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BushfireConf2015 - 10. Managing fire for nature conservation in sub-tropical woodlands
- 1. Emma Burgess PhD Candidate Advisors: Dr Martine Maron, Dr Patrick Moss & Murray Haseler
- 2. • Private nature reserve managed by Bush Heritage Australia • Located in Brigalow Belt Bioregion, central QLD • BBB extensively cleared: 61% native veg cleared since European settlement in 1840’s • Overarching goal: restore the condition, functioning & dynamics of the assemblages of species that would have been present prior to European settlement
- 3. • Fire important management tool: 1. Mitigate wildfires 2. Maintain veg. structures that benefit faunal assemblages • Mosaic burning approach • Pyrodiversity begets biodiversity
- 4. • At what scale does pyrodiversity influence biodiversity? Alpha (α) diversity Gamma (γ) diversity Beta (β) diversity • Components of biodiversity:
- 5. Mosaic burning No active control Long unburnt protected Heterogeneous veg. mosaic Removal key resource(s) Wildfire Homogeneous veg. mosaic + + + + - - - - - Gamma diversity Beta diversity Alpha diversity
- 6. Alpha, beta & gamma diversity (birds): •Environmental heterogeneity (range in elevation) » However, explanatory power varied depending on spatial scale& component of diversity under investigation •Limited support for pyrodiversity begets biodiversity paradigm
- 7. Foraging guilds: •Different correlates of richness within particular guilds & depending on spatial scale e.g. Extent longer unburnt vegetation: •Frugivores, insectivores, nectarivores, carnivores & canopy feeders
- 8. 1. Things we can’t control important- landscape context 2. Not pyrodiversity, but extent of longer UB (> 10 yrs since last fire) 3. BUT management approaches considered appropriate are dependent on the scale at which a biodiversity conservation goal is conceptualised
- 9. Advisory team: Dr Martine Maron (UQ); Dr Patrick Moss (UQ); & Murray Haseler (Bush Heritage Australia) Funding: AndyInc. Foundation; GPEM Volunteers: Peta Mather; Donna Oliver
- 10. Advisory team: Dr Martine Maron (UQ); Dr Patrick Moss (UQ); & Murray Haseler (Bush Heritage Australia) Funding: AndyInc. Foundation; GPEM Volunteers: Peta Mather; Donna Oliver
Editor's Notes
- This project part of my PhD Component that will present focus on bird responses to mosaic burning
- this study is being conducted in a private nature reserve known as CSR which is located in the sub-tropical woodlands of Brigalow Belt Bioregion, in central QLD BBB has been extensively cleared: with 61% native veg cleared since European settlement in 1840’s The reserve was previously a grazing property for about 150yrs; currently managed by Bush Heritage Australia with the overarching goal: restore the condition, functioning and dynamics of the assemblages of species that would have been present on Carnarvon Station prior to European settlement in this region (Bush Heritage Australia 2011). Various activities towards this goal including removal of feral grazing by horses& cows; weed control (buffel and johnston grass); and fire is an important management tool being used to achieve this goal.
- BHA manages the property as a conservation reserve. Fire represents an important management tool towards restoring the reserve with the key aims of: 1) reducing the frequency& extent of large, intense wildfires particularly in fire-sensitive communities such as brigalow, vine scrub etc. 2) create and maintain viability of vegetation communities & their dependant fauna, especially in a fragmented landscape. - Common assumption in fire ecology is that ‘pyrodiversity will beget biodiversity’ in which it is assumed that by increasing the range of burn conditions (burning in different seasons, different intensities) & no. of ignitions (increase frequency, smaller in extent), the resultant diversity in the fire history and representation of different successional stages of vegetation, will accommodate a wider range of species. This method of prescribed burning is also known as mosaic burning and it is this approach that has been applied since 2001.
- So whilst we assume pyrodiversity will increase habitat diversity and therefore support greater animal diversity, there is uncertainty regarding the scale at which pyrodiversity influences biodiversity with majority of research to date focused at the site or regional level! As probably aware three main components or levels of biodiversity – illustrated in diagram in which each symbol represents a different species Site scale: Alpha diversity – number of different species within a particular site or habitat Among sites within landscape: Beta diversity – is a measure of the difference in species identities among sites – also known as species turnover Landscape scale: Gamma diversity - total number of different species across all sites in a region
- So we are interested in how different properties of the fire mosaic would influence different components of bird species richness; and what we expect was that the range in sucessional stages of vegetation produced by mosaic burning, would drive beta diversity between the different sites in a landscape, which give greater gamma diversity Through active control burning we also aim to reduce the extent and frequency of wildfires. Areas of long unburnt habitat can be a limiting factor in fire-prone ecosystems. In our system, these areas of long unburnt would be expected to support higher alpha diversity –contributes positively to gamma diversity. Conversely, if we have no active control of fire we might expect large scale wildfires to occur more frequently, that can remove key resources and create a homogeneous vegetation mosaic. Negatively impact gamma diversity.
- So what did we find when we looked at bird response to mosaic burning across spatial scales: When we looked at aggregated measured of bird species richness we found environmental heterogeneity, as measured by range in elevation, was consistently important, however, its explanatory power varied depending on the spatial scale and the component of diversity under investigation. Despite heterogeneity being important, there was limited support for pyrodiversity begets biodiversity paradigm
- We also investigated the response of different foraging guilds top mosaic burning; and we found different correlates of richness within particular foraging guilds, and depending on the scale at which richness was measured. Importantly, we found the extent of longer unburnt vegetation was a strong driver of important foraging guilds: frugivores, insectivores and nectarivores; canopy feeders, carnivores
- So what might this mean for ecological fire management? Things we can’t control important- in this case range in elevation Not pyrodiversity, but extent of longer UB (> 10 yrs since last fire): support increased richness across the landscape of important bird functional guilds BUT management approaches considered appropriate are dependent on the scale at which a biodiversity conservation goal is conceptualised: so broad brush approach may not be appropriate