Acacia shrubs respond positively to high severity wildfire: Implications for conservation and fuel hazard management

Science of the Total Environment

Volumn 575, Issue , 2017, Pages 858-868

  Gordon, Christopher E ^a   Price, Owen F ^a   Tasker, Elizabeth M ^b   Denham, Andrew J ^a,b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF WOLLONGONG   (Australia)

^b OFFICE OF ENVIRONMENT AND HERITAGE   (Australia)

Author keywords

Fuel load; Stable state change; Vegetation cover; Wambelong fire; Warrumbungle national park; Wildfire

Indexed keywords

BIODIVERSITY; FUELS; HAZARDS; SURVEYS; VEGETATION;

FUEL LOADS; NATIONAL PARKS; STABLE STATE; VEGETATION COVER; WILDFIRE;

FIRES;

FUEL;

BIODIVERSITY; ECOSYSTEM RESILIENCE; FIRE MANAGEMENT; HABITAT CONSERVATION; HAZARD MANAGEMENT; SHRUB; VEGETATION COVER; WILDFIRE;

ACACIA; ARTICLE; AUSTRALIA; CONTROLLED STUDY; ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION; FIRE ECOLOGY; NONHUMAN; PLANT GROWTH; PLANT RESPONSE; PRIORITY JOURNAL; SHRUB; SPECIES COMPOSITION; SPECIES RICHNESS; VEGETATION; ADULT; BIODIVERSITY; HUMAN; NATIONAL PARK; WILDFIRE;

AUSTRALIA; NEW SOUTH WALES; WARRUMBUNGLE RANGE;

ACACIA;

EID: 85006250823     PISSN: 00489697     EISSN: 18791026     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.09.129     Document Type: Article

References (60)

1. Abella, S.R., Fornwalt, P.J., Ten years of vegetation assembly after a North American mega fire. Glob. Chang. Biol. 21 (2015), 789–802.
2. Andersen, A.N., Cook, G.D., Corbett, L.K., Douglas, M.M., Eager, R.W., RUSSELL-SMITH, J., et al. Fire frequency and biodiversity conservation in Australian tropical savannas: implications from the Kapalga fire experiment. Austral Ecology 30 (2005), 155–167.
3. Auld, T.D., Population dynamics of the shrub Acacia suaveolens (Sm.) Willd.: dispersal and the dynamics of the soil seed-bank. Aust. J. Ecol. 11 (1986), 235–254.
4. Bates, D., Maechler, M., Bolker, B., Walker, S., lme4: Linear mixed-effects models using Eigen and S4. R package version 1.1–7., 2014 Online at http://cran.r-project.org/package=lme4.
5. Boer, M.M., Sadler, R.J., Wittkuhn, R.S., McCaw, L., Grierson, P.F., Long-term impacts of prescribed burning on regional extent and incidence of wildfires—evidence from 50 years of active fire management in SW Australian forests. For. Ecol. Manag. 259 (2009), 132–142.
6. Bradstock, R.A., A biogeographic model of fire regimes in Australia: current and future implications. Glob. Ecol. Biogeogr. 19 (2010), 145–158.
7. Bradstock, R.A., Hammill, K., Collins, L., Price, O., Effects of weather, fuel and terrain on fire severity in topographically diverse landscapes of South-Eastern Australia. Landsc. Ecol. 25 (2010), 607–619.
8. Cheney, N.P., Gould, J.S., Knight, I., Wales, N.S., A Prescribed Burning Guide for Young Regrowth Forests of Silvertop Ash. 1992, Sydney, Research Division, Forestry Commission of New South Wales.
9. Clarke, P.J., Lawes, M.J., Murphy, B.P., Russell-Smith, J., Nano, C.E., Bradstock, R., et al. A synthesis of postfire recovery traits of woody plants in Australian ecosystems. Sci. Total Environ. 15 (2015), 31–42.
10. Conroy, B., Fuel Management Strategies for the Sydney Region. Ross, J., (eds.) The Burning Question: Fire Management in NSW, 1993, University of New England, Armidale, Department of Community Education, 73–83.
11. Coop, J.D., Parks, S.A., McClernan, S.R., Holsinger, L.M., Influences of prior wildfires on vegetation response to subsequent fire in a reburned southwestern landscape. Ecol. Appl. 26 (2016), 346–354.
12. CSIRO, Australian Biological Resources Study, Flora of Australia. 2005, CSIRO PUBLISHING and Australian Biological Resources Study, Clayton.
13. DellaSala, D.A., Hanson, C.T., The Ecological Importance of Mixed-Severity Fires: nature's Phoenix. 2015, Elsevier, New York.
14. Denham, A.J., Whelan, R.J., Auld, T.D., Characterizing the litter in postfire environments: implications for seedling recruitment. Int. J. Plant Sci. 170 (2009), 53–60.
15. Denham, A.J., Vincent, B.E., Clarke, P.J., Auld, T.D., Responses of tree species to a severe fire indicate major structural change to Eucalyptus–Callitris forests. Plant Ecol. 217 (2016), 617–629.
16. Ellenberg, D., Mueller-Dombois, D., Aims and Methods of Vegetation Ecology. 1974, Wiley, New York.
17. Facelli, J.M., Brock, D.J., Patch dynamics in arid lands: localized effects of Acacia papyrocarpa on soils and vegetation of open woodlands of South Australia. Ecography 23 (2000), 479–491.
18. Farrell, T., Ashton, D., Population studies on Acacia melanoxylon R. Br. I. Variation in seed and vegetative characteristics. Aust. J. Bot. 26 (1978), 365–379.
19. Fernandes, P.M., Botelho, H.S., A review of prescribed burning effectiveness in fire hazard reduction. Int. J. Wildland Fire 12 (2003), 117–128.
20. Fox, J., Bates, D., Firth, D., Friendly, M., Gorjanc, G., Graves, S., et al. CAR: companion to applied regression. R Package version 1.2–16., 2009 Online at http://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/car/index.html.
21. Francos, M., Úbeda, X., Tort, J., Panareda, J.M., Cerdà, A., The role of forest fire severity on vegetation recovery after 18 years. Implications for forest management of Quercus suber L. in Iberian Peninsula. Glob. Planet. Chang. 145 (2016), 11–16.
22. Gibson, M.R., Richardson, D.M., Marchante, E., Marchante, H., Rodger, J.G., Stone, G.N., et al. Reproductive biology of Australian acacias: important mediator of invasiveness?. Divers. Distrib. 17 (2011), 911–933.
23. Gill, A.M., Fire and the Australian flora: a review. Aust. For. 38 (1975), 4–25.
24. Gill, A., Adaptive responses of Australian vascular plant species to fires. A.M., G., R.H., G., I.R., N., (eds.) Fire and the Australian Biota, 1981, Australian Academy of Science, Canberra, 243–272.
25. Gill, A.M., Landscape fires as social disasters: an overview of ‘the bushfire problem’. Global Environmental Change Part B: Environmental Hazards 6 (2005), 65–80.
26. Gill, A., Christian, K., Moore, P., Forrester, R., Bushfire incidence, fire hazard and fuel reduction burning. Aust. J. Ecol. 12 (1987), 299–306.
27. Gordon, C.E., Price OF, Tasker, E.M., Mapping and Exploring Variation in Post-Fire Vegetation Recovery in the Warrumbungle National Park Using Airborne LiDAR. 2015, Hurstville, Report to the New South Wale Office of Environment and Heritage.
28. Gould, J.S., McCaw, W., Cheney, N., Ellis, P., Knight, I., Sullivan, A., Project Vesta: Fire in Dry Eucalypt Forest: Fuel Structure, Fuel Dynamics and Fire Behaviour. 2008, CSIRO Publishing, Clayton.
29. Hines, F., Tolhurst, K.G., Wilson, A.A.G., McCarthy, G.J., 4th edition Overall fuel hazard assessment guide, 2010, Department of Sustainability and Environment, Fire and Adaptive Management, Melbourne Report No. 82.
30. Holmes, P., Decay rates in buried alien Acacia seed populations of different density. S. Afr. J. Bot. 55 (1989), 299–303.
31. Hunter, J.T., Vegetation and Floristics of Warrumbungle National Park. 2008, Report to the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service, Gosford.
32. Huston, M., Abbott, I., Burrows, N., Understanding the effects of fire and other mortality-causing disturbances on species diversity. Fire in ecosystems of south-west Western Australia: impacts and management, Symposium proceedings (Volume I), Perth, Australia, 16–18 April 2002, 2003, Backhuys Publishers, Leiden, 37–70.
33. Keeley, J.E., Seed-germination patterns in fire-prone Mediterranean-climate regions. Fox, M.D., (eds.) Ecology and Biogeography of Mediterranean Ecosystems in Chile, California, and Australia, 1995, Springer, New York, 239–273.
34. Keeley, J.E., Fire intensity, fire severity and burn severity: a brief review and suggested usage. Int. J. Wildland Fire 18 (2009), 116–126.
35. Keith, D., Ocean Shores to Desert Dunes: The Native Vegetation of New South Wales and the ACT. 2004, Hurstville, Department of Environment and Conservation.
36. Le Maitre, D.C., Gaertner, M., Marchante, E., Ens, E.J., Holmes, P.M., Pauchard, A., et al. Impacts of invasive Australian acacias: implications for management and restoration. Divers. Distrib. 17 (2011), 1015–1029.
37. McArthur, A.G., Fire behaviour in eucalypt forests. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia, Forestry and Timber Bureau Leaflet, 107, 1967.
38. McCaw, W.L., Gould, J.S., Cheney, N.P., Ellis, P.F., Anderson, W.R., Changes in behaviour of fire in dry eucalypt forest as fuel increases with age. For. Ecol. Manag. 271 (2012), 170–181.
39. Miller, J.D., Thode, A.E., Quantifying burn severity in a heterogeneous landscape with a relative version of the delta Normalized Burn Ratio (dNBR). Remote Sens. Environ. 109 (2007), 66–80.
40. Moreno, J.M., Oechel, W.C., Fire intensity effects on germination of shrubs and herbs in southern California chaparral. Ecology 72 (1991), 1993–2004.
41. Morris, T.L., Esler, K.J., Barger, N.N., Jacobs, S.M., Cramer, M.D., Ecophysiological traits associated with the competitive ability of invasive Australian acacias. Divers. Distrib. 17 (2011), 898–910.
42. Morrison, D.A., Effects of fire intensity on plant species composition of sandstone communities in the Sydney region. Austral Ecology 27 (2002), 433–441.
43. Noble, I., Gill, A., Bary, G., McArthur's fire-danger meters expressed as equations. Aust. J. Ecol. 5 (1980), 201–203.
44. Odion, D.C., Moritz, M.A., DellaSala, D.A., Alternative community states maintained by fire in the Klamath Mountains, USA. J. Ecol. 98 (2010), 96–105.
45. Ooi, M.K., Whelan, R.J., Auld, T.D., Persistence of obligate-seeding species at the population scale: effects of fire intensity, fire patchiness and long fire-free intervals. Int. J. Wildland Fire 15 (2006), 261–269.
46. Ooi, M.K., Denham, A.J., Santana, V.M., Auld, T.D., Temperature thresholds of physically dormant seeds and plant functional response to fire: variation among species and relative impact of climate change. Ecology and Evolution 4 (2014), 656–671.
47. Pausas, J.G., Bradstock, R.A., Keith, D.A., Keeley, J.E., Plant functional traits in relation to fire in crown-fire ecosystems. Ecology 85 (2004), 1085–1100.
48. Pieterse, P.J., Cairns, A.L.P., The effect of fire on an Acacia longifolia seed bank in the Southwestern Cape. S. Afr. J. Bot. 52 (1986), 233–236.
49. Pieterse, P.J., Cairns, A.L.P., Factors affecting the reproductive success of Acacia longifolia (Andr) Willd. In the Banhoek Valley, south-western cape, Republic of South Africa. S. Afr. J. Bot. 54 (1988), 461–464.
50. Poore, M., The use of phytosociological methods in ecological investigations: I. The Braun-Blanquet system. The J. Ecol. 43 (1955), 226–244.
51. Porteners, M.F., Vegetation Mapping Alignment and Supplementary Survey. 2016, Warrumbungle National Park. Report to the Office of Environment & Heritage Science Division, Sydney.
52. Price, O., Storey, M., The Drivers of Fire Severity Patterns in the Brigalow Region of NSW- Draft. 2015, Hurstville, Report to the Office of Environment and Heritage.
53. R Development Core Team, A language and style for computer programing. Vienna, Austria. Retrived from, http://www.R-project.org, 2013.
54. Raison, R.J., Effects of regeneration burning on the properties of forest soils in southern Tasmania: comments on recent study by Ellis et al. (1982). Plant Soil 74 (1983), 453–455.
55. Van der Maabel, E., Transformation of cover-abundance values in phytosociology and its effects on community similarity. Vegetatio 39 (1979), 97–114.
56. Van Loon, A.P., Bushland Fuel Quantities in the Blue Mountains - Litter and Understorey. 1977, Forestry Commission of NSW, Sydney Research Note No. 33.
57. Walker, J., Fuel Dynamics in Australian Vegetation. Gill, A.M., Groves, R.H., Noble, I.R., (eds.) Fire and the Australian Biota, 1981, Australian Academy of Science, Canberra, 101–127.
58. Watson, P., Fuel Load Dynamics in NSW Vegetation. Part 1: Forests and Grassy Woodlands. 2012, Centre for the Environmental Risk Management of Bushfires, University of Wollongong, Wollongong.
59. Wilson, J.R., Gairifo, C., Gibson, M.R., Arianoutsou, M., Bakar, B.B., Baret, S., et al. Risk assessment, eradication, and biological control: global efforts to limit Australian Acacia invasions. Divers. Distrib. 17 (2011), 1030–1046.
60. Wood, S., gamm4: generalized additive mixed models using mgcv and lme4. R package version 0.1–3. This is computer program (R package), 2012.