Fire and its interactions with other drivers shape a distinctive, semi-arid ‘mallee’ ecosystem
- Clarke, Michael, Kelly, Luke, Avitabile, Sarah, Benshemesh, Joe, Westbrooke, Martin
- Authors: Clarke, Michael , Kelly, Luke , Avitabile, Sarah , Benshemesh, Joe , Westbrooke, Martin
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article , Review
- Relation: Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution Vol. 9, no. (2021), p.
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: 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. © Copyright © 2021 Clarke, Kelly, Avitabile, Benshemesh, Callister, Driscoll, Ewin, Giljohann, Haslem, Kenny, Leonard, Ritchie, Nimmo, Schedvin, Schneider, Watson, Westbrooke, White, Wouters and Bennett. **Please note that there are multiple authors for this article therefore only the name of the first 5 including Federation University Australia affiliate “Martin Westbrooke” is provided in this record**
- Authors: Clarke, Michael , Kelly, Luke , Avitabile, Sarah , Benshemesh, Joe , Westbrooke, Martin
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article , Review
- Relation: Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution Vol. 9, no. (2021), p.
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: 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. © Copyright © 2021 Clarke, Kelly, Avitabile, Benshemesh, Callister, Driscoll, Ewin, Giljohann, Haslem, Kenny, Leonard, Ritchie, Nimmo, Schedvin, Schneider, Watson, Westbrooke, White, Wouters and Bennett. **Please note that there are multiple authors for this article therefore only the name of the first 5 including Federation University Australia affiliate “Martin Westbrooke” is provided in this record**
Monitoring the dead as an ecosystem indicator
- Newsome, Thomas, Barton, Brandon, Buck, Julia, DeBruyn, Jennifer, Barton, Philip
- Authors: Newsome, Thomas , Barton, Brandon , Buck, Julia , DeBruyn, Jennifer , Barton, Philip
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Ecology and Evolution Vol. 11, no. 11 (2021), p. 5844-5856
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Dead animal biomass (carrion) is present in all terrestrial ecosystems, and its consumption, decomposition, and dispersal can have measurable effects on vertebrates, invertebrates, microbes, parasites, plants, and soil. But despite the number of studies examining the influence of carrion on food webs, there has been no attempt to identify how general ecological processes around carrion might be used as an ecosystem indicator. We suggest that knowledge of scavenging and decomposition rates, scavenger diversity, abundance, and behavior around carrion, along with assessments of vegetation, soil, microbe, and parasite presence, can be used individually or in combination to understand food web dynamics. Monitoring carrion could also assist comparisons of ecosystem processes among terrestrial landscapes and biomes. Although there is outstanding research needed to fully integrate carrion ecology and monitoring into ecosystem management, we see great potential in using carrion as an ecosystem indicator of an intact and functional food web. © 2021 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. **Please note that there are multiple authors for this article therefore only the name of the first 5 including Federation University Australia affiliate “Philip Barton" is provided in this record**
- Authors: Newsome, Thomas , Barton, Brandon , Buck, Julia , DeBruyn, Jennifer , Barton, Philip
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Ecology and Evolution Vol. 11, no. 11 (2021), p. 5844-5856
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Dead animal biomass (carrion) is present in all terrestrial ecosystems, and its consumption, decomposition, and dispersal can have measurable effects on vertebrates, invertebrates, microbes, parasites, plants, and soil. But despite the number of studies examining the influence of carrion on food webs, there has been no attempt to identify how general ecological processes around carrion might be used as an ecosystem indicator. We suggest that knowledge of scavenging and decomposition rates, scavenger diversity, abundance, and behavior around carrion, along with assessments of vegetation, soil, microbe, and parasite presence, can be used individually or in combination to understand food web dynamics. Monitoring carrion could also assist comparisons of ecosystem processes among terrestrial landscapes and biomes. Although there is outstanding research needed to fully integrate carrion ecology and monitoring into ecosystem management, we see great potential in using carrion as an ecosystem indicator of an intact and functional food web. © 2021 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. **Please note that there are multiple authors for this article therefore only the name of the first 5 including Federation University Australia affiliate “Philip Barton" is provided in this record**
Marine ecosystem assessment for the Southern Ocean : Birds and marine mammals in a changing climate
- Bestley, Sophie, Ropert-Coudert, Yan, Bengtson Nash, Susan, Brooks, Cassandra, Cotté, Cedric, Dewar, Meagan, Friedlaender, Ari, Jackson, Jennifer, Labrousse, Sara, Lowther, Andrew, McMahon, Clive, Phillips, Richard, Pistorius, Pierre, Puskic, Peter, Reis, Ana, Reisinger, Ryan, Santos, Mercedes, Tarszisz, Esther, Tixier, Paul, Trathan, Philip, Wege, Mia, Wienecke, Barbara
- Authors: Bestley, Sophie , Ropert-Coudert, Yan , Bengtson Nash, Susan , Brooks, Cassandra , Cotté, Cedric , Dewar, Meagan , Friedlaender, Ari , Jackson, Jennifer , Labrousse, Sara , Lowther, Andrew , McMahon, Clive , Phillips, Richard , Pistorius, Pierre , Puskic, Peter , Reis, Ana , Reisinger, Ryan , Santos, Mercedes , Tarszisz, Esther , Tixier, Paul , Trathan, Philip , Wege, Mia , Wienecke, Barbara
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Journal article , Review
- Relation: Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution Vol. 8, no. (2020), p. 1-39
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: The massive number of seabirds (penguins and procellariiformes) and marine mammals (cetaceans and pinnipeds) – referred to here as top predators – is one of the most iconic components of the Antarctic and Southern Ocean. They play an important role as highly mobile consumers, structuring and connecting pelagic marine food webs and are widely studied relative to other taxa. Many birds and mammals establish dense breeding colonies or use haul-out sites, making them relatively easy to study. Cetaceans, however, spend their lives at sea and thus aspects of their life cycle are more complicated to monitor and study. Nevertheless, they all feed at sea and their reproductive success depends on the food availability in the marine environment, hence they are considered useful indicators of the state of the marine resources. In general, top predators have large body sizes that allow for instrumentation with miniature data-recording or transmitting devices to monitor their activities at sea. Development of scientific techniques to study reproduction and foraging of top predators has led to substantial scientific literature on their population trends, key biological parameters, migratory patterns, foraging and feeding ecology, and linkages with atmospheric or oceanographic dynamics, for a number of species and regions. We briefly summarize the vast literature on Southern Ocean top predators, focusing on the most recent syntheses. We also provide an overview on the key current and emerging pressures faced by these animals as a result of both natural and human causes. We recognize the overarching impact that environmental changes driven by climate change have on the ecology of these species. We also evaluate direct and indirect interactions between marine predators and other factors such as disease, pollution, land disturbance and the increasing pressure from global fisheries in the Southern Ocean. Where possible we consider the data availability for assessing the status and trends for each of these components, their capacity for resilience or recovery, effectiveness of management responses, risk likelihood of key impacts and future outlook. © Copyright © 2020 Bestley, Ropert-Coudert, Bengtson Nash, Brooks, Cotté, Dewar, Friedlaender, Jackson, Labrousse, Lowther, McMahon, Phillips, Pistorius, Puskic, Reis, Reisinger, Santos, Tarszisz, Tixier, Trathan, Wege and Wienecke.
- Authors: Bestley, Sophie , Ropert-Coudert, Yan , Bengtson Nash, Susan , Brooks, Cassandra , Cotté, Cedric , Dewar, Meagan , Friedlaender, Ari , Jackson, Jennifer , Labrousse, Sara , Lowther, Andrew , McMahon, Clive , Phillips, Richard , Pistorius, Pierre , Puskic, Peter , Reis, Ana , Reisinger, Ryan , Santos, Mercedes , Tarszisz, Esther , Tixier, Paul , Trathan, Philip , Wege, Mia , Wienecke, Barbara
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Journal article , Review
- Relation: Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution Vol. 8, no. (2020), p. 1-39
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: The massive number of seabirds (penguins and procellariiformes) and marine mammals (cetaceans and pinnipeds) – referred to here as top predators – is one of the most iconic components of the Antarctic and Southern Ocean. They play an important role as highly mobile consumers, structuring and connecting pelagic marine food webs and are widely studied relative to other taxa. Many birds and mammals establish dense breeding colonies or use haul-out sites, making them relatively easy to study. Cetaceans, however, spend their lives at sea and thus aspects of their life cycle are more complicated to monitor and study. Nevertheless, they all feed at sea and their reproductive success depends on the food availability in the marine environment, hence they are considered useful indicators of the state of the marine resources. In general, top predators have large body sizes that allow for instrumentation with miniature data-recording or transmitting devices to monitor their activities at sea. Development of scientific techniques to study reproduction and foraging of top predators has led to substantial scientific literature on their population trends, key biological parameters, migratory patterns, foraging and feeding ecology, and linkages with atmospheric or oceanographic dynamics, for a number of species and regions. We briefly summarize the vast literature on Southern Ocean top predators, focusing on the most recent syntheses. We also provide an overview on the key current and emerging pressures faced by these animals as a result of both natural and human causes. We recognize the overarching impact that environmental changes driven by climate change have on the ecology of these species. We also evaluate direct and indirect interactions between marine predators and other factors such as disease, pollution, land disturbance and the increasing pressure from global fisheries in the Southern Ocean. Where possible we consider the data availability for assessing the status and trends for each of these components, their capacity for resilience or recovery, effectiveness of management responses, risk likelihood of key impacts and future outlook. © Copyright © 2020 Bestley, Ropert-Coudert, Bengtson Nash, Brooks, Cotté, Dewar, Friedlaender, Jackson, Labrousse, Lowther, McMahon, Phillips, Pistorius, Puskic, Reis, Reisinger, Santos, Tarszisz, Tixier, Trathan, Wege and Wienecke.
- Roberts, Georgia, Towers, Jacqueline, Gagan, Michael, Cosgrove, Richard, Smith, Colin
- Authors: Roberts, Georgia , Towers, Jacqueline , Gagan, Michael , Cosgrove, Richard , Smith, Colin
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology Vol. 523, no. (2019), p. 97-115
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Archaeologists and palaeoecologists are increasingly turning to stable isotope analysis (δ 13 C, δ 18 O) of fossil bioapatite to examine interactions of human and animal populations. However, relatively few investigations have focussed on the identification of natural variation in comparable modern populations, particularly within the Australian context. In this paper, we present the first modern isotopic reference dataset for Tasmanian bare-nosed wombat teeth (Vombatus ursinus tasmaniensis). Samples for δ 13 C bioapatite and δ 18 O bioapatite measurements were recovered sequentially at sub-monthly resolution from all tooth types. δ 13 C bioapatite showed little variation within a seasonal sinusoidal pattern within the sample set (n = 24 wombats; 35 teeth) due to the homogeneous C 3 distribution of plants in Tasmania. In contrast, δ 18 O bioapatite profiles varied seasonally, representing time periods of between 0.9 and 2.1 years in 95% of the sample. Significant differences between tooth types were found from intra-individual to inter-regional scales for both dental growth rates and isotopic values. The accuracy of season-of-death assessments differed across the island; those in eastern Tasmania were accurate in all instances whereas those in the west showed substantial inaccuracies. We suggest that this may be due to the elodont form of wombat dentition and the ecologically influenced seasonally varied diet in western Tasmania. As the rate of dental growth is positively correlated with the proportion of coarse vegetation within the diet, this seasonal variation is therefore likely to change how annual isotopic signals are incorporated into the enamel. These results highlight the need to understand the degree of species-specific isotopic variation at a range of scales before applying this technique to archaeological or palaeontological assemblages.
- Holdgate, Guy, Sluiter, Ian, Taglieri, Jessica
- Authors: Holdgate, Guy , Sluiter, Ian , Taglieri, Jessica
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Journal article , Review
- Relation: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology Vol. 472, no. (2017), p. 236-255
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Australia's Gippsland Basin contains a semi-continuous Eocene-Oligocene (41.5–28.4 Ma) near-coastal coal record that formed adjacent to Pacific Ocean. Traralgon and Morwell Formation brown coals include 4 main seams (T2, T1, T0, M2). Coal seam palynology records show late Middle Eocene (T2) coals formed under megathermic conditions characterized by high-gymnosperm contents, Late Eocene (T1) coals formed under mesothermic conditions characterized by reduced-gymnosperm contents and earliest indications of palaeoclimate cooling. Earliest Oligocene T0 coal record (33.9–31.5 Ma) contains high-gymnosperm palynology profile, very similar to the T2 coals. The earliest indication of cooler climes only begins after this coal formed as indicated by low-gymnosperm high-Nothofagus (southern beech) pollen proportions. We suggest in Gippsland the earliest evidence for major glacial cooling (by inference the Oi1 event) be placed immediately above the T0 coal seam where Early to Late Oligocene Morwell Formation sands, clays and coals contain low counts of gymnosperms (< 10%) but high average proportions of Nothofagus (50%). This is the main definitive indicator that palaeoclimates had cooled between the Eocene and Oligocene. This agrees with the current ocean drilling position of the earliest (Oi1) glacial event shortly above the Eocene-Oligocene boundary. A number of contemporaneous Middle to Late Eocene brown coals occurred in near-coastal settings across 1200 km of southern Australia. Palaeogeographically, all these coal basins faced the Australo-Antarctic Gulf and have a much lower gymnosperm proportion (< 10%), low Nothofagus proportion (< 10%), but very high (non-Nothofagus) angiosperms proportion. This suggests a different climatic regime separated a cooler and wetter Gippsland Basin flora that responded to the cooler Proto-Ross Sea Gyre rotating around a wide Pacific Ocean, and a warm-wet climate associated with a warm proto-Leeuwin current of the Australo-Antarctic Gulf. © 2017 Elsevier B.V.
- Holdgate, Guy, Wallace, Malcolm, Sluiter, Ian, Marcuccio, Daniel, Fromhold, Thomas, Wagstaff, Barbara
- Authors: Holdgate, Guy , Wallace, Malcolm , Sluiter, Ian , Marcuccio, Daniel , Fromhold, Thomas , Wagstaff, Barbara
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology Vol. 411, no. (2014), p. 65-78
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Lithotype cycles (ranging from 10 to 30 m thick) in the brown coals of the Latrobe Valley, Gippsland Basin, Australia, display well-developed lightening-upward trends. Cycle tops are characterized by abrupt and unconformable boundaries with the overlying cycle. Geological, geochemical, palynological and macrofossil evidence is consistent with a relative drying (terrestrialization) upward depositional model for the cycles. The abundance of charcoal in dark lithotypes near the cycle bases is explained by the fire-prone and highly flammable nature of the herbaceous/reed wetlands, in common with similar modem wetlands in modem Australasia, in which the dark lithotypes are suggested to have formed. This, together with the greater preservation potential of charcoal in subaqueous environments, results in the wettest facies of the Latrobe Valley coals having the highest charcoal contents. Despite prevailing warm, wet climate conditions and the predominance of rainforests that are suggested to have characterized the Cenozoic of southern Australia, some swamp taxa were clearly already pre-adapted to tolerate fire and are likely to have been the ancestors of the fire-adapted floral communities of modem arid Australia. (c) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
- «
- ‹
- 1
- ›
- »