Environmental Factors Relating to the Distribution of Terricolous Bryophytes and Lichens in Semi-Arid Eastern Australia

1997 ◽  
Vol 100 (1) ◽  
pp. 28 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Eldridge ◽  
Merrin E. Tozer
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Semi Arid ◽  
Terricolous Bryophytes

scholarly journals Fire and Its Interactions With Other Drivers Shape a Distinctive, Semi-Arid ‘Mallee’ Ecosystem

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael F. Clarke ◽  
Luke T. Kelly ◽  
Sarah C. Avitabile ◽  
Joe Benshemesh ◽  
Kate E. Callister ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Regional Scale ◽  
Fire Regimes ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Arid Ecosystems ◽  
Coarse Grained ◽  
Pest Species ◽  
Age Classes ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Animal Communities ◽  
Semi Arid

Fire shapes ecosystems globally, including semi-arid ecosystems. In Australia, semi-arid ‘mallee’ ecosystems occur primarily across the southern part of the continent, forming an interface between the arid interior and temperate south. Mallee vegetation is characterized by short, multi-stemmed eucalypts that grow from a basal lignotuber. Fire shapes the structure and functioning of mallee ecosystems. Using the Murray Mallee region in south-eastern Australia as a case study, we examine the characteristics and role of fire, the consequences for biota, and the interaction of fire with other drivers. Wildfires in mallee ecosystems typically are large (1000s ha), burn with high severity, commonly cause top-kill of eucalypts, and create coarse-grained mosaics at a regional scale. Wildfires can occur in late spring and summer in both dry and wet years. Recovery of plant and animal communities is predictable and slow, with regeneration of eucalypts and many habitat components extending over decades. Time since the last fire strongly influences the distribution and abundance of many species and the structure of plant and animal communities. Animal species display a discrete set of generalized responses to time since fire. Systematic field studies and modeling are beginning to reveal how spatial variation in fire regimes (‘pyrodiversity’) at different scales shapes biodiversity. Pyrodiversity includes variation in the extent of post-fire habitats, the diversity of post-fire age-classes and their configuration. At regional scales, a desirable mix of fire histories for biodiversity conservation includes a combination of early, mid and late post-fire age-classes, weighted toward later seral stages that provide critical habitat for threatened species. Biodiversity is also influenced by interactions between fire and other drivers, including land clearing, rainfall, herbivory and predation. Extensive clearing for agriculture has altered the nature and impact of fire, and facilitated invasion by pest species that modify fuels, fire regimes and post-fire recovery. Given the natural and anthropogenic drivers of fire and the consequences of their interactions, we highlight opportunities for conserving mallee ecosystems. These include learning from and fostering Indigenous knowledge of fire, implementing actions that consider synergies between fire and other processes, and strategic monitoring of fire, biodiversity and other drivers to guide place-based, adaptive management under climate change.

Accumulation of soil carbon under zero tillage cropping and perennial vegetation on the Liverpool Plains, eastern Australia

Soil Research ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 273 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. R. Young ◽  
B. Wilson ◽  
S. Harden ◽  
A. Bernardi
Keyword(s):  
Field Experiment ◽  
Soil Carbon ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Annual Rainfall ◽  
Continuous Cropping ◽  
Zero Tillage ◽  
Accumulation Rates ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Perennial Vegetation ◽  
Semi Arid

Australian agriculture contributes an estimated 16% of all national greenhouse gas emissions, and considerable attention is now focused on management approaches that reduce net emissions. One area of potential is the modification of cropping practices to increase soil carbon storage. Here, we report short–medium term changes in soil carbon under zero tillage cropping systems and perennial vegetation, both in a replicated field experiment and on nearby farmers’ paddocks, on carbon-depleted Black Vertosols in the upper Liverpool Plains catchment. Soil organic carbon stocks (CS) remained unchanged under both zero tillage long fallow wheat–sorghum rotations and zero tillage continuous winter cereal in a replicated field experiment from 1994 to 2000. There was some evidence of accumulation of CS under intensive (>1 crop/year) zero tillage response cropping. There was significant accumulation of CS (~0.35 Mg/ha.year) under 3 types of perennial pasture, despite removal of aerial biomass with each harvest. Significant accumulation was detected in the 0–0.1, 0.1–0.2, and 0.2–0.4 m depth increments under lucerne and the top 2 increments under mixed pastures of lucerne and phalaris and of C3 and C4 perennial grasses. Average annual rainfall for the period of observations was 772 mm, greater than the 40-year average of 680 mm. A comparison of major attributes of cropping systems and perennial pastures showed no association between aerial biomass production and accumulation rates of CS but a positive correlation between the residence times of established plants and accumulation rates of CS. CS also remained unchanged (1998/2000–07) under zero tillage cropping on nearby farms, irrespective of paddock history before 1998/2000 (zero tillage cropping, traditional cropping, or ~10 years of sown perennial pasture). These results are consistent with previous work in Queensland and central western New South Wales suggesting that the climate (warm, semi-arid temperate, semi-arid subtropical) of much of the inland cropping country in eastern Australia is not conducive to accumulation of soil carbon under continuous cropping, although they do suggest that CS may accumulate under several years of healthy perennial pastures in rotation with zero tillage cropping.

An extension to the known range of the eastern grey kangaroo Macropus giganteus on Cape York Peninsula.

2005 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 225 ◽  
Author(s):  
EG Ritchie
Keyword(s):  
Arid Regions ◽  
Grey Kangaroo ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Northern Cape ◽  
Cape York ◽  
Open Forests ◽  
Semi Arid

THE eastern grey kangaroo (Macropus giganteus) is one of Australia?s widest-ranging large macropodids, occurring in open forests, woodlands, subalpine woodland, farmland, and semi-arid regions throughout most of eastern Australia (Menkhorst and Knight 2001). However current general accounts (e.g., Poole 1995, Menkhorst and Knight 2001) regard M. giganteus as being absent from the northern Cape York Peninsula.

Environmental factors associated with toxic cyanobacterial blooms across 20 drinking water reservoirs in a semi-arid region of Brazil

Harmful Algae ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 86 ◽  
pp. 128-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mário U.G. Barros ◽  
Alan E. Wilson ◽  
João I.R. Leitão ◽  
Silvano P. Pereira ◽  
Riley P. Buley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Arid Region ◽  
Cyanobacterial Blooms ◽  
Water Reservoirs ◽  
Factors Associated ◽  
Semi Arid Region ◽  
Semi Arid

Environmental factors determining regional biodiversity patterns of groundwater fauna in semi-arid aquifers of northwest Algeria

Limnology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 309-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdelhakim Mahi ◽  
Tiziana Di Lorenzo ◽  
Bathoul Haicha ◽  
Nouria Belaidi ◽  
Amina Taleb
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Biodiversity Patterns ◽  
Groundwater Fauna ◽  
Semi Arid

Wind Dispersal of the Vagant Lichen Chondropsis semiviridis in Semi-arid Eastern Australia

1999 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 157 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. J. Eldridge ◽  
J. F. Leys
Keyword(s):  
Wind Speed ◽  
Wind Tunnel ◽  
Wind Dispersal ◽  
Wind Speed Data ◽  
Litter Cover ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Wind Velocities ◽  
Semi Arid

A field-based wind tunnel was used to assess threshold wind velocities required to initiate movement of the vagant lichen Chondropsis semiviridis (F.Muell. ex Nyl.) Nyl. in a semi-arid eastern Australian woodland. Threshold wind velocities were lowest on bare surfaces (21 km h-1) and highest on surfaces covered with the needle-like litter of Casuarina cristata Miq. trees (58 km h-1). Examination of wind speed data suggests that threshold wind velocities for movement on litter-covered surfaces occur about 1% of the time in summer. The extensive litter cover in the groves, and the tendency of C. semiviridis to firmly attach to this litter, probably explains the concentration of C. semiviridis in the groves and the low rates of migration and emigration during most years. It is hypothesised that migration of C. semiviridis between timbered groves would only occur during extreme droughts when pasture and litter cover are sparse.

Maximising trapping efficiency in reptile surveys: the role of seasonality, weather conditions and moon phase on capture success

2010 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa M. Spence-Bailey ◽  
Dale G. Nimmo ◽  
Luke T. Kelly ◽  
Andrew F. Bennett ◽  
Michael F. Clarke
Keyword(s):  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Trapping Efficiency ◽  
Individual Species ◽  
Arid Environments ◽  
Moon Phase ◽  
Mixed Effect ◽  
Capture Success ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Semi Arid ◽  
Capture Rates

Context. Designing an appropriate survey protocol requires understanding of how capture rates of target species may be influenced by factors other than on-ground abundance, such as weather conditions or seasonality. This is particularly relevant for ectotherms such as reptiles, as activity can be affected by environmental conditions such as ambient temperature. Aims. The present study examines factors affecting capture success of reptiles in semi-arid environments of southern Australia, and addresses the following two main questions: (1) what is the influence of weather and seasonal factors on capture rates of reptiles, and (2) what are the implications for developing an effective protocol for reptile surveys? Methods. We surveyed reptiles using pitfall traps in spring and summer of 2006/07 and 2007/08 at sites (n = 280) throughout the Murray Mallee region of south-eastern Australia. We used mixed-effect regression models to investigate the influence of seasonal and weather-related variables on species’ capture success. Key results. Total captures of reptiles, and the likelihood of capture of 15 reptile species, increased with rising daily temperature. Greater numbers of individual species were captured during spring than in summer, even though temperatures were cooler. This probably reflects greater levels of activity associated with breeding. Several species were more likely to be captured when maximum or minimum daily temperatures exceeded a certain level (e.g. Lerista labialis, Delma australis, Nephrurus levis). Other factors, such as rainfall and moon phase, also influenced capture success of some species. Conclusions. Surveys for reptiles in semi-arid environments are likely to capture the greatest diversity of species on warm days in late spring months, although surveys on hot days in summer will enhance detection of particular species (e.g. Morethia boulengeri, Varanus gouldii). We recommend trapping during periods with maximum temperatures exceeding 25–30°C and minimum overnight temperatures of 15°C. Finally, trapping during rainfall and full-moon events will maximise chances of encountering species sensitive to these variables (blind snakes and geckoes). Implications. Selecting the most favourable seasonal and weather conditions will help ensure that reptile surveys maximise the likelihood of capturing the greatest diversity of reptiles, while minimising trap-effort required.

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