (Lemon Dove Aplopelia lavata and Evergreen Forest Warbler Bradypterus barratti); and 10 in total as restricted-range species (Fischer's Turaco, Usambara Eagle Owl, Sharpe's Akalat Sheppardia sharpei, Red-capped Forest Warbler Orthotomus metopias, Spot-throat Modulatrix stictigula, Amani Sunbird, Banded Green Sunbird, Moreau's Sunbird, Kenrick's Starling Poeoptera kenricki and Usambara Weaver). New information on the ecology of these species is presented in this paper. It is recommended that the conservation status of East Coast Akalat and Uluguru Violet-backed Sunbird be changed to globally Near-threatened and regionally Near-threatened, respectively. Should further work confirm that the Usambara race of Southern Hyliota deserves specific status it is strongly recommended that it be considered globally Endangered. All other species recorded should retain their current status and continue to be monitored. The Nguus represented a new locality for several species. Sharpe's Akalat, Spot-throat, Red-Capped Forest Warbler, otherwise widely distributed throughout the east Tanzania, were absent from the Nguus.
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Tapper, NJ, G. Garden, J. Gill, and J. Fernon. "The Climatology and Meteorology of High Fire Danger in the Northern Territory." Rangeland Journal 15, no. 2 (1993): 339. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/rj9930339.
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In most areas of Australia the calculation of a fire danger index (FDI) is the cornerstone of fie weather forecasting and provides an operationally objective basis for the issue of fire weather warnings. FDI's are derived from the observation or prediction of a number of basic meteorological parameters which are then combined with information on fuel characteristics. The forest and grassland fire danger in southern Australia is greatest during the austral summer and is characterised by long periods of low fire danger interspersed with occasional extreme fire danger events. By contrast, much of tropical and subtropical Australia shows a distinctly different seasonality, magnitude and frequency of fire danger. The problem is essentially one of the austral winter-spring (dry season) period and is characterised by extended periods of moderate to high fire danger. This paper provides a broad climatological background to the problem of high fire danger in northern Australia, concentrating in particular on the Northern Territory. The paper also addresses particular meteorological situations in northern Australia which give rise to elevated fire danger. Two synoptic-scale weather patterns are discussed in particular; the passage of prefrontal troughs which seasonally produce high fire danger in the region of the tropic, and winter subtropical ridging which produces strong winds and high fire danger over the north of the continent during the dry season.
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Murphy, Michael J. "The butterfly fauna of the Pilliga Forest, a large woodland remnant in the Brigalow Belt South bioregion in northern inland New South Wales, Australia." Pacific Conservation Biology 25, no. 2 (2019): 193. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/pc18002.
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Sixty-three butterfly species representing five families have been recorded from the Pilliga Forest in northern inland New South Wales – the largest surviving remnant of native forest on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range. This is one of the richest recorded butterfly faunas of any location on the New South Wales western slopes and adjacent plains, reflecting the location of the Pilliga Forest in a biogeographic overlap zone between northern and southern faunal assemblages with proximity to both the western plains and outliers of the mesic eastern highlands. No narrow-range endemic species or species of state or national conservation concern were recorded; however, half of the species recorded have patchy, discontinuous distributions within their broad range due to specific habitat requirements. Some minor western range extensions are recorded and two hilltopping sites are documented. This study highlights the significant biodiversity conservation value of the Pilliga Forest in the predominantly cleared western slopes bioregions.
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Nicholls, Neville, and Christopher Lucas. "Interannual variations of area burnt in Tasmanian bushfires: relationships with climate and predictability." International Journal of Wildland Fire 16, no. 5 (2007): 540. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf06125.
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The area burnt each summer in Tasmania is related to coincident (summer) climate variables, especially the total summer rainfall. The relationship with temperature is weaker and largely reflects the relationship between rainfall and temperature. As the El Niño–Southern Oscillation is known to be related to Australian rainfall and simple indices of this phenomenon form the basis of the operational seasonal climate forecast scheme used in Australia, it is not surprising that indices of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation can also, it appears, provide a potentially useful forecast system for Tasmanian bushfire extent. In particular, sea surface temperatures in the Coral Sea during winter are correlated with the area burnt in the following summer. The effect of summer rainfall on the area burnt each year suggests that global warming may not simply lead to increased burning, contrasting with the situation in other parts of the globe. A weak, long-term decline in area burnt appears to be due to a weak increase in summer rainfall.
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van Gorsel, Eva, Sebastian Wolf, James Cleverly, Peter Isaac, Vanessa Haverd, Cäcilia Ewenz, Stefan Arndt, et al. "Carbon uptake and water use in woodlands and forests in southern Australia during an extreme heat wave event in the “Angry Summer” of 2012/2013." Biogeosciences 13, no. 21 (November 1, 2016): 5947–64. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-5947-2016.
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Abstract. As a result of climate change warmer temperatures are projected through the 21st century and are already increasing above modelled predictions. Apart from increases in the mean, warm/hot temperature extremes are expected to become more prevalent in the future, along with an increase in the frequency of droughts. It is crucial to better understand the response of terrestrial ecosystems to such temperature extremes for predicting land-surface feedbacks in a changing climate. While land-surface feedbacks in drought conditions and during heat waves have been reported from Europe and the US, direct observations of the impact of such extremes on the carbon and water cycles in Australia have been lacking. During the 2012/2013 summer, Australia experienced a record-breaking heat wave with an exceptional spatial extent that lasted for several weeks. In this study we synthesised eddy-covariance measurements from seven woodlands and one forest site across three biogeographic regions in southern Australia. These observations were combined with model results from BIOS2 (Haverd et al., 2013a, b) to investigate the effect of the summer heat wave on the carbon and water exchange of terrestrial ecosystems which are known for their resilience toward hot and dry conditions. We found that water-limited woodland and energy-limited forest ecosystems responded differently to the heat wave. During the most intense part of the heat wave, the woodlands experienced decreased latent heat flux (23 % of background value), increased Bowen ratio (154 %) and reduced carbon uptake (60 %). At the same time the forest ecosystem showed increased latent heat flux (151 %), reduced Bowen ratio (19 %) and increased carbon uptake (112 %). Higher temperatures caused increased ecosystem respiration at all sites (up to 139 %). During daytime all ecosystems remained carbon sinks, but carbon uptake was reduced in magnitude. The number of hours during which the ecosystem acted as a carbon sink was also reduced, which switched the woodlands into a carbon source on a daily average. Precipitation occurred after the first, most intense part of the heat wave, and the subsequent cooler temperatures in the temperate woodlands led to recovery of the carbon sink, decreased the Bowen ratio (65 %) and hence increased evaporative cooling. Gross primary productivity in the woodlands recovered quickly with precipitation and cooler temperatures but respiration remained high. While the forest proved relatively resilient to this short-term heat extreme the response of the woodlands is the first direct evidence that the carbon sinks of large areas of Australia may not be sustainable in a future climate with an increased number, intensity and duration of heat waves.
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Martin, HA. "Monotoca-Type (Epacridaceae) Pollen in the Late Tertiary of Southern Australia." Australian Journal of Botany 41, no. 6 (1993): 709. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/bt9930709.
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The shrub Monotoca is widespread in eucalypt forests. Monotoca-type pollen is distinctive with a tetrad of one large functional cell and three small aborted cells. Other variations on the tetrad, with equal sized cells, the normal pollen type for the family, cannot be confused with Monotoca. Fossil Monotoca pollen first appears in the Mid Miocene, when the climate was becoming drier, rainforest was contracting and sclerophyll forests were expanding.
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Harris, S., N. Tapper, D. Packham, B. Orlove, and N. Nicholls. "The relationship between the monsoonal summer rain and dry-season fire activity of northern Australia." International Journal of Wildland Fire 17, no. 5 (2008): 674. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf06160.
Full textAbstract:
Fire is an essential element of the northern Australian ecosystems with extensive areas burnt each year. The basic climate condition of high rainfall during the summer monsoon, followed by an extended warm dry winter, along with highly combustible vegetation (much of which grows rapidly during summer and senesces during winter), creates a highly flammable environment. These vegetation conditions change under various naturally occurring climate oscillations such as El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The present paper investigates the link between burnt areas of northern Australia, rainfall, the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) and sea surface temperatures (SST) for a 9-year period (1997–2005). The burnt area distribution is compared with the strength and timing of the monthly averaged rainfall, SOI and SST. Results indicate a strong relationship between antecedent rainfall and ENSO indices with area burnt. This is especially strong between the burnt areas of June–October and the preceding rainfall of November–March (r = 0.90), the SOI of November–February (r = 0.78) and the SST of June–August (r = –0.64). The results from the present study reveal the ability to forecast annual burnt areas and present some of the dynamics of the climate–fire interactions and their value for management systems.
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Brotherhood, JR, GM Budd, AL Hendrie, SE Jeffery, FA Beasley, BP Costin, W. Zhien, MM Baker, NP Cheney, and MP Dawson. "Project Aquarius 3. Effects of Work Rate on the Productivity, Energy Expenditure, and Physiological Responses of Men Building Fireline With a Rakehoe in Dry Eucalypt Forest." International Journal of Wildland Fire 7, no. 2 (1997): 87. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf9970087.
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Four crews of firefighters built fireline for 7 min periods (with intervening rests), without fire, at self-chosen 'slow', 'normal', and 'fast' rates in Australian eucalypt forests. Individuals differed twofold for energy expenditure (EE, measured as oxygen uptake by the Douglas bag technique) and relative work load (RWL, i.e % of maximum oxygen uptake), and threefold for productivity and efficiency (productivity per unit EE). They maintained their differences in all stages of the test and also while suppressing free-running wildland fires, showing that the work rate adopted was a stable characteristic of the individuals' work behaviour. The technique of raking fireline did not constrain EE but instead allowed firefighters to call upon their maximum work capacity for urgent tasks with no reduction in efficiency. EE, RWL, and heart rate increased linearly with productivity whereas perceived exertion and pulmonary ventilation increased curvilinearly, rising steeply at 'fast' work rates. We suggest that perceived exertion and the ventilatory threshold (the upper limit of comfortable breathing) provide the cues by which firefighters pace themselves at sustainable work rates that balance their fireline productivity against its physiological cost. The findings were highly consistent over four crews, three summers, and two regions and are thus generally applicable to bushfire suppression in southern Australia.
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Goldingay, R., and G. Daly. "Surveys of Arboreal and Terrestrial Mammals in The Montane Forests of Queanbeyan, New South Wales." Australian Mammalogy 20, no. 1 (1998): 9. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/am97009.
Full textAbstract:
Surveys of arboreal and terrestrial mammals were conducted across four State Forests in south-east New South Wales encompassing 80 000 ha. Methods used included spotlighting, Elliott trapping, pitfall trapping, hair-tubing and predator scat analysis. The survey included a plot-based approach and the targeting of areas containing the potential habitat of endangered species. Seven species of arboreal marsupial were detected during spotlighting. The greater glider (Petauroides volans) was significantly more abundant in moist forest compared to dry forest. Its density in moist forest was twice as high in unlogged compared to logged forest and is equivalent to the highest recorded in any forest in NSW. Other arboreal species were less abundant. The yellow-bellied glider (Petaurus australis), which is Threatened in NSW, was detected at only two sites despite the occurrence of suitable habitat throughout the study area. Eight species of native terrestrial mammals were detected. The tiger quoll (Dasyurus maculatus), which is Threatened in NSW, appears to be more common in the southern part of the study area adjoining large areas of National Park, than in other State Forests of south-east NSW. Continued analysis of predator scats is required to determine whether several other species of Threatened terrestrial mammal occur in these forests.
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Chia, Kerryn A., John M. Koch, Rohan Sadler, and Shane R. Turner. "Re-establishing the mid-storey tree Persoonia longifolia (Proteaceae) in restored forest following bauxite mining in southern Western Australia." Ecological Research 31, no. 5 (June 7, 2016): 627–38. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11284-016-1370-y.
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Hobbs, Richard J. "Landscapes, ecology and wildlife management in highly modified environments - an Australian perspective." Wildlife Research 32, no. 5 (2005): 389. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wr03037.
Full textAbstract:
Landscapes in southern Australia have been extensively modified by a variety of human activities, predominantly agriculture and urban development. Over much of the area, native vegetation has been replaced with agriculture or buildings and infrastructure. A continuum exists from areas that remain largely intact, but are modified in some way (e.g. forests managed for timber production), to areas where the remaining native vegetation is fragmented to varying degrees. Habitat management will vary across this continuum, depending on the degree of habitat loss and isolation. In areas outside the main zones of agricultural and urban development, the process of habitat loss and fragmentation is less in evidence. Here, instead, the landscapes remain apparently structurally intact, in that the native vegetation is not actually removed. However, these landscapes have also, in many cases, been significantly modified, particularly by pastoralism and related activities, to the extent that their value as habitat is impaired. Declining habitat value in northern landscapes may lead to the same types of functional fragmentation as found in the south. An examination of the differences and similarities between southern and northern landscapes can highlight what can be learned from the southern experience which may be of value in savanna landscapes. In both cases, the importance of considering impacts in relation to species-specific responses needs to be emphasised.
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Braithwaite, LW, DL Binns, and RD Nowlan. "The Distribution of Arboreal Marsupials in Relation to Eucalypt Forest Types in the Eden (Nsw) Woodchip Concession Area." Wildlife Research 15, no. 4 (1988): 363. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wr9880363.
Full textAbstract:
Data collected during clear felling are collated and presented on the distribution of arboreal marsupials in 16 forest vegetation types (FVT) in 7 FVT groups. Eight species were included in the study: Petaurus breviceps, P. australis, P. norfolcensis, Petauroides volans, Acrobates pygmaeus, Trichosurus vulpecula, Pseudocheirus peregrinus and Cercartetus nanus. Most of the individuals reported were in the following 6 FVTs: swamp gum (characterized by Eucalyptus ovata); mountain gum (E. dalrympleana)/manna gum (E. viminalis); peppermint (E. radiata or E. dives); southern blue gum (E. maidenii, E. cypellocarpa or E. nitens); brown barrel (E. fastigata); and brown barrel/gum (E. cypellocarpa, E. nitens, E. maidenii, E. viminalis or E. dalrympleana). The results are discussed in relation to present forest management and forest clearing procedures in the Eden region. Forests about to be cleared for Pinus radiata plantations or for farmland on private property adjacent to State Forests are predominantly of types identified as of high value as wildlife habitat.
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Lloyd, P. J., and A. P. Kershaw. "Late Quaternary Vegetation and Early Holocene Quantitative Climate Estimates from Morwell Swamp, Latrobe Valley, South-eastern Australia." Australian Journal of Botany 45, no. 3 (1997): 549. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/bt96034.
Full textAbstract:
A pollen diagram from Morwell Swamp provides a record of vegetation and climate through the Holocene period while the application of a bioclimatic analysis of the aquatic species Brasenia schreberi to the occurrence of its pollen in the record allows the first quantitative reconstruction of early Holocene climate from mainland south-eastern Australia. The beginning of the Holocene, c. 10000 years before present (BP), was marked by the establishment of permanent water within the basin and an expansion of forest under conditions of increasing precipitation and probably also temperature. The early Holocene forests were dominated by Casuarinaceae, a situation typical of lowland south-eastern Australia. The presence of Brasenia schreberi Gmel., a species now restricted to lower latitudes, suggests that, by c. 9000 years BP, mean annual temperatures had risen to slighly above today’s values, while summer temperatures may have been at least 1.3˚C higher. These results are surprising considering that most previous evidence has suggested that optimal climatic conditions were achieved between about 7000 and 5000 years ago, and that radiation levels are predicted, from Milankovitch forcing, to have been lower than today at this time in the Southern Hemisphere. It is clearly necessary to be somewhat cautious about the wholescale acceptance of the quantitative values at this stage, although they are not contradicted by other palynological data. Subsequent regional increases in the wetter forest elements, Nothofagus and Pomaderris, indicate a middle Holocene peak in precipitation, although it is estimated, from a bioclimatic analysis of Nothofagus, that summer temperatures had become substantially lower than today. This lowering may have been due to a local or regional increase in cloud cover. There is evidence for minor variation in vegetation and climate within the late Holocene, which is consistent with evidence from elsewhere within the region.
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Castilhos de Freitas, Thales, Gustavo Crizel Gomes, Artur Ramos Molina, Ernestino de Souza Gomes Guarino, Cristiano Agra Iserhard, and Rafael Beltrame. "Artificial perches increase bird-mediated seed rain in agricultural fallow area in southern Brazil." Web Ecology 22, no. 2 (November 7, 2022): 59–74. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/we-22-59-2022.
Full textAbstract:
Abstract. One of the main barriers to restoration is the arrival of diaspores in degraded areas. However, this process can be hampered in open areas without trees in the landscape. For that, artificial perches are used to attract and provide a landing area for avian seed dispersers, to enhance seed rain. Our objective was to evaluate the effect of the distance of artificial perches in relation to a forest fragment on the diversity and composition of seed rain in an agricultural fallow area, including alien invasive plant species. We also aimed to record and characterize the bird species that potentially act as seed dispersers. Thus, we used artificial perches at three different distances from a forest fragment (5, 25, and 50 m). Four seed traps were arranged under the perches at each distance, and four control seed traps were interspersed with these and distanced at 7.5 m. Furthermore, we placed four seed traps inside the forest fragment at 5 m from the edge. We also carried out 80 h of focal observation of the avifauna that used artificial perches. A total of 24 655 seeds were sampled across all treatments. There was a significant difference in seed abundance and richness between artificial perches, control seed traps, and forest seed traps. Seed deposition increased with distance from the forest fragment (50, 25, and 5 m). An ordination procedure indicated the formation of three plant seed communities, with the forest community being most distinct. The invasive exotic species Pittosporum undulatum (Australian cheesewood) was the third most abundant in the seed rain. We observed 24 bird species from 12 families using artificial perches. The Tyrannidae family was the most represented. We showed that artificial perches are efficient structures for attracting birds, increasing the richness and abundance of seed species. Artificial perches at 25 and 50 m were more efficient possibly due to the provision of greater visibility for birds. Therefore, artificial perches are efficient in increasing seed rain in the fallow area but should be used with caution in landscapes with the presence of alien species. These findings contribute to increasing knowledge about overcoming the first barrier to ecological restoration, which is the arrival of diaspores in degraded areas, and showing the importance of birds in this process.