Journal Article10.1111/J.1442-9993.2012.02379.X
Does long-term fire exclusion in an Australian tropical savanna result in a biome shift? A test using the reintroduction of fire
Kenneth A. Scott,Samantha A. Setterfield,Michael M. Douglas,Catherine L. Parr,Jon Schatz,Alan N. Andersen +5 more
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TL;DR: This paper examined changes in the structure and composition of a long-unburnt site within the northern Australian savannas following an extended period of active fire exclusion (>20 years), and the effect of the reintroducing fire through experimental fire regimes.
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Abstract: The structure of tropical savanna ecosystems is influenced by fire frequency and intensity. There is particular interest in the extent to which long-term fire exclusion can result in a shift from savanna to forest vegetation that is not easily reversed by the reintroduction of fire. This study examined changes in the structure and composition of a long-unburnt site within the northern Australian savannas following an extended period of active fire exclusion (>20 years), and the effect of the reintroducing fire through experimental fire regimes, including fires in the early and late dry season at a range of frequencies. After the long period of fire exclusion, the vegetation community was characterized by a well-developed midstorey and canopy layer, low grass cover, substantially higher densities of woody sprouts and saplings than frequently burnt savanna. The community composition included a high proportion of rainforest-affiliated species. Three years of experimental fires had no detectable effect on the overall composition of grass layer and woody plants but had an effect on woody vegetation structure. Continued fire exclusion further increased the density of woody stems, particularly in the midstorey (2.0–4.99 m), whereas moderate-intensity fires (>800 kW m−1) significantly reduced the density of midstorey stems. The reintroduction of higher moderate intensity fire events resulted in the vegetation in some compartments reverting to the open savanna structure typical of frequently burnt sites. Such rapid reversibility suggests that in general, the woody thickening resulting from long-term fire exclusion did not represent a biome shift to a non-savanna state. However, there was a small proportion of the site that could not sustain the fires applied to them because grass cover was very low and patchy and therefore appeared to have crossed an ecological threshold towards closed forest.
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Citations
Resilience and restoration of tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and grassy woodlands.
Elise Buisson,Soizig Le Stradic,Soizig Le Stradic,Fernando A. O. Silveira,Giselda Durigan,Gerhard E. Overbeck,Alessandra Fidelis,G. Wilson Fernandes,William J. Bond,Julia-Maria Hermann,Grégory Mahy,Swanni T. Alvarado,Nicholas P. Zaloumis,Joseph W. Veldman +13 more
TL;DR: The old‐growth grassland concept, the novel ecosystem concept, and theory regarding tree cover along resource gradients in savannas are drawn on to propose a conceptual framework that classifies tropical grasslands into three broad ecosystem states.
Perspectives for ecosystem management based on ecosystem resilience and ecological thresholds against multiple and stochastic disturbances
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present two perspectives for providing a predictive scientific basis to the management and conservation of ecosystems against multiple and stochastic disturbances, namely, management of predictable anthropogenic disturbances to maintain a sufficient level of biodiversity for ensuring ecosystem resilience (i.e., resilience-based management).
140
Fire in Australian savannas: From leaf to landscape
Jason Beringer,Jason Beringer,Lindsay B. Hutley,David Abramson,Stefan K. Arndt,Peter R. Briggs,Mila Bristow,Josep G. Canadell,Lucas A. Cernusak,Derek Eamus,Andrew Edwards,Bradleys J. Evans,Benedikt J. Fest,Klaus Goergen,Samantha Grover,Samantha Grover,Jorg M. Hacker,Vanessa Haverd,Kasturi Devi Kanniah,Kasturi Devi Kanniah,Stephen J. Livesley,Amanda H. Lynch,Amanda H. Lynch,Stefan W. Maier,Caitlin E. Moore,Michael R. Raupach,Jeremy Russell-Smith,Simon Scheiter,Nigel J. Tapper,Petteri Uotila +29 more
TL;DR: New research is presented that climate change is likely to alter the structure and function of savannas through shifts in moisture availability and increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide, in turn altering fire regimes with further feedbacks to climate.
Challenges and opportunities in land surface modelling of savanna ecosystems
Rhys Whitley,Jason Beringer,Lindsay B. Hutley,Gabriel Abramowitz,Martin G. De Kauwe,Bradley Evans,Vanessa Haverd,Longhui Li,Caitlin E. Moore,Youngryel Ryu,Simon Scheiter,Stanislaus J. Schymanski,Benjamin Smith,Ying-Ping Wang,Mathew Williams,Qiang Yu +15 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine whether terrestrial biosphere models are able to adequately represent savanna fluxes and what implications potential deficiencies may have for climate change projection scenarios that rely on these models.
References
Environmental relationships of woody vegetation patterns in the Australian monsoon tropics
TL;DR: It is suggested that the dense evergreen vegetation presents a barrier to fires from the open communities, which would account for the greater proportion of woody, closed forest species that regenerate exclusively from seed.
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Seeds of the annual grasses Schizachyrium spp. as a food resource for tropical granivorous birds
TL;DR: Food availability for granivores should therefore be optimized by fire regimes that include a range of burning histories, including fires in both early dry and early wet seasons as well as keeping other areas unburnt.
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Soil seed banks confer resilience to savanna grass-layer plants during seasonal disturbance
Kenneth A. Scott,Kenneth A. Scott,Samantha A. Setterfield,Samantha A. Setterfield,Michael M. Douglas,Michael M. Douglas,Alan N. Andersen,Alan N. Andersen +7 more
TL;DR: The results provide a mechanistic understanding of the persistence of annual grasses and forbs in an environment subject to frequent fire and highly seasonal rainfall, and, together with the sprouting capacity of perennial grasses, explain the high resilience of savanna grass-layer plants in relation to fire.
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Tolerance of thermal shock in seeds
David T. Bell,Deanne S. Williams +1 more
TL;DR: Differences in germination percentage between scarified and short-term heat-shock treatments indicated that the heat required to break dormancy in Australian legumes may not always be related to breaking an impervious seed coat.
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