Journal articles on the topic 'Soils Composition Victoria Hotham'
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1
Wearne, L. J., and J. W. Morgan. "Floristic composition and variability of subalpine grasslands in the Mt Hotham region, north-eastern Victoria." Australian Journal of Botany 49, no. 6 (2001): 721. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/bt01025.
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Subalpine grasslands in the Mt Hotham area, Victoria, are a common feature of cold-air drainage valleys at elevations of 1260–1660 m. Here, the pooling of cold air prevents trees from establishing and results in a distinct grassland community, composed of tussock grasses and a wide variety of intertussock species. Despite their common occurrence in the region, such grasslands have yet to be fully described. This study focused on identifying the floristic composition of subalpine grasslands across 51 sites in the vicinity of Mt Cope, Dinner Plain and Mt Hotham. The vegetation was sampled from 172, 20-m2 quadrats which were analysed by multivariate ordination techniques. Environmental variables were quantified (i.e. soil depth, pH, aspect, slope, biomass, grazing intensity, altitude). Analysis revealed that the grassland sites varied greatly in their composition and richness. There was a gradual rather than abrupt change in species composition across grassland sites, thought to be related to both the geographic proximity of the sites and environmental factors such as geology. The following five grassland types were identified from the entire data set and defined primarily by the dominant species: Poa hiemata, Poa costiniana, Poa sieberiana, Poa labillardierei and Themeda triandra. Vector-fitting revealed significant correlations between the location of the quadrats in ordination space and altitude, biomass, pH and soil depth. Both increasing altitude and biomass were associated with the P. costiniana grasslands and some of the P. hiemata grasslands. The P. hiemata grasslands were widely distibuted across altitudes and geology (i.e. basalt and metamorphic). The lower-altitude grasslands (P. labillardierei, P. sieberiana, T. triandra) were associated with increasing pH and increasing soil depth. These grasslands were of limited extent and usually occupied small areas within larger grasslands dominated by P. hiemata or P. costiniana. The floristic composition of the Hotham grasslands (1260–1630 m a.s.l.), when compared with previously published data from the higher-elevation subalpine grasslands of both the Dargo High Plains (1450–1680 m a.s.l.) and Bogong High Plains (>1700 m a.s.l.), showed that there was no distinct differentiation between grasslands of these areas. However, there was a suggestion of gradual floristic change across this geographic range. This study highlights the need for ongoing conservation of grasslands in the Hotham area, particularly those at lower altitudes (1260–1450 m a.s.l.), which represent the upper limits of many temperate grassland species.
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Niederberger, Thomas D., Ian R. McDonald, Amy L. Hacker, Rochelle M. Soo, John E. Barrett, Diana H. Wall, and S. Craig Cary. "Microbial community composition in soils of Northern Victoria Land, Antarctica." Environmental Microbiology 10, no. 7 (July 2008): 1713–24. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1462-2920.2008.01593.x.
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McDonald, G. K., E. Tavakkoli, D. Cozzolino, K. Banas, M. Derrien, and P. Rengasamy. "A survey of total and dissolved organic carbon in alkaline soils of southern Australia." Soil Research 55, no. 7 (2017): 617. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/sr16237.
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Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is important to microbial activity and nutrient cycling, and its concentration is sensitive to pH. Despite the importance of alkaline soils to agricultural production in southern Australia, few studies have documented the concentrations of soil organic carbon (C) and DOC or described the effects of soil properties and management practices on DOC in these soils. A survey of 33 paddocks from the Eyre Peninsula and mid-North regions of South Australia and north-western Victoria demonstrated significant variation in pH, soil organic C and DOC. Carbon stocks in the surface 30cm were 40–55tC/ha and were lowest in paddocks from Victoria. Soils from South Australia had higher DOC concentrations in the top 20cm than soils from Victoria. Principal component analysis suggested variation in DOC was increased by high pH, electric conductivity and the concentration of exchangeable Na, and was reduced by the concentration of exchangeable Ca and clay content. Mid-infrared Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy identified regional differences in the composition of soil organic C, with high amounts of charcoal in Eyre Peninsula soils. Farm management practices had little effect on soil organic C but influenced DOC. Grain yield and DOC concentration were inversely related across and within regions which appeared to be related to the intensity of cropping having opposite influences on yield and DOC. Compared with international data, DOC concentrations were high relative to the amount of soil organic C and, in contrast to many previous studies, DOC in all regions increased with depth.
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Nelson, P. N., J. A. Baldock, and J. M. Oades. "Changes in dispersible clay content, organic carbon content, and electrolyte composition following incubation of sodic soil." Soil Research 36, no. 6 (1998): 883. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/s98024.
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Measurement of dispersible clay is important for the diagnosis of structural stability problems in soil. However, clay dispersibility is known to change with water content and time. The purpose of the present study was to determine how incubation of sodic soil under different water content regimes influences clay dispersibility. Two topsoils (depth 0-0·1 m), one sodic [exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP) 9 · 7] and the other non-sodic (ESP 3·8), were collected from an experimental pasture at Kyabram, Victoria, and 2 soils, a sodic topsoil (depth 0-0·1 m, ESP 6·9) and the corresponding subsoil (depth 0·2-0 m, ESP 25·7), were collected from a cropped field at Two Wells, South Australia. The soils were incubated for 264 days in a split-plot design. The main treatments were soil type and incubation water content: continuously air-dry, continuously wet (-50 kPa), or with wet/dry cycles. The subtreatment was water content at analysis: air dry or wet (-50 kPa). Clay dispersion was greater when measured on wet soils than dry soils, irrespective of water contents during the prior incubation. Electrical conductivity increased, and sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), pH, and organic carbon content decreased as a function of the time for which the soils were wet. In the Kyabram soils that were wet when analysed, easily dispersible clay content increased with SAR. Decreases in moderately dispersible clay under the wetting/drying regime were not related to electrolyte composition, and were attributed to particle rearrangement and cementation. The decreases in clay dispersibility with time occurred despite net losses of carbohydrate and aliphatic materials. An implication of the work is that the decomposition of soil organic matter, even in the absence of fresh additions, may reduce clay dispersion in sodic soils by altering electrolyte concentration and composition.
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Henry, Leonia, and Elijah Omutange. "Fractionation of Trace Metals between Catchment Soils and Associated Wetland Sediments of Selected Wetlands of Lake Victoria, East Africa." Journal of Wetlands Ecology 3 (February 11, 2010): 69–78. http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jowe.v3i0.2222.
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The aim of this work was to study the trace metals transfer between soil aquifers and the immediate sediments of the selected wetlands of Lake Victoria. The study covered five trace metals Pb, Cd, Cu, Zn and Mn as these are associated with vehicular traffic and with the combustion of fossil fuels which could both be significant sources of pollution within the wetlands of Lake Victoria basin. Three types of trace metal analyses from various locations of Katonga, Simiyu and Nyando catchments of Lake Victoria were performed: total concentrations, the concentrations in the non-residual fraction and the concentration in the exchangeable fraction. The soil characteristics: texture, pH and organic matter contents, were studied in relation to Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC) to assess the rate of movement of the metals between the soil and the wetland sediments. Eventually, the potential retention and leaching capacity of trace metals within the catchment soils and its possible impact on the composition of the receiving sediments of the wetlands were studied. The comparison between Nyando and Simiyu wetlands showed high variations in the soil characteristics and hence in leaching capacity of the studied metals. In general most areas in Nyando wetland required some measures to improve the CEC of the soil for higher agricultural productivity. Key Words: Trace metals; fractionation; CEC; leaching capacity; soil properties DOI: 10.3126/jowe.v3i0.2222 Journal of Wetlands Ecology, (2009) Vol. 3, pp 68-76
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Foran, BD, G. Bastin, and B. Hill. "The pasture dynamics and management of two rangeland communities in the Victoria River District of the Northern Territory." Rangeland Journal 7, no. 2 (1985): 107. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/rj9850107.
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The use of destocking as a means of promoting pasture recovery was evaluated on two important rangeland types of the semi-arid tropics of north west Australia. Recovery on eroded calcareous red soils was substantial within five years. Standing biomass and species composition, particularly the contribution of the major forage grass Enneapogon spp., was then similar to areas in good condition. However, an exotic shrub, Calotropls procera, invaded the area during the study. Grazing limited its increase to 200 bushes ha-1 compared to unstocked areas where it increased to 1,000 bushes ha-1. Destocking had no effect on cracking clay soils in good condition, dominated by Chrysopogon fallax and Iseilema fragile. An index based on similarity measures of herbage standing biomass, followed closely the course of recovery of the eroded calcareous soil during the period. There is a need for range condition assessment and the development and application of appropriate pasture management strategies for the whole district.
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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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BORGHINI, FRANCESCA, and ROBERTO BARGAGLI. "Changes of major ion concentrations in melting snow and terrestrial waters from northern Victoria Land, Antarctica." Antarctic Science 16, no. 2 (June 2004): 107–15. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s095410200400197x.
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Concentrations of major ions (Cl−, NO3−, SO42−, Na+, K+, Mg2+, Ca2+) were measured in melting snow and water samples from streams and lakes in ice-free areas throughout northern Victoria Land. Most ions in snow and terrestrial water derive from the marine environment and their concentrations are extremely variable in space and time, especially in water systems without melting snow and ice. The distance from the sea, snow sublimation, changes in water inflow, evaporative concentrations, weathering and drainage processes in the catchment, nesting seabirds and aquatic microbiota are among factors which most influence ion composition variability. Comparisons with data from twelve years ago in the same lakes indicate that the warming trend detected at Terra Nova Bay station during this period did not affect the biogeochemistry of water systems. Waters from a lake which recently experienced a lowering of the water level showed a remarkable increase in SO42− concentrations. We hypothesized that the differential mobility of sulphate salts in the Antarctic soils, the biosynthesis of sulphur compounds in the lake, and the progressive decrease of the water volume are factors involved in the increase of SO42− concentrations.
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Chick, Matthew P., Janet S. Cohn, Craig R. Nitschke, and Alan York. "Lack of soil seedbank change with time since fire: relevance to seed supply after prescribed burns." International Journal of Wildland Fire 25, no. 8 (2016): 849. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf15013.
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Soil seedbanks play a key role in the post-fire recruitment of many plant species. Seedbank diversity can be influenced by spatial variability (e.g. geographic location), environmental variability (e.g. soils) and temporal disturbance heterogeneity (e.g. time since fire, TSF) across the landscape. Unlike for aboveground vegetation, relationships between these factors and soil seedbank diversity remain largely unknown. Partitioning the influence of spatial and environmental variability from that of TSF, and explaining how these factors interact with seedbank diversity, will assist conservation managers in their application of prescribed burning. We germinated soil seedbank samples from sites ranging from 1 to 75 years since fire in a heathy-woodland ecosystem across the Otway Ranges in Victoria, Australia. We also measured spatial and environmental variability across sites to partition the influence of these variables and TSF on propagules available for recruitment. We found weak positive relationships between seedbank richness and TSF; however, these relationships varied across the landscape. We found composition did not change considerably over time, suggesting, in this ecosystem, pre-fire age is not strongly influencing propagules available for recruitment post-fire. Our results suggest that spatial and environmental variability influence seedbank composition more than TSF.
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Crawford, DM, TG Baker, and J. Maheswaran. "Changes in soil chemistry associated with changes in soil-pH in Victorian pastures." Soil Research 33, no. 3 (1995): 491. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/sr9950491.
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Relationships between changes in soil pH and changes in other soil chemical properties were examined using data from a survey of 107 pasture sites from across Victoria. At each site, soil samples (0-5, 5-10, 10-15 and 15-20 cm depths) were taken from the pasture and an adjacent undisturbed (reference) area for chemical analysis. Changes in soil chemical properties were inferred from differences between pasture and reference soils. Increases in extractable Al and extractable Mn and decreases in the sum of exchangeable cations were associated with decreases in pH. Changes in soil organic C, total soil N and total soil P were not associated with changes in pH but were related to pasture composition at each site. Increases in total soil P and exchangeable Ca, and decreases in exchangeable Mg were partly attributed to the application of superphosphate. Decreases in electrical conductivity are discussed in relation to vegetation and salinization.
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Tomkins, IB, JD Kellas, KG Tolhurst, and DA Oswin. "Effects of fire intensity on soil chemistry in a eucalypt forest." Soil Research 29, no. 1 (1991): 25. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/sr9910025.
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Soil samples taken in the Wombat State Forest in Victoria, at depths of 0-2, 2-5, and 5-10 cm before and after burning fuel loads of 0 (unburnt control), 15, 50, 150, and 300 t ha-1 were analysed for pH, exchangeable cations and cation exchange capacity, available and total P, organic carbon and soil moisture, over a 2-year, 2000 mm rainfall period. Short term responses (up to 6 months) occurred in levels of exchangeable NH4+, K+, and Mg2+, and long term changes (2 years or longer) over the period of the study were observed for pH, available and total P and exchangeable ca2+ at the 0-2 cm soil depth for the burnt treatments. Following burning (and 108 mm of rain), changes in soil chemical parameters were strongly correlated with fuel load and the quantity of fuel burnt. Changes through the 0-10 cm profile for the various chemical parameters are described, together with seasonal variations. For similar yellow podzolic soils, measurement of soil pH may be a useful criterion for monitoring soil chemical changes following slash and fuel reduction burning, provided that accurate estimates of fuel loads, composition and amount burnt can be established.
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Courtright, Ericha M., Diana H. Wall, and Ross A. Virginia. "Determining habitat suitability for soil invertebrates in an extreme environment: the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica." Antarctic Science 13, no. 1 (March 2001): 9–17. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102001000037.
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We sampled soils in the McMurdo Dry Valleys to determine the habitats that were suitable for extreme for soil invertebrates. Suitability was assessed by comparing nematode species diversity and abundance, and tardigrade and rotifer abundance as related to soil properties at three spatial scales: landscape (across Taylor, Wright and Victoria valleys), at three distant locations within valleys, and within small plots (1 m2). Extreme environments were characterized by the lack of nematode abundance and diversity, high salinity, low soil moisture and organic carbon, and higher elevation or a geographic location less accessible for dispersing organisms. Suitable habitats were more frequent near the coast and at lower elevations. Extreme habitats could be defined based on one environmental factor, but more typically a set of interrelated soil and environmental factors appear to determine the abundance and composition of the soil community. The three Dry Valley nematode species occupied distinct regions of a multivariate biplot relating soil chemistry and moisture. Scottnema lindsayae is unusual for its ability to live in a wide range of extreme soil habitats. Our research shows that in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, life flourishes in suitable soil habitats and that extreme habitats (“no invertebrates”) can be defined.
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Saul, G. R., G. A. Kearney, P. C. Flinn, and C. L. Lescun. "Effects of superphosphate fertiliser and stocking rate on the nutritive value of perennial ryegrass and subterranean clover herbage." Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 50, no. 4 (1999): 537. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/a98138.
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The effect of superphosphate fertiliser on digestible dry matter (DDM) and crude protein (CP) percentages of perennial ryegrass and subterranean clover was assessed on a long-term, grazed experiment in western Victoria. CP of both species increased significantly (3–6 units) where long-term average phosphorus (P) applications were 33 kg/ha.year compared with 1 kg/ha.year. CP of herbage was also greater on paddocks grazed at higher (9–23 ewes/ha) than lower (5–13 ewes/ha) stocking rates (1–3 units). DDM of subterranean clover significantly increased (8–10 units) with higher superphosphate applications but there was little effect on the DDM of perennial ryegrass. Long-term applications of superphosphate were associated with larger increases in both DDM and CP than if the same rate was applied in autumn of the year of measurement. For subterranean clover, 30 kg/ha of P applied to infertile soils (Olsen P 5 mg/kg) in autumn increased the DDM of herbage collected in September by only 4–6 units. The nutritive value of most volunteer pasture species also increased with higher superphosphate applications but the DDM of these species was usually inferior to perennial ryegrass. The results highlight the importance of monitoring nutritive value, pasture composition, and herbage production to quantify fully the likely effect of fertiliser applications on animal production.
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Kemp, D. R., and P. M. Dowling. "Towards sustainable temperate perennial pastures." Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 40, no. 2 (2000): 125. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/ea98003.
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Naturalised pastures across the higher rainfall (>600 mm) perennial pasture zone of south-eastern Australia are less productive than they were, while sown pastures fail to maintain their initial levels of production. Several factors have contributed to this, including lack of knowledge of suitable grazing practices, weed invasion, increasing acid soils, rising water tables and poor management practices during droughts. A key issue in each case is the decline in perennial grass species which is both a cause and effect of the decline in productivity and sustainability of these ecosystems. This paper introduces a volume devoted to the largest collaborative study done to evaluate tactics for better grazing management and to improve the sustainability of perennial pasture ecosystems. Grazing practices to manage the composition of pastures have been largely neglected in pasture research, but are an important first step in improving pasture sustainability. This paper also outlines a new, open communal grazing experimental design which was developed and used across 24 sites on farms in New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia, to evaluate tactics for grazing management. The general aim across these experiments was to maintain (if adequate) or enhance (if degraded), the proportion of desirable perennial grasses in the sward to achieve more sustainable pastures. The results will provide the basis for building more sustainable grazing systems.
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Stirling, G. R., and G. M. Lodge. "A survey of Australian temperate pastures in summer and winter rainfall zones: soil nematodes, chemical, and biochemical properties." Soil Research 43, no. 8 (2005): 887. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/sr05079.
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Data for soil nematode numbers, total microbial activity, microbial biomass carbon (C), and various soil chemical properties were collected from permanent and semi-permanent pastures at 108 locations in 2 contrasting environments: a summer rainfall zone in northern New South Wales (n = 60) and a winter rainfall zone in south-east South Australia and western Victoria (n = 48). Nematodes were also categorised according to their feeding habits and reproductive rates, and the abundance of various nematode groups was used to compute 3 indices that indicate the condition of the soil food web [enrichment index (EI), structure index (SI), and channel index (CI)]. At each location, pasture species herbage mass (kg DM/ha) was estimated and locations were grouped according to dominant species (lucerne, subterranean clover and phalaris in both rainfall zones; perennial ryegrass, winter rainfall zone only) as well as total soil microbial activity. The objective of the survey was to obtain a general indication of the biological status of soils used for pasture production in temperate regions of Australia, compare the soil biology in the 2 study areas, and determine whether it was influenced by pasture species composition. The most common plant-parasitic nematode was lesion nematode (Pratylenchus spp.), which was found at 67% of locations in the summer rainfall zone and 29% of those in the winter rainfall zone. Generally, there were more free-living nematodes in the soil than plant-parasitic nematodes. Numbers of free-living nematodes were highest in the winter rainfall zone, while in the summer rainfall zone there were more free-living nematodes in subterranean clover and phalaris pastures than lucerne pastures. Graphical representations of data for EI and SI indicated that the soil food webs at all sites in the summer rainfall zone were either structured or degraded. Food webs in the winter rainfall zone were more variable, with relatively high EI values indicating that more resources were available to support the soil biology. Climate had a major effect on CI values, with the mean in the winter rainfall zone being 28 (indicating a bacterial-dominant detritus food web) compared with 72 (indicating fungal dominance) in the summer rainfall zone. Mean total microbial activity was twice as high (2.6 v. 1.3 µg fluorescein diacetate/g.min) in soils from the winter than the summer rainfall zone. Mean levels of total organic C, total nitrogen, and labile C were also higher for the winter rainfall zone than the summer zone. For both rainfall zones, mean microbial biomass C was 0.09 mg/g soil, labile C was 9.05% of total organic C, and microbial biomass C was 3.5% of labile C. In the summer rainfall zone, values for all measured biochemical properties were lower in lucerne pastures than in other pasture types. We concluded that the biological status of soils in the winter rainfall zone was better than soils in the summer rainfall zone, and that the biology under lucerne pastures in the summer rainfall zone differed from pastures dominated by phalaris and subterranean clover. Soils in both study areas were generally healthy, as they had relatively high levels of total organic C and labile C, high numbers of free-living nematodes, high microbial activities, and a general lack of problems associated with plant-parasitic nematodes. However, there were exceptions, as there was considerable within-site variability for some biological and biochemical parameters at some sites.
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Severgnini, Marco, Fabiana Canini, Clarissa Consolandi, Tania Camboni, Luigi Paolo D'Acqui, Cristina Mascalchi, Stefano Ventura, and Laura Zucconi. "Highly differentiated soil bacterial communities in Victoria Land macro-areas (Antarctica)." FEMS Microbiology Ecology 97, no. 7 (June 21, 2021). http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/femsec/fiab087.
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ABSTRACT Ice-free areas of Victoria Land, in Antarctica, are characterized by different terrestrial ecosystems, that are dominated by microorganisms supporting highly adapted communities. Despite the unique conditions of these ecosystems, reports on their bacterial diversity are still fragmentary. From this perspective, 60 samples from 14 localities were analyzed. These localities were distributed in coastal sites with differently developed biological soil crusts, inner sites in the McMurdo Dry Valleys with soils lacking of plant coverage, and a site called Icarus Camp, with a crust developed on a thin locally weathered substrate of the underlying parent granitic-rock. Bacterial diversity was studied through 16S rRNA metabarcoding sequencing. Communities diversity, composition and the abundance and composition of different taxonomic groups were correlated to soil physicochemical characteristics. Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Cyanobacteria and Proteobacteria dominated these communities. Most phyla were mainly driven by soil granulometry, an often disregarded parameter and other abiotic parameters. Bacterial composition differed greatly among the three macrohabitats, each having a distinct bacterial profile. Communities within the two main habitats (coastal and inner ones) were well differentiated from each other as well, therefore depending on site-specific physicochemical characteristics. A core community of the whole samples was observed, mainly represented by Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes.
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Lindenmayer, David, David Blair, Lachlan McBurney, Sam Banks, and Elle Bowd. "Ten years on – a decade of intensive biodiversity research after the 2009 Black Saturday wildfires in Victoria’s Mountain Ash forest." Australian Zoologist, November 11, 2020. http://dx.doi.org/10.7882/az.2020.041.
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ABSTRACT The catastrophic 2009 wildfires in the Mountain Ash (Eucalyptus regnans) forests of the Central Highl&s of Victoria provided an opportunity to gain new insights into the responses to fire by various elements of the biota. Ongoing long-term monitoring at a large number of permanent field sites for up to 25 years prior to the fire, together with 10 years of post-fire monitoring, has provided an unparalleled series of datasets on mammal, bird, & plant responses on burned & unburned sites. The empirical studies briefly summarized in this paper show patterns of steep declines in large old trees & declines in site occupancy by arboreal marsupials & birds. These changes contrast markedly with the responses of the two most common species of small mammals (the Agile Antechinus [Antechinus agilis] & Bush Rat [Rattus fuscipes]), which recovered within two generations after the fire. Declines in arboreal marsupials, birds & large old trees have also occurred on unburned sites, indicating an ecosystem-wide trend. In general, logging had a greater impact than fire on the majority of groups of birds & plants, particularly post-fire salvage logging that occurred in some areas following the 2009 wildfires. Beyond interactions between fire & post-fire (salvage) logging & their effects on forest biota, we have uncovered evidence of other kinds of interactions in Mountain Ash forests. These include interactions between: (1) the severity of fires & logging history, (2) post-fire bird population recovery & long-term climate & short-term weather conditions, & (3) impacts on forest soils. The structure & l&scape composition of the Mountain Ash ecosystem has been radically altered over the last century. This has resulted from the combined impact of several large fires, including the 2009 fires as well as widespread clearfell logging that has been conducted within state forests over the last 50 years. The ecosystem now supports old growth cover that is 1/30th to 1/60th of what it was estimated to have been prior to European settlement. The ongoing decline of key components of the Mountain Ash ecosystem has led to it being classified as Critically Endangered & at high risk of ecosystem collapse. We argue that current forest policy & practices need to better mitigate the effects of fire on this already highly disturbed forest & enhance the possible persistence of species in this ecosystem. Several key strategies are required to do this. First, there is a need to significantly exp& the extent of old growth within the Mountain Ash forest estate. This is because fire severity is diminished in such areas. Spatial contagion across old-growth dominated l&scapes also may be suppressed relative to l&scapes composed primarily of young forest. Allied management strategies include the protection of more mesic parts of Mountain Ash l&scapes as these are less likely to burn or at least burn at high severity. Such enhanced protection should include an exp&ed network of buffers around drainage lines & waterways as these are where fire severity is likely to be lowest & also where old growth elements like large old hollow-bearing trees are more abundant. In addition, all existing living & dead hollow-bearing trees need to be protected by buffers of unlogged forest within wood production forests to promote their st&ing life & better conserve cavity-dependent fauna such as the Critically Endangered Leadbeater’s Possum (Gymnobelideus leadbeateri) & other declining taxa like the Greater Glider (Petauroides volans).