A biogeographic model of fire regimes in Australia: Current and future implications

Global Ecology and Biogeography

Volumn 19, Issue 2, 2010, Pages 145-158

  Bradstock, R A ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF WOLLONGONG   (Australia)

Author keywords

Australia; Climate; Fire regimes; Forest; Fuel; Global change; Ignition; Moisture; Woodlands

Indexed keywords

BIOGEOGRAPHY; BIOMASS; BIOME; CARBON DIOXIDE; DRY FOREST; ECOLOGICAL MODELING; ECOSYSTEM APPROACH; FIRE BEHAVIOR; FIRE HISTORY; FOREST FIRE; FUTURE PROSPECT; GLOBAL CHANGE; MOISTURE FLUX; TEMPERATE FOREST;

AUSTRALIA;

EID: 76249131805     PISSN: 1466822X     EISSN: 14668238     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1466-8238.2009.00512.x     Document Type: Review

References (87)

1. Allan GE, Southgate RI. Fire regimes in the spinifex landscapes of Australia. Flammable Australia: the fire regimes and biodiversity of a continent 2002, 145-176. Bradstock RA, Williams JEGill AM. ed. by, pp., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
2. Archibald S, Roy DP, van Wilgen BW, Scholes RJ. What limits fire? An examination of drivers of burnt area in Southern Africa. Global Change Biology 2009, 15:613-630.
3. Banfai DS, Bowman DMJ. Dynamics of a savanna-forest mosaic in the Australian monsoon tropics inferred from stand structures an d historical aerial photography. Australian Journal of Botany 2005, 53:185-194.
4. Beadle NCW. The vegetation of Australia 1981, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
5. Berry SL, Roderick ML. CO2 and land use effects on Australian vegetation over the last two centuries. Australian Journal of Botany 2002, 50:511-531.
6. Berry SL, Roderick ML. Changing Australian vegetation from 1788 to 1988: effects of CO2 and land-use change. Australian Journal of Botany 2006, 54:325-338.
7. Boer MM, Sadler RJ, Bradstock RA, Gill AM, Grierson PF. Spatial scale invariance of southern Australian forest fires mirrors the scaling behaviour of weather events. Landscape Ecology 2008, 23:899-913.
8. Bond WJ, Keeley JE. Fire as a global 'herbivore': the ecology and evolution of flammable ecosystems. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 2005, 20:387-394.
9. Bond WJ, Midgley GF, Woodward FI. The importance of low atmospheric CO2 and fire in promoting the spread of grasslands and savannas. Global Change Biology 2003, 9:973-982.
10. Bowman DMJS. Australian rainforests: islands of green in a land of fire 2000, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
11. Bowman DMJS, Prior LD. Why do evergreen trees dominate the Australian seasonal tropics? Australian Journal of Botany 2005, 53:379-399.
12. Bowman DMJS, Balch JK, Artaxo P. Fire in the earth system. Science 2009, 324:481-484.
13. Bradstock RA. Effects of large fires on biodiversity in south-eastern Australia: disaster or template for diversity? International Journal of Wildland Fire 2008, 17:809-822.
14. Bradstock RA, Cohn JS. Demographic characteristics of mallee pine (Callitris verrucosa) in fire-prone mallee communities of central New South Wales. Australian Journal of Botany 2002, 50:653-665.
15. Bradstock RA, Gill AM. Fire in semi-arid, mallee shrublands: size of flames from discrete fuel arrays and their role in the spread of fire. International Journal of Wildland Fire 1993, 3:3-12.
16. Bradstock RA, Gill AM. Living with fire and biodiversity at the urban edge: in search of a sustainable solution to the human protection problem in southern Australia. Journal of Mediterranean Ecology 2001, 2:179-195.
17. Bradstock RA, Kenny BJ. An application of plant functional types to fire management in a conservation reserve in southeastern Australia. Journal of Vegetation Science 2003, 14:345-354.
18. Bradstock RA, Cohn JS, Gill AM, Bedward M, Lucas C. Prediction of the probability of large fires in the Sydney region of south-eastern Australia using components of fire weather. International Journal of Wildland Fire 2009, 18:932-943.
19. Cary GJ. Importance of a changing climate for fire regimes in Australia. Flammable Australia: the fire regimes and biodiversity of a continent 2002, 26-46. Bradstock RAWilliams JEGill AM. ed. by, pp., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
20. Catchpole W. Fire properties and burn patterns in heterogeneous landscapes. Flammable Australia: the fire regimes and biodiversity of a continent 2002, 50-75. Bradstock RAWilliams JEGill AM. ed. by, pp., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
21. Clarke PJ, Latz PK, Albrecht DE. Long-term changes in semi-arid vegetation: invasion of an exotic perennial grass has larger effects than rainfall variability. Journal of Vegetation Science 2005, 16:237-248.
22. Climate change in Australia 2007, http://www.climatechangeinaustralia.com.au/technical_report.php, Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organisation & Australian Bureau of Meteorology, CSIRO and Bureau of Meteorology, Canberra, (accessed 17th December 2009
23. Cook GD. Fuel dynamics, nutrients, and atmospheric chemistry. Fire in tropical savannas: the Kapalga fire experiment 2003, 47-58. Andersen ANCook GDWilliams RJ. ed. by, pp., Springer-Verlag, New York
24. Cui W, Perera AH. What do we know about forest fire size distribution, and why is this knowledge useful for forest management? International Journal of Wildland Fire 2008, 17:234-244.
25. Cullen LE, Grierson PF. Multi-decadal scale variability in autumn-winter rainfall in south-western Australia since 1655 AD as reconstructed from tree rings of Callitris columellaris. Climate Dynamics 2009, 33:433-444.
26. Ellis S, Kanowski P, Whelan RJ. National inquiry on bushfire mitigation and management. Council of Australian governments report 2004, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra
27. Falk D, Miller C, McKenzie D, Black A. Cross-scale analysis of fire regimes. Ecosystems 2007, 10:809-823.
28. Fensham RJ, Fairfax RJ, Archer S. Rainfall, land-use and woody vegetation cover change in semi-arid Australian savanna. Journal of Ecology 2005, 93:596-606.
29. Gill AM. Patterns and processes in open forests of Eucalyptus in southern Australia. Australian vegetation 1994, 197-226. Groves RH. ed. by, pp., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
30. Gill AM, Catling PC. Fire regimes and biodiversity of forested landscapes on southern Australia. Flammable Australia: the fire regimes and biodiversity of a continent 2002, 351-369. Bradstock RA, Williams JEGill AM. ed. by, pp., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
31. Gill AM, Moore PHR. Fire intensities in Eucalyptus forests of south-eastern Australia. 1990, Paper B24
32. Gill AM, Moore PHR. Contemporary fire regimes in the forests of southwestern Australia. 1997, Contract Report for Environment Australia, Canberra
33. Gill AM, Williams JE. Fire regimes and biodiversity: the effects of fragmentation of southeastern Australian eucalypt forests by urbanization, agriculture and pine plantations. Forest Ecology and Management 1996, 85:261-278.
34. Gill AM, Ryan PG, Moore PHR, Gibson M. Fire regimes of World Heritage Kakadu National Park, Australia. Austral Ecology 2000, 25:616-625.
35. Gill AM, Bradstock RA, Williams JE. Fire regimes and biodiversity: legacy and vision. Flammable Australia: the fire regimes and biodiversity of a continent 2002, 429-446. Bradstock RA, Williams JE, Gill AM. ed. by, pp., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
36. Gleadow RM, Foley WJ, Woodrow IE. Enhanced CO2 alters the relationship between photosynthesis and defence in cyanogenic Eucalyptus cladocalyx F.Muell. Plant, Cell and Environment 1998, 21:12-22.
37. Goldammer JG, Price C. Potential impacts of climate change on fire regimes in the tropics based on MAGICC and a GISS GCM-derived lightning model. Climatic Change 1998, 39:273-296.
38. Griffin G, Price NF, Portlock HF. Wildfires in the central Australian rangelands 1970-1980. Journal of Environmental Management 1983, 17:311-323.
39. Groves RH. Australian vegetation 1994, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
40. Harris S, Tapper N, Packham D, Orlove B, Nicholls N. The relationship between the monsoonal summer rain and dry-season fire activity of northern Australia. International Journal of Wildland Fire 2008, 17:674-684.
41. Hennessy KJ, Lucas C, Nicholls N, Bathols JM, Suppiah R, Ricketts JH. Climate change impacts on fire-weather in south-east Australia. 2005, Report C/1061. CSIRO, Aspendale, Victoria
42. Heydon DT, Friar JK, Pianka ER. Fire driven dynamic mosaics in the Great Victoria Desert Australia. I. Fire geometry. Landscape Ecology 2000, 15:373-381.
43. Hobbs R. Fire regimes and their effects in Australian temperate woodlands. Flammable Australia: the fire regimes and biodiversity of a continent 2002, 305-326. Bradstock RAWilliams JEGill AM. ed. by, pp., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
44. Hodgkinson K. Fire regimes in Acacia wooded landscapes: effects on functional processes and biological diversity. Flammable Australia: the fire regimes and biodiversity of a continent 2002, 351-372. Bradstock RAWilliams JEGill AM. ed. by, pp., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
45. Hughes L. Climate change and Australia: trends, projections and impacts. Austral Ecology 2003, 28:423-443.
46. Huston M. Understanding the effects of fire and other mortality-causing disturbances on species diversity. Fire in ecosystems of south-west Western Australia: impacts and management 2003, 37-70. Abbott IBurrows N. ed. by, pp., Backhuys, Leiden
47. Hutchinson MF, McIntyre S, Hobbs RJ, Stein JL, Garnett S, Kinloch J. Integrating a global agro-climatic classification with bioregional boundaries in Australia. Global Ecology and Biogeography 2005, 14:197-212.
48. Keeley JE, Fotheringham CJ. Historic fire regime in southern California shrublands. Conservation Biology 2001, 15:1536-1548.
49. King KJ, Cary GJ, Bradstock RA, Chapman J, Pyrke A, Marsden-Smedley JB. Simulation of prescribed burning strategies in south-western Tasmania, Australia: effects on unplanned fires, fire regimes, and ecological management values. International Journal of Wildland Fire 2006, 15:526-540.
50. Kuleshov Y, Mackerras D, Darveniza M. Spatial distribution and frequency of lightning activity and lightning flash density maps for Australia. Journal of Geophysical Research 2006, 111:D19105. doi:10.1029/2005JD006982
51. Lenihan JM, Bachelet D, Neilson RP, Drapek R. Response of vegetation distribution, ecosystem productivity, and fire to climate change scenarios for California. Climatic Change 2008, 87(1):S215-S230. Suppl.
52. Liedloff AC, Cook GD. Modelling the effects of rainfall variability and fire on tree populations in an Australian tropical savanna with the FLAMES simulation model. Ecological Modelling 2007, 201:269-282.
53. Lucas C, Hennessy KJ, Mills GA, Bathols JM. Bushfire weather in southeast Australia: recent trends and projected climate change impacts. 2007, Report to the Climate Institute of Australia Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre, Australian Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, Canberra
54. Lunt ID, Jones N, Spooner PG, Petrow M. Effects of European colonization on indigenous ecosystems: post-settlement changes in tree stand structures in Eucalyptus-Callitris woodlands in central New South Wales, Australia. Journal of Biogeography 2006, 33:1102-1115.
55. McCaw L, Hanstrum B. Fire environment of Mediterranean south-west Western Australia. Fire in ecosystems of south-west Western Australia: impacts and management 2003, 87-106. Abbott I, Burrows N. ed. by, pp., Backhuys, Leiden
56. Marlon JR, Bartlein PJ, Carcaillet C, Gavin DG, Harrison SP, Higuera PE, Joos F, Power MJ, Prentice IC. Climate and human influences on global biomass burning over the past two millennia. Nature Geoscience 2008, 1:697-702.
57. Morrison DA, Buckney RT, Bewick BJ, Cary CJ. Conservation conflicts over burning bush in south-eastern Australia. Biological Conservation 1996, 76:167-175.
58. Murphy BP, Bowman DMJS. Seasonal water availability predicts the relative abundance of C3 and C4 grasses in Australia. Global Ecology and Biogeography 2007, 16:160-169.
59. Nicholls N, Lucas C. Inter-annual variations of area burnt in Tasmanian bushfires: relationships with climate and predictability. International Journal of Wildland Fire 2007, 16:540-546.
60. Noble JC. The delicate and noxious scrub: CSIRO studies on native tree and shrub proliferation in the semi-arid woodlands of eastern Australia 1997, CSIRO Wildlife and Ecology, Lyneham, Australian Capital Territory
61. Noble JC, Grice AC. Fire regimes in semi-arid and tropical pastoral lands: managing biological diversity and ecosystem function. Flammable Australia: the fire regimes and biodiversity of a continent 2002, 373-400. Bradstock RA, Williams JEGill AM. ed. by, pp., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
62. Osborne CP. Atmosphere, ecology and evolution: what drove the Miocene expansion of C(4) grasslands? Journal of Ecology 2008, 96:35-45.
63. Pausas J, Bradstock RA. Plant persistence fire traits along a productivity and disturbance gradient in Mediterranean shrublands of SE Australia. Global Ecology and Biogeography 2007, 16:330-340.
64. Peters DP, Pielke RA, Bestelmeyer BT, Allen CD, Munson-McGee S, Havstad KM. Cross-scale interactions, nonlinearities, and forecasting catastrophic events. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 2004, 101:15130-15135.
65. Pitman AJ, Narisma GT, McAneney J. The impact of climate change on the risk of forest and grassland fires in Australia. Climatic Change 2007, 84:383-401.
66. Pook EW, Gill AM, Moore PHR. Long-term variation of litter fall, canopy leaf area and flowering in a Eucalyptus maculata forest on the south coast of New South Wales. Australian Journal of Botany 1997, 45:737-755.
67. Price C, Rind D. Possible implications of global climate change on global lightning distributions and frequencies. Journal of Geophysical Research 1994, 99:10823-10832.
68. Prober SM, Thiele KR, Lunt ID. Fire frequency regulates tussock grass composition, structure and resilience in endangered temperate woodlands. Austral Ecology 2007, 32:808-824.
69. Prober SM, Lunt ID, Thiele KR. Effects of fire frequency and mowing on a temperate, derived grassland soil in south-eastern Australia. International Journal of Wildland Fire 2008, 17:586-594.
70. Pueyo S. Self-organised criticality and the response of wildland fires to climate change. Climatic Change 2007, 82:131-161.
71. Raison RJ, Woods PV, Khanna PK. Dynamics of fine fuels in recurrently burnt eucalypt forests. Australian Forestry 1983, 46:294-302.
72. Rossiter NA, Setterfield SA, Douglas MM, Hutley LB. Testing the grass-fire cycle: alien grass invasion in the tropical savannas of northern Australia. Diversity and Distributions 2003, 9:169-176.
73. Russell-Smith J, Ryan PG, DuRieu R. A LANDSAT MSS-derived fire history of Kakadu National Park, monsoonal northern Australia, 1980-1994: seasonal extent, frequency and patchiness. Journal of Applied Ecology 1997, 34:748-766.
74. Russell-Smith J, Yates CP, Whitehead PJ, Smith R, Craig R, Allan GE, Thackway R, Frakes R, Cridland S, Meyer MCP, Gill AM. Bushfires 'down under': patterns and implications of contemporary Australian landscape burning. International Journal of Wildland Fire 2007, 16:361-377.
75. Scholze M, Knorr W, Arnell NW, Prentice IC. A climate-change risk analysis for world ecosystems. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 2006, 103:13116-13120.
76. Southgate R, Carthew S. Post-fire ephemerals and spinifex-fuelled fires: a decision model for bilby habitat management in the Tanami Desert, Australia. International Journal of Wildland Fire 2007, 16:741-754.
77. Specht RL, Specht A. Australian plant communities: dynamics of structure, growth and biodiversity 1999, Oxford University Press, Melbourne
78. Spessa A, McBeth B, Prentice IC. Relationships among fire frequency, rainfall and vegetation patterns in the wet-dry tropics of northern Australia: an analysis based on NOAA-AVHRR data. Global Ecology and Biogeography 2005, 14:439-454.
79. Steffen W, Canadell JG. Carbon dioxide fertilisation and climate change policy 2005, Australian Greenhouse Office, Commonwealth Department of Environment and Heritage, Canberra
80. Thonicke K, Venevski S, Sitch S, Cramer W. The role of fire disturbance for global vegetation dynamics: coupling fire into a dynamic global vegetation model. Global Ecology and Biogeography 2001, 10:661-678.
81. Verdon DC, Kiem AS, Franks SW. Multi-decadal variability of forestfire risk - eastern Australia. International Journal of Wildland Fire 2004, 13:165-171.
82. Walker J. Fuel dynamics in Australian vegetation. Fire and the Australian biota 1981, 101-127. Gill AMGroves RHNoble IR. ed. by, pp., Australian Academy of Science, Canberra
83. Wang X. Effects of species richness and elevated carbon dioxide on biomass accumulation: a synthesis using met-analysis. Oecologia 2007, 152:595-605.
84. Westerling AL, Hidalgo HG, Cayan DR, Swetnam TW. Warming and earlier spring increase western U.S. forest wildfire activity. Science 2006, 313:940-943.
85. Williams AA, Karoly DJ, Tapper N. The sensitivity of Australian fire danger to climate change. Climatic Change 2001, 49:171-191.
86. Williams RJ, Duff GA, Bowman DMJ, Cook GD. Variation in the composition and structure of tropical savannas as a function of rainfall and soil texture along a large scale climatic gradient in the Northern Territory, Australia. Journal of Biogeography 1996, 23:747-756.
87. Williams RJ, Griffiths AD, Allan G. Fire regimes and biodiversity in the wet-dry tropical savanna landscapes of northern Australia. Flammable Australia: the fire regimes and biodiversity of a continent 2002, 281-304. Bradstock RA, Williams JE, Gill AM. ed. by, pp., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge