Long Term Ecological Monitoring

Disease in natural ecosystems of Australia, caused by the introduced plant pathogen Phytophthora cinnamomi, is listed as a key threatening process under the Australian Government Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). The Act requires the Australian Government to prepare and implement a threat abatement plan for nationally coordinated action to mitigate the harm caused by P. cinnamomi to the Australian environment particularly threatened flora, fauna species and ecological communities.

P hytophthora cinnamomi is a soil-borne water mould (Class Oomycetes) that is listed by the IUCN Species Survival Commission as one of the world's 100 most devastati ng invading species. Consequences of Phytophthora infestati on include loss of suscepti ble plant species, reducti on in primary producti vity and biomass and changes to habitat structure. These changes in fl oristi c communiti es and vegetati on structure are likely to have consequences for fauna.

Based on written records and specimens of the new species, Xylopia nilotica D. M. Johnson & N. A. Murray (2018), described from Uganda and west of the Nile in Sudan and South Sudan, we have mapped the species. We find that it also occurs east of the Nile in South Sudan and in western Ethiopia. Its habitats range from open rain forest to open woodland. Modelling the potential distribution of X. nilotica suggests that it occurs in the periphery of the upper Nile basin, but it is probably undercollected. The potential distributions of X. longipetala (a Guineo-Congolian species) and X. holtzii Engl. (an East African coastal species), distinct but previously considered conspecific with X. nilotica, only marginally overlap with that of X. nilotica, which is endemic to the countries Uganda, South Sudan, Sudan, and Ethiopia, apparently a unique pattern of endemism. The new information does not change the assessment of X. nilotica as Vulnerable (VU). Other species of Xylopia in North Eastern Tropical Africa are X. rubescens Oliver and X. thomsonii Oliver in the Equatoria region of South Sudan, and X. rubescens, X. staudtii Engl. & Diels, and X. aethiopica (Dunal) A. Rich. in Uganda. A record of X. aethiopica in Ethiopia is based on false label information on the only known specimen.

The states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh have jointly managed 572km of river Chambal as National Chambal (Gharial) Sanctuary (NCS) from 1979.
During over thirty years from 1984 we observed increased numerical status of three indicator species namely, the gharial (Gavialis gangeticus), mugger crocodile (Crocodylus palustris) and the Gangetic dolphin (Platanista gangetica). This reflects the positive level of success with the law through NCS. The changed spatial distribution of all three species is traced to changes in hydrological characteristics of the river. Further study on profiles of precipitation, vegetation and temperature in the Chambal basin could highlight the linkage of Climate>> Vegetation>> water depth/flow >> change of spatial distribution of aquatic species to less protected parts. It is urged that ‘long-term ecological monitoring’ (LTEM), similar to ours from the Chambal Field Camp in Morena, Madhya Pradesh, should be taken up in all major river systems which demonstrate some levels of richness in respect of large indicator species of reptiles (crocodilians and turtles), mammals (otter and dolphin), and large wetland birds (storks, cranes, pelicans, skimmer). Singh, L. A. K. and Rishikesh Sharma (2024). Climate Related Warning from Long-Term Ecological Monitoring of Crocodiles, Wetland Birds and Gangetic Dolphin in National Chambal Sanctuary. pages 35-37. In: Souvenir, Odisha Climate Change Conclave 2024. National Seminar on Climate Change: Prospects & Challenges, 8th December 2024. Ever Green Forum and Siksha 'O' Anusandhan (Deemed to be University), Bhubaneswar. 64pages

Policy handbook: learning from long-term research to better manage biodiversity in Australia/Emma Burns, David Lindenmayer. Biodiversity conservation -Australia Environmental monitoring -Australia. Environmental management -Australia. Lindenmayer, David, author.

LTERN is a facility within the Australian Government–funded Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN). TERN is funded through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy. We acknowledge the Australian Government and TERN for their ongoing support of LTERN.

Marine heatwave events in the Northeast Pacific Ocean from 2013-2015 and 2019-2020 have had significant impacts on ocean life and livelihoods in the region. Numerous studies have linked these marine heatwaves to known modes of climate variability. Here we show that the observed evolution of the 2013-2015 Northeast Pacific marine heatwave best correlates with the evolution of historical sea surface temperatures in response to variations in the Kuroshio Extension. By using ocean and atmospheric reanalysis data from 1981-2020 and ocean nutrient data from 1993-2020 from an ocean biogeochemistry model, we further report the physical and biogeochemical changes during this heat event and their relation to these same Kuroshio variations. Using these results, we propose an atmospheric teleconnection between Kuroshio Extension variations and Marine Heatwaves in the Northeast Pacific. This teleconnection’s influence further extends to the marine biogeochemistry and productivity in the Northeast Pacific region via Kuroshio-influenced modifications to mixed layer thickness.

LTERN is a facility within the Australian Government–funded Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN). TERN is funded through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy. We acknowledge the Australian Government and TERN for their ongoing support of LTERN.

Rynchops albicollis is an Endangered riverine bird that is undergoing rapid population decline (Birdlife International 2023). We report two records of Indian Skimmer on the Gomti River of Uttar Pradesh and discuss its potential for breeding. In India, the Skimmers are confined to large river systems but also occur in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and some countries in Southeast Asia, such as Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. It is now considered extinct in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam, is a rare visitor to Nepal, and has also been recorded in China (Sundar 2004). Indian Skimmers are gregarious and colonial and are often found in flocks (Rajguru 2017). We recorded a flock of 57 Indian Skimmers resting on a small sandy island on the Gomti River near Palauli (26.66°N, 81.44°E) on 28 February 2022. We observed the flock on three days in the same location during that month. We also observed small shallow depressions on the ground that might have been their attempts to breed. On 07 March 2022, a single skimmer was observed downstream, which is aerially c.14 km along the channel near a location called Devait (26.67°N, 81.56°E), as it skimmed over the water surface. Hence, it is possible that there are similar islets on the river, which might offer possible breeding sites. However, we observed high levels of human interference on the riverscape and sandy islands during the survey. As this river flows through a highly agriculture-dependent area, various activities, such as water extraction, fishing, cattle grazing, sand mining, and other activities, were observed. Such a high rate of disturbance from humans and livestock is a major threat to riverine nesting birds, and hence, the chances of successful breeding are bleak (SoIB 2023). The important river systems for the Indian Skimmer in India are Chambal, Ganga, Mahanadi, Yamuna, and Son (SoIB 2023). The Gomti River is one of the important tributaries of the Ganga River, originating from the Pilibhit district and confluences with Ganga in the Ghazipur district, covering c.835 km. The river drains the areas between the Ramganga and Sharda Rivers in the upper region and the Ganga and Ghagra Rivers in the lower region. Historically, there have been very few records of Indian Skimmer from the Gomti River. BirdLife International (2001) quotes a record by Jesse from the Lucknow region on Gomti from 1902. Since then, no other Indian Skimmer has been reported from this particular river based on a literature survey (Islam &

LTERN is a facility within the Australian Government–funded Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN). TERN is funded through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy. We acknowledge the Australian Government and TERN for their ongoing support of LTERN.

LTERN is a facility within the Australian Government–funded Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN). TERN is funded through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy. We acknowledge the Australian Government and TERN for their ongoing support of LTERN.

Journal of Threatened Taxa is dedicated to building evidence for conservation globally by publishing peer-reviewed articles online every month at a reasonably rapid rate at www.threatenedtaxa.org. All articles published in JoTT are registered under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License unless otherwise mentioned. JoTT allows unrestricted use of articles in any medium, reproduction, and distribution by providing adequate credit to the authors and the source of publication.

ABSTRACTKelp forest ecosystems and their associated ecosystem services are declining around the world. In response, marine managers are working to restore and counteract these declines. Kelp restoration first started in the 1700s in Japan and since then has spread across the globe. Restoration efforts, however, have been largely disconnected, with varying methodologies trialled by different actors in different countries. Moreover, a small subset of these efforts are ‘afforestation’, which focuses on creating new kelp habitat, as opposed to restoring kelp where it previously existed. To distil lessons learned over the last 300 years of kelp restoration, we review the history of kelp restoration (including afforestation) around the world and synthesise the results of 259 documented restoration attempts spanning from 1957 to 2020, across 16 countries, five languages, and multiple user groups. Our results show that kelp restoration projects have increased in frequency, have employed 10 ...

Quantifying factors influencing the occurrence of species is a core component of ecology and conservation biology. A key part of understanding occurrence patterns is identifying suitable habitat and how suitability may change over time, including in response to perturbations like wildfires. Such understanding requires long-term studies that track species occurrence over prolonged periods in response to multiple disturbances. In this study we combined: (1) 19-years of Eastern Bristlebird (Dasyornis brachypterus) site occupancy data from 109 sites at Booderee National Park, with (2) long-term data on fire history, and (3) detailed spatial information on vegetation cover. Our data showed an increase in site occupancy by the Eastern Bristlebird since 2002, indicating efforts to conserve the species should be regarded as a conservation success. However, it remains possible that the persistence of the species is conservation dependent and a function, in part, of ongoing feral predator control. We found heathlands were the preferred habitat, with bristlebirds occupying most heathland sites. Woodlands and sedgelands were moderately suitable habitat, with forests and rainforests rarely occupied. There was evidence of a strong spatial effect of heathland, with woodland and sedgeland sites near heathland more likely to be occupied. This suggests an influence of landscape mosaics, with birds possibly spilling over from preferred habitats to less preferred places. The Eastern Bristlebird appears to respond differently to fire than other bird taxa in our study region and park management practices like prescribed burning may need to consider the needs of a range of species. The results of our investigation highlight the importance of long-term studies to underpin evidence-based biodiversity conservation in fire-prone vegetation types and landscape mosaics.

  Fire is often used as a management tool in fire‐prone communities to reduce fuel loads with the intention of reducing the severity and extent of unplanned fires, often resulting in the increased occurrence of fire in the dry sclerophyll vegetation of Australia. This study examined the effects of fire frequency (length of the inter‐fire interval) on the reproductive output of seven plant species in the Proteaceae, including obligate seeding shrubs (Hakea teretifolia, Petrophile pulchella), resprouting shrubs (Banksia spinulosa, Isopogon anemonifolius, Lambertia formosa) and resprouting trees (Banksia serrata, Xylomelum pyriforme). Reproductive output (measured as either number of confructescences or follicles) and relative size were estimated for 100 individuals at each of five sample sites, covering a range of past fire frequencies over 26 years including repeated short inter‐fire intervals. Patterns in reproductive output (after standardizing for size) were related to the life‐hi...

Kelp forest ecosystems and their associated ecosystem services are declining around the world. In response, marine managers are working to restore and counteract these declines. Kelp restoration first started in the 1700s in Japan and since then has spread across the globe. Restoration efforts, however, have been largely disconnected, with varying methodologies trialled by different actors in different countries. Moreover, a small subset of these efforts are 'afforestation', which focuses on creating new kelp habitat, as opposed to restoring kelp where it previously existed. To distil lessons learned over the last 300 years of kelp restoration, we review the history of kelp restoration (including afforestation) around the world and synthesise the results of 259 documented restoration attempts spanning from 1957 to 2020, across 16 countries, five languages, and multiple user groups. Our results show that kelp restoration projects have increased in frequency, have employed 10 different methodologies and targeted 17 different kelp genera. Of these projects, the majority have been led by academics (62%), have been conducted at sizes of less than 1 ha (80%) and took place over time spans of less than 2 years. We show that projects are most successful when they are located near existing kelp forests. Further, disturbance events such as sea-urchin grazing are identified as regular causes of project failure. Costs for restoration are historically high, averaging hundreds of thousands of dollars per hectare, therefore we explore avenues to reduce these costs and suggest financial and legal pathways for scaling up future restoration efforts. One key suggestion is the creation of a living database which serves as a platform for recording restoration projects, showcasing and/or

Extreme disturbance events, such as wildfire and drought, have large impacts on carbon storage and sequestration of forests and woodlands globally. Here, we present a modelling approach that assesses the relative impact of disturbances on carbon storage and sequestration, and how this will alter under climate change. Our case study is semi-arid Australia where large areas of land are managed to offset over 122 million tonnes of anthropogenic carbon emissions over a 100-year period. These carbon offsets include mature vegetation that has been protected from clearing and regenerating vegetation on degraded agricultural land. We use a Bayesian Network model to combine multiple probabilistic models of the risk posed by fire, drought, grazing and recruitment failure to carbon dynamics. The model is parameterised from a review of relevant literature and additional quantitative analyses presented here. We found that the risk of vegetation becoming a net source of carbon due to a mortality event, or failing to realise maximum sequestration potential, through recruitment failure in regenerating vegetation, was primarily a function of rainfall in this semi-arid environment. However, the relative size of an emissions event varied across vegetation communities depending on plant attributes, specifically resprouting capacity. Modelled climate change effects were variable, depending on the climate change projection used. Under 'best-case' or 'most-likely' climate scenarios for 2050, similar or increased projections of mean annual precipitation, associated with a build-up of fuel, were expected to drive an increase in fire activity (a 40-160% increase), but a decrease in drought (a 20-35% decrease). Under a 'worst-case' climate scenario, fire activity was expected to decline (a 37% decrease), but drought conditions remain similar (a 5% decrease). These projected changes to the frequency of drought and fire increase the risk that vegetation used for carbon offsetting will fail to provide anticipated amounts of carbon abatement over their lifetime.

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Background: Following mineral-sand mining in the northern sandplains near Eneabba, southwestern Australia, rehabilitation managers have the difficult task of restoring shrubland communities of exceptional plant species richness. Management aims to restore a fully functional and self-sustaining shrubland community with similar vegetation and resilience properties to that of the surrounding natural vegetation. This project examined the performance of the restoration program by Iluka Resources Ltd. (and their predecessors) by comparing current vegetation properties and their response to fires on previously mined land versus the surrounding natural shrubland. As biomass accumulates post-restoration, fires will return as a natural disturbance factor and, as a result, a desirable measure of restoration success might include the ability of the postmined lands to recover from disturbance. Original objectives: To evaluate the ecology of rehabilitated minesites by comparing their plant species composition, spatial arrangement, functional attributes and response to experimental fire with that of the surrounding heathlands. While work was done on spatial arrangement of plants this is ongoing and is not reported here. Findings, results, outcomes: Pre-burnt plant species diversity, composition, structure and key functional attributes in four mined sites rehabilitated 8 (R8) to 24 (R24) years ago were compared with those of surrounding natural areas classified on the basis of substrate type (low and high sand dunes, shallow sand swales, sand over laterite and sand over limestone). The rehabilitated sites (except R8) had more species (about 140) than natural sites (about 100) with 12-37% species in common with natural sites. Floristic composition was most similar to the local swales and dunes (physically closest). Two strong colonizers, the fire-susceptible Acacia blakelyi and the fire-tolerant Melaleuca leuropoma, were universally present. Plant densities were about a quarter to half those of natural sites. Fire-resprouters were under-represented. Growth-form distributions were most similar to those of the dunes, with some woody shrubs up to 2.5 m tall present. Greater iron levels and soil hardness (penetrability) were the only soil factors consistently greater in rehabilitated sites. Following experimental fires at the same study sites, species richness fell by 22-41% in rehabilitated sites but increased by 4-29% in natural sites. Species present before fire were reduced by 40-56% in rehabilitated sites and 4-12% in natural sites. Only 42-66% of resprouting species recovered in rehabilitated sites, whereas 96-100% recovered in natural sites. Nonsprouting species recruitment was also lower in rehabilitated (18-57%) than natural (67-85%) sites. Seedling mortality over the first summer after fire was higher in rehabilitated sites (59-86% death of individuals) than in natural sites (14-60%). Principle coordinates analyses (PCoA) ordination showed that fire altered the floristic composition of rehabilitated sites much more than it did in natural sites, mostly attributable to the loss of the extant resprouter species. Western Australian Herbarium. 1998+. FloraBase-The Western Australian Flora. Department of Environment and Conservation. URL http://florabase.calm.wa.gov.au/.

LTERN is a facility within the Australian Government–funded Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN). TERN is funded through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy. We acknowledge the Australian Government and TERN for their ongoing support of LTERN.

The species richness (number of vascular-plant species per unit area) of sclerophyll (heathy) plant communities is examined from south-east Queensland to south-west Western Australia. The species richness of communities of heathy open forest, heathy open scrub, dry heathland and wet heathland is consist- ently similar throughout southern Australia and decreases from dry heathland (on laterite, coastal and inland localities) to heathy open forest, heathy open scrub and wet heathland. Investigation of related microcommunities at Cooloola, Stradbroke Island, Ku-ring-gai Chase and Wilsons Promontory indicates that species richness decreases linearly as overstorey cover increases. In post-fire succession on Stradbroke Island heathy woodland and Dark Island heathland, species richness declines linearly as overstorey cover increases during the regeneration of the community. The appli- cation of limiting fertiliser to Stradbroke Island heathy woodland and Dark Island heathland increases the...

Migratory birds spend a large proportion of their lives within non-breeding habitats. However, knowledge of how they respond to variable winter resources is limited, especially for small migratory species. Citizen science programs provide an effective way to collect data on small migrants over large spatio-temporal scales. Here we present survey data for the Critically Endangered Swift Parrot (Lathamus discolor) that were collected by hundreds of volunteers over 7 years across the species' winter range. Swift Parrots were detected in 23% of the 4035 surveys. Linear mixed models were used to examine variation in Swift Parrot abundance and correlations with climate variables. During non-drought years Swift Parrots concentrated within Victorian habitats. However, when Victoria was in drought, the response of the birds depended on the extent of drought conditions throughout the winter range. Consecutive years of drought in Victoria resulted in the population migrating over 1000 km further to drought refuge habitat in New South Wales. This study provides a rare demonstration of the large spatio-temporal responses of a migratory bird population to extreme climate conditions across its winter range. It demonstrates both variable and repeated use of winter habitats, and highlights the need for conservation management at large spatio-temporal scales.

Cross-ribbed rolling is a technique routinely used to construct firebreaks along the margins and access tracks of Ngarkat Conservation Park, South Australia. These breaks, approximately 20 m wide, contain regenerating heath communities with an overstorey of mallee. The effects of cross-ribbed rolling on community composition and succession were examined in a single fire patch on the western boundary of Ngarkat Conservation Park across 12 sites located in vegetation burnt approximately 35 years ago. Two areas at each site were investigated, one on rolled communities and the other running parallel on the adjacent unrolled vegetation. There was also a difference in the rolled communities sampled; six were on a 3-year-old break, whereas the remainder were on a 5-year-old break. Results indicate no changes to species richness or diversity when comparing rolled and unrolled areas, but there was some alteration to species composition in rolled communities. These results suggest that under current rolling regimes, the main effect is a reduction in biomass and some accompanying alteration to species composition, but not a reduction in overall species diversity or an increase in weeds.

Storks are huge wading birds found throughout the Indian subcontinent. They are members of the order Ciconiiformes and have lengthy bills, necks, and legs. The Ciconiidae family is intimately related to wetlands, marshes, and swamps. The study was carried out for four years (January 2020 to December 2023) to determine the occurrence and distribution of stork species in India's drought-prone Kota region. The line transect and point count methods were used for road surveys and field visits. Despite its harsh climate, the Kota region is fortunate to host six species of storks (three resident and three winter migratory). The six species were sighted alone, in flocks, and in mixed flocks. They were seen foraging and resting in reservoirs, rivers, seasonal ponds, and agricultural fields with water. Seasonally, the type of bird flocks was changed. Sand mining in rivers, the disappearance of seasonal ponds, and severe changes in agricultural practices pose a serious threat to storks and other wetland birds. It is critical to include local communities in the conservation of the stork species.

A biodiversity survey was conducted in Koraput District of southern Odisha between August 2014 and July 2017. During the survey, occurrence of Mugger or Marsh Crocodile Crocodylus palustris was ascertained from five localities in a stretch of 23km of river Saberi, a tributary of the Godavari River system. The area is in the Gupteswar proposed reserve forest of Odisha, and forms a boundary with Kanger Ghat National Park of Chhattisgarh State. The geographic region offers possible scope for long term ecological monitoring jointly by wildlife organizations of Odisha and Chhattisgarh in collaboration with Central University of Orissa. For long-term conservation of the species, activities may be initiated with annual monitoring of crocodile populations involving local people, and creating awareness about the Schedule-I status of crocodiles under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

The changing global climate is having profound effects on coastal marine ecosystems around the world. Structure, functioning, and resilience, however, can vary geographically, depending on species composition, local oceanographic forcing, and other pressures from human activities and use. Understanding ecological responses to environmental change and predicting changes in the structure and functioning of whole ecosystems require large‐scale, long‐term studies, yet most studies trade spatial extent for temporal duration. We address this shortfall by integrating multiple long‐term kelp forest monitoring datasets to evaluate biogeographic patterns and rates of change of key functional groups (FG) along the west coast of North America. Analysis of data from 469 sites spanning Alaska, USA, to Baja California, Mexico, and 373 species (assigned to 18 FG) reveals regional variation in responses to both long‐term (2006–2016) change and a recent marine heatwave (2014–2016) associated with two...

The changing global climate is having profound effects on coastal marine ecosystems around the world. Structure, functioning, and resilience, however, can vary geographically, depending on species composition, local oceanographic forcing, and other pressures from human activities and use. Understanding ecological responses to environmental change and predicting changes in the structure and functioning of whole ecosystems require large‐scale, long‐term studies, yet most studies trade spatial extent for temporal duration. We address this shortfall by integrating multiple long‐term kelp forest monitoring datasets to evaluate biogeographic patterns and rates of change of key functional groups (FG) along the west coast of North America. Analysis of data from 469 sites spanning Alaska, USA, to Baja California, Mexico, and 373 species (assigned to 18 FG) reveals regional variation in responses to both long‐term (2006–2016) change and a recent marine heatwave (2014–2016) associated with two...

Kelp forests are globally important and highly productive ecosystems, yet their persistence and protection in the face of climate change and human activity are poorly known. Here, we present a 35-year time series of high-resolution satellite imagery that maps the distribution and persistence of giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) forests along ten degrees of latitude in the Northeast Pacific Ocean. We find that although 7.7% of giant kelp is protected by marine reserves, when accounting for persistence only 4% of kelp is present and protected. Protection of giant kelp decreases southerly from 20.9% in Central California, USA, to less than 1% in Baja California, Mexico, which likely exacerbates kelp vulnerability to marine heatwaves in Baja California. We suggest that a two-fold increase in the area of kelp protected by marine reserves is needed to fully protect persistent kelp forests and that conservation of climate-refugia in Baja California should be a priority.

ABSTRACTLong‐term monitoring and research projects are essential to understand ecological change and the effectiveness of management activities. An inherent characteristic of long‐term projects is the need for consistent data collection over time, requiring rigorous attention to data management and quality assurance. Recent papers have provided broad recommendations for data management; however, practitioners need more detailed guidance and examples. We present general yet detailed guidance for the development of comprehensive, concise, and effective data management for monitoring projects. The guidance is presented as a graded approach, matching the scale of data management to the needs of the organization and the complexity of the project. We address the following topics: roles and responsibilities; consistent and precise data collection; calibration of field crews and instrumentation; management of tabular, photographic, video, and sound data; data completeness and quality; devel...

To determine the effects of fire-related germination cues, time-since-fire and habitats, soil-borne seed bank samples of rocky outcrops and forest habitats of Torrington State Conservation Area were examined under glasshouse conditions. A total of 1766 seedlings were recorded from the 128 sample trays over the trial duration of 9 weeks. After 9 weeks, no more seedlings emerged. The seedlings were identified as belonging to 44 species from 38 genera and 23 plant families; comprising 21 woody species, 17 forb species, 3 graminoid species and 3 grass species. The most prominent plant families were Fabaceae (8 woody species) followed by Myrtaceae (4 woody species), Apiaceae (4 forb species) and Epacridaceae, Poaceae and Asteraceae with 3 species each. Both seedling emergence and species richness was greater for heat and combinatorial effect of heat and smoke induced treatments than for control and smoke treatments. However, only the species richness was significant for treatments. Time-since-fire significantly affected the community composition. There were a total of 1351 seedlings germinated from the sites with long time-since-fire (>10 yrs.) and 415 seedlings were emerged from the sites with short time-since-fire (18 months). Germinants were mostly shown from the long-burnt rocky outcrops. There was a habitats effect with rocky outcrop samples having significantly more germinable seeds (1522 seedlings) than soil samples collected from forest habitats (144 seedlings). Examination of the soil seed bank samples and the ground standing vegetation of the study sites showed that the species composition was similar. However, there was a large difference in species richness, with richness showing higher in the ground standing vegetation than the soil samples. ii DECLARATION I certify that the substance of this thesis has not been submitted for any other degree or award and is not currently being submitted for any other qualification. In addition, I declare that to the best of my knowledge, all assistance and sources of information in the preparation of this thesis have been acknowledged. ………………………… Kinzang Dorji iii Acknowledgements My profound and heartfelt thanks to my academic supervisor Associate Professor Dr. Peter Clarke for his close supervision, proper guidance, advice, invaluable support and encouragement throughout the duration of this research. Thanks for many other fruitful discussions and constant positive reinforcements.

The species richness (number of vascular-plant species per unit area) of sclerophyll (heathy) plant communities is examined from south-east Queensland to south-west Western Australia. The species richness of communities of heathy open forest, heathy open scrub, dry heathland and wet heathland is consist- ently similar throughout southern Australia and decreases from dry heathland (on laterite, coastal and inland localities) to heathy open forest, heathy open scrub and wet heathland. Investigation of related microcommunities at Cooloola, Stradbroke Island, Ku-ring-gai Chase and Wilsons Promontory indicates that species richness decreases linearly as overstorey cover increases. In post-fire succession on Stradbroke Island heathy woodland and Dark Island heathland, species richness declines linearly as overstorey cover increases during the regeneration of the community. The appli- cation of limiting fertiliser to Stradbroke Island heathy woodland and Dark Island heathland increases the...

A key part of that plan was the establishment of infrastructure for ecosystem science. Here, in this document, infrastructure refers to the layout and design of permanent field plots, the associated field measurement protocols and the survey staff that implement them, and the TERN-funded data that are collected from these plots. Correspondingly, knowledge infrastructure refers to knowledge and understanding that is obtained, and ideas that have been generated from the networks of plots that constitute the LTERN Facility. Throughout this document, when we refer to a research or monitoring study, or research or monitoring sites, we are referring to research or monitoring infrastructure. This manual and the LTERN Data Portal (www.ltern.org.au) are important contributions to TERN's goal to: … build the relationships, networks and infrastructure that will enable sustained, long-term collection, storage, synthesis and sharing of ecosystem data to meet terrestrial ecosystem science and ecosystem management needs in Australia.

Plant community composition and its likely environmental controls were investigated for 200 sample plots (each 100 m 2) from Mediterranean-type vegetation in the Little Desert National Park, Victoria. TWINSPAN classification revealed four readily identifiable vegetation types; mallee-broombush, heathland, stringybark open woodland, and an assemblage intermediate between mallee-broombush and heathland referred to here as broomheath. Mallee-broombush was found on Parilla Sands characterized by high Ca levels relative to heathland and stringybark open woodlands on unconsolidated Lowan Sands. The first axis of a 2 dimensional non-metric MDS ordination also divided heathlands (high axis scores) from mallee-broombush (low scores), while the second separated these vegetation types from stringybark woodlands and broom-heath. Vector-fitting revealed significant correlations between the locations of samples in ordination space and exchangeable soil Ca, soil colour, aspect and Shannon-Weiner diversity. Highest species richness/diversity was associated with the ecotonal area between Parilla and Lowan Sands (i.e. broom-heath) where a number of species characteristic of different assemblages had overlapping ranges. The fire-sensitive conifer, Callitris rhomboidea, was preferentially located in stringybark woodland and broom-heath vegetation types. Its presence was positively associated with high species richness and aspects having a southerly component. Four Callitris stands sampled for population structure were all > 40 years old and showed evidence of interfire recruitment from seeds released by old, serotinous cones. Overall, results suggest that variations in plant community composition and structure in the eastern block of the Little Desert are primarily due to variations in soil properties associated with the distribution of the two dominant substrate types, Parilla Sand and Lowan Sand. However, the interplay of topography and fire behaviour has probably been more important than substrate type in determining the distribution and population structure of longer-lived, fire-sensitive species such as Callitris rhomboidea.

Long-term forest monitoring undertaken by FORESTCHECK since 2001 has examined the effects of silvicultural treatment on floral diversity and assemblage composition in the jarrah forest of southwest Western Australia. Both prescribed burns and wildfires have overlain the network of FORESTCHECK monitoring sites, providing the opportunity to examine fire and silviculture interactions in natural experiments and allowing experimental control of time-since-fire effects on the flora. We report here two opportunistic experiments. First, the early effects of prescribed burns in spring on the flowering of the vascular flora were compared with closely paired sites that were long unburnt. Second, the early effects of a wildfire in summer on the flowering of the vascular flora were compared between silvicultural treatments. Flowering richness tended to be less on burnt grids in the non-peak period in the first two years after fire in one experiment, but there were no differential effects of silviculture on flowering assemblages arising from interaction with wildfires. Flowering assemblages varied from year to year and the extent to which they varied differed between locations but not as a result of silvicultural treatments. We conclude that no special management with respect to plant flowering is required to remedy outcomes of interaction between wildfire and silvicultural treatments. Further information is needed to understand the long-term implications of variability in flowering assemblages and how it affects the reproductive viability of understorey species and their interactions with pollinator networks in the face of a changing climate.