L-band SAR sensitivity to prescribed burning effects in eucalypt forests of Western Australia

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel A. Belenguer-Plomer ◽  
Angel Fernandez-Carrillo ◽  
Lachlan McCaw ◽  
Mihai A. Tanase
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
L Band ◽  
Eucalypt Forests

Uraba lugens (eucalypt leaf skeletonizer).

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Berndt
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
Timber Production ◽  
Native Range ◽  
Natural Forests ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Important Pest ◽  
Eucalypt Forests

Abstract U. lugens was first considered a serious pest of natural eucalypt forests in Western Australia in 1983 when the first severe outbreak occurred there (Strelein, 1988). Prior to that it was widely known as a pest of eucalypt forests in eastern Australia (Campbell, 1962; Harris, 1974). As these natural forests are or were managed for timber production, it is considered an economically important pest in its native range. Damage to amenity trees is also a common problem, although few trees are killed by this defoliation (Anonymous, 1979).U. lugens was recorded as invasive in New Zealand by Crabtree (1997). In its exotic range it has become a significant pest of amenity trees, particularly Lophestemon confertus (Australian brush box), which is commonly planted in some parts of Auckland City (Kriticos et al., 2007).

scholarly journals Landscope: Fire The Force Of Life

2000 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 275
Author(s):  
Kelli O'Neill
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Precautionary Principle ◽  
General Public ◽  
Forest Ecosystems ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Environmental Movement ◽  
The Precautionary Principle ◽  
Australian Flora ◽  
Final Group ◽  
Over Time

The use of fire in Western Australia to manage forest ecosystems is contentious. There is huge disagreement between scientists, the environmental movement and members of the general public over the effects of prescribed burning. Some believe that the Australian flora and fauna has adapted to fire over time and needs it for their continued survival. Others perceive prescribed burning as damaging to biota. A final group of people thinks we should be applying the precautionary principle to prescribed burning. This disagreement is present due to the slim knowledge we have on fire and its management. No one really knows, how, when or if we should use prescribed burning.

Ecology of the western bearded dragon (Pogona minor) in unmined forest and forest restored after bauxite mining in south-west Western Australia

2007 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael D. Craig ◽  
Mark J. Garkaklis ◽  
Giles E. St J. Hardy ◽  
Andrew H. Grigg ◽  
Carl D. Grant ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Plant Succession ◽  
Microhabitat Use ◽  
Detailed Knowledge ◽  
Bauxite Mining ◽  
South West ◽  
Forest Sites ◽  
Successional Species ◽  
Original Vegetation

Forest areas restored after mining typically take decades, or longer, before they resemble the original vegetation community. Understanding how fauna succession varies with plant succession requires detailed knowledge of an animal’s ecology. Knowledge of an animal’s ecology can also be used to predict faunal responses to management manipulations and enable techniques to be developed that accelerate the return of fauna to restored sites. We radio-tracked western bearded dragons (Pogona minor) in a mix of unmined forest sites and sites restored after bauxite mining, in the jarrah forest of south-west Western Australia, to determine critical resources and important microhabitats for dragons. Dragons were generalists – utilising a range of microhabitats – and adaptable, adjusting their microhabitat use depending on availability. Individuals also differed significantly in their microhabitat use and did not appear to have a defined home range. We concluded that the species would rapidly recolonise restored sites and that no modifications to current restoration practices were required to accelerate their return. Prescribed burning of restored areas could negatively affect this species but the effect would be short-term (<2 years). The approach used in this study could be used to develop management prescriptions that accelerate the return of late-successional species to restored sites.

Guidelines for ecological burning regimes in Mediterranean ecosystems: a case study in Banksia woodlands in Western Australia.

2014 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara A Wilson ◽  
Janine Kuehs ◽  
Leonie E Valentine ◽  
Tracy Sonneman ◽  
Kristen M Wolfe
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Fire History ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Fire Regimes ◽  
Mediterranean Ecosystems ◽  
Skewed Distribution ◽  
Complex Solutions ◽  
Fire Intervals ◽  
Associated Species

In Mediterranean ecosystems prescribed burning is commonly employed to reduce the risk or intensity of wildfires. As a consequence, a major challenge for conservation land managers is the development of fire regimes that reduce damaging wildfires and are optimal for biodiversity. The aim of this paper was to develop guidelines for ecological fire regimes using the Banksia woodland on the Gnangara Groundwater System in Western Australia as a case study. Development of the guidelines involved the determination of maximum and minimum fire intervals of key fire response species, analyses of fire history records and estimation of ideal age class distributions at the landscape level. Recommendations included a) adoption of a minimum fire interval of 8–16 years, b) implementation of a burning regime to redress the current skewed distribution (60%: 1–7 years since last fire), c) retention of long-unburnt habitats that are significant for species such as the critically endangered Calyptorhynchus latirostris (Carnaby’s black-cockatoo), and Tarsipes rostratus (honey possum), and d) protection for wetlands that can serve as fire ‘refugia’ for associated species, such as Isoodon obesulus fusciventer (southern brown bandicoot or quenda). The guidelines developed provide a model for the development of ecological burning regimes in other similar ecosystems. The implementation of ecological guidelines normally involves incorporation into fire management planning by fire agencies and often entails complex solutions to conflicting aims. The guidelines are thus valuable for ecologists and land managers, especially in light of an expected significant increase in global fire activity as a consequence of predicted climate change.

Prescribed burning as a conservation tool for management of habitat for threatened species: the quokka, Setonix brachyurus, in the southern forests of Western Australia

2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. 608 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karlene Bain ◽  
Adrian Wayne ◽  
Roberta Bencini
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Threatened Species ◽  
Vegetation Structure ◽  
Habitat Management ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
High Surface ◽  
Fire Regimes ◽  
Occupancy Modelling ◽  
Vertical Vegetation Structure ◽  
Burnt Areas

Prescribed burning is frequently advocated as a means of managing habitat for threatened species. We studied effects of fire on the quokka (Setonix brachyurus), a species currently used as a focal species for planning prescribed burns in the southern forests of Western Australia. We examined (i) the recolonisation of burnt areas; (ii) the refuge value of unburnt vegetation; and (iii) fire prediction variables that may help to guide fire planning to achieve desired habitat management outcomes. We hypothesised that fire regimes promoting vegetation structure and patchiness of burnt and unburnt vegetation would result in more rapid recolonisation of burnt areas by quokkas. Occupancy modelling identified the most important variables for recolonisation as retention of vertical vegetation structure and multiple unburnt patches across >20% of the total area. These outcomes were associated with high surface moisture, low soil dryness and slow fire rates of spread. Intense wildfire resulted in complete loss of vegetation structure and a lack of unburnt patches, which contributed to these areas remaining uncolonised. Burning with high moisture differentials, maximising the effectiveness of edaphic barriers to fire, retaining unburnt vegetation and maintaining vegetation structure were found to be important elements of fire regimes in this region.

Understanding the long-term impact of prescribed burning in mediterranean-climate biodiversity hotspots, with a focus on south-western Australia

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (10) ◽  
pp. 643 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. D. Bradshaw ◽  
K. W. Dixon ◽  
H. Lambers ◽  
A. T. Cross ◽  
J. Bailey ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Ecological Impact ◽  
Mediterranean Ecosystems ◽  
Biodiversity Hotspots ◽  
Protective Capacity ◽  
Animal Diversity ◽  
Long Term Impact ◽  
The Impact

Wildfires are expected to increase worldwide both in frequency and intensity owing to global warming, but are likely to vary geographically. This is of particular concern in the five mediterranean regions of the world that are all biodiversity hotspots with extraordinary plant and animal diversity that may be impacted by deliberately imposed fire. Wildland managers attempt to reduce the impact and mitigate the outcomes of wildfires on human assets and biodiversity by the use of prescribed burning. The response that we must ‘fight fire with fire’ is understandable, perceived as reducing the flammability of wildlands in fire-prone regions and lessening the impact of wildfires. The long-term impact on biodiversity is, however, less clear. The practice of prescribed burning has been in place and monitored in south-western Australia for 50 years, longer and more intensively than in most other mediterranean ecosystems. The present target is for 200 000 ha burned each year in this biodiversity hotspot. Published studies on the impact of this burning on infrastructure protection and on biodiversity are here used to understand the protective capacity of the practice and to foreshadow its possible long-term ecological impact across all mediterranean ecosystems.

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