The effects of prescribed burning on epigaeic ant communities in eucalypt forest of South Australia

2012 ◽  
Vol 271 ◽  
pp. 147-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kieren P. Beaumont ◽  
Duncan A. Mackay ◽  
Molly A. Whalen
Keyword(s):  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Ant Communities ◽  
Eucalypt Forest

Bird diversity increases after patchy prescribed fire: implications from a before–after control–impact study

2015 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 690 ◽  
Author(s):  
Holly Sitters ◽  
Julian Di Stefano ◽  
Fiona J. Christie ◽  
Paul Sunnucks ◽  
Alan York
Keyword(s):  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
Mixed Models ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Bird Diversity ◽  
Eucalypt Forest ◽  
Impact Experiment ◽  
Impact Area ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Topographic Variation

Increasingly, patchy prescribed fire of low severity is used by land managers to mitigate wildfire risk, but there are relatively few experimental studies on the effects of low-severity fire on fauna. We used a before–after control–impact experiment to examine avian responses to prescribed fire at two scales in topographically variable, tall-open eucalypt forest in south-east Australia. We surveyed birds at control and impact areas twice before and twice after fire, and applied mixed models to investigate responses of avian turnover, richness and the occurrence of selected species. Approximately half of the impact area was burnt and topographic variation generated a finger-like configuration of burnt patches on ridges and unburnt patches in gullies. Our findings at the smaller scale (0.8 ha) indicated that the fire resulted in increased bird diversity because a patchwork of burnt and unburnt areas provided a mosaic of distinct successional states in which different species occurred. Additionally, we found that the effect of fire on species richness and occurrence was a function of the presence of unburnt topographic refuges. In contrast, we found no compelling evidence to suggest that birds responded to the fire at the larger scale (400 ha). We conclude that application of low-severity fire in a patchy manner enhanced avian diversity and facilitated the persistence of the birds detected in pre-fire surveys. Although the levels of patchiness required to sustain diverse taxa warrant further study, our findings highlight the importance of formally incorporating patchiness into prescribed burning for the ecologically sensitive management of contemporary landscapes.

Community Organisation, Biogeography and Seasonality of Ants in an Open Forest of South-eastern Queensland

1997 ◽  
Vol 45 (5) ◽  
pp. 523 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Vanderwoude ◽  
A. N. Andersen ◽  
A. P. N. House
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Relative Abundance ◽  
Functional Group ◽  
Group Composition ◽  
Ant Communities ◽  
Ant Community ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
Community Organisation ◽  
Eucalypt Forest ◽  
Eastern Australia

The biogeography and structure of ant communities were examined over a 12-month period at a dry open eucalypt forest in south-eastern Queensland. Three sites were monitored, each with a distinct long-term burning history: burned annually since 1952, burned periodically since 1973, and unburned since 1946. A total of 89 species from 42 genera was recorded over all trapping periods, with the richest genera being Iridomyrmex, Camponotus and Pheidole, each with eight species. Site species richness was 74, 63 and 43, respectively, at the annually burned, periodically burned and the unburned site. We compared the ant community in this forest with those at other forested sites in eastern Australia. Overall, the south-eastern Queensland community was located on the overlap between the Bassian and Torresian zones (not dominated by either element), while the functional-group composition resembled those of both tropical savannas and cool-temperate woodlands. There were readily discernible differences between sites in terms of biogeographical and functional-group composition; and between the unburned site and both burned sites in terms of abundance and species richness. The relative abundance of Iridomyrmex spp. increased with burning frequency while the relative abundance of Bassian species decreased with burning frequency. Species richness and abundance at the burned sites were similar, but substantially higher than at the unburned site. The community characteristics of the three sites were readily distinguishable, indicating that ant communities may play a valuable role in detecting ecological changes in forested landscapes in south- eastern Queensland.

Cause and effects of a megafire in sedge-heathland in the Tasmanian temperate wilderness

2016 ◽  
Vol 64 (6) ◽  
pp. 513 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben J. French ◽  
Lynda D. Prior ◽  
Grant J. Williamson ◽  
David M. J. S. Bowman
Keyword(s):  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Fire Severity ◽  
Stand Age ◽  
Temperate Region ◽  
Early 19Th Century ◽  
European Settlement ◽  
Eucalypt Forest ◽  
Regeneration Response ◽  
Whole Plants ◽  
Aboriginal Burning

The World Heritage wilderness of south-western Tasmania contains a complex vegetation mosaic of eucalypt forest, myrtaceous scrub and fire-sensitive rainforest embedded in highly flammable sedge–heathland. Aboriginal burning shaped this temperate region for millennia, and large, severe wildfires have prevailed since European settlement in the early 19th century. In 2013, the Giblin River fire burnt 45 000 ha of wilderness, most of which was sedge-heathland. We surveyed the fire footprint, and an adjacent management burn, to investigate the drivers of fire severity in sedge-heathland and to assess the regeneration response of woody vegetation and how these were influenced by antecedent fire histories. Analyses based on multi-model inference identified time since fire as the most important driver of sedge-heathland fire severity, as measured by diameter of burnt twigs. Mortality was high for both main stems (98%) and whole plants (91%), with only 16% of dead stems resprouting. Resprouting and seedling establishment were little affected by fire severity. The value of prescribed burning in reducing both the extent and severity of wildfires in the south-western Tasmanian landscape, and in maintaining stand-age heterogeneity, is illustrated by the wildfire having self-extinguished on the boundary of the management burn.

Environment and Competition as Determinants of Local Geographical-Distribution of 5 Meat Ants, Iridomyrmex-Purpureus and Allied Species (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)

1987 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 259 ◽  
Author(s):  
PJM Greenslade
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Geographical Distribution ◽  
Selective Pressure ◽  
A Priori ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Summer Rainfall ◽  
Evolutionary Change ◽  
Species Range ◽  
Ant Communities ◽  
Order Form

The distributions of five species of meat ants [Iridomyrmex purpureus S.S. (P), 'yellow species' (Y), viridiaeneus (V), 'small purple species' (SP), 'blue species' (B)] were investigated in the Gawler Ranges and Eyre Peninsula of South Australia, in relation to climate, soils and vegetation. P occurred mainly in two areas of relatively high total and/or summer rainfall that were predicted a priori, and Y was limited to sandy alkaline yellow duplex soils. V, SP and B are all found in the arid Gawler Ranges and, in this order, form a sequence of increasing penetration into areas of higher rainfall on Eyre Peninsula. It is proposed that a north-to-south gradient of increasing rainfall is accompanied by a gradient of increasing diversity (species richness) of local ant faunas. By analogy with the distribution of meat ant species across habitats differing in the diversity of their ant faunas in the Gawler Ranges, it is suggested that southern limits to the ranges of V and SP are determined by intensification of diffuse competition from increasingly diverse ant communities. Within their ranges, however, the relative frequencies of SP and B depend on simple asymmetrical competition between meat ant species. Diffuse competition at the periphery of a species' range is discussed briefly as selective pressure towards evolutionary change or stasis.

Changes of mercury concentrations in streamwater after a destructive wildfire (Camp Fire 2018) and a prescribed burning in northern California

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Chow ◽  
Jackson Webster ◽  
Hunter Robinson ◽  
Robert rhew ◽  
Martin Tsz-Ki Tsui ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Northern California

Mission Tracks in the Bush

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 103-124
Author(s):  
Gemma Tulud Cruz
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Nation Building ◽  
Cultural Encounters ◽  
History Of

Christian missionaries played an important role in the Australian nation building that started in the nineteenth century. This essay explores the multifaceted and complex cultural encounters in the context of two aboriginal missions in Australia in the nineteenth century. More specifically, the essay explores the New Norcia mission in Western Australia in 1846-1900 and the Lutheran mission in South Australia in 1838-1853. The essay begins with an overview of the history of the two missions followed by a discussion of the key faces of the cultural encounters that occurred in the course of the missions. This is followed by theological reflections on the encounters in dialogue with contemporary theology, particularly the works of Robert Schreiter.

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