An examination of fire history and fire management in the context of fauna conservation in south-eastern Australia
PhD Thesis
Williamson, Jane Sarah. (2021). An examination of fire history and fire management in the context of fauna conservation in south-eastern Australia [PhD Thesis]. Australian Catholic University https://doi.org/10.26199/acu.8z085
Authors | Williamson, Jane Sarah |
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Type | PhD Thesis |
Qualification name | Doctor of Philosophy |
Abstract | Fire can influence biodiversity by changing the spatial patterns of vegetation and the suitability of habitat for fauna species. Understanding the spatial patterns of fire in the landscape is critical to the conservation of biodiversity, and this is reliant on sound knowledge of fire history. In this thesis I examined fire history and fire management in the context of fauna conservation in New South Wales (NSW), south-eastern Australia. Initially, I used digital fire records for NSW for years 1902 to 2018 to identify sources of error in the database, then examined how data quality may affect interpretation of fire history for biodiversity conservation. I then examined variation among, and predictors of, distributions of time since the most recent fire (TSMRF) for extant native vegetation in NSW. I tested whether distributions of time since fire for different vegetation types follow predicted trends at varying scales and identified the degree to which these distributions are influenced by landscape management actions. Finally, I used a field-based study to investigate the impacts of fire history, vegetation type, and environmental factors on habitat attributes, and the extent to which they vary among vegetation types. Thirty-two years and 76% of extant native vegetation in NSW (38% in areas managed for biodiversity conservation) had no fire records, and significantly more in the drier, less populated western parts of the state. However, my results indicate this is an incomplete representation of fire history. Repeated records accounted for >50% of the records in the database, however only 8% were identified by an automated clean using software tools. Without a manual-clean the number of fires and area burnt per year would be exaggerated by >300% in some years. The number of repeated records and records with missing data reduced dramatically from the early 2000s. My findings demonstrate that key habitat types important for the persistence of fauna did not have a uniform response among vegetation types at a local scale. Fire management practices designed for managing plant species survival are based on predictable plant responses to fire at a formation-scale, however these results demonstrate that the response of key fauna habitat attributes is not predictable at this scale and fire management may need to be directed at a finer-scale than that at which they are currently managed. |
Keywords | fire history; fauna; habitat; biodiversity conservation |
Year | 2021 |
Publisher | Australian Catholic University |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.26199/acu.8z085 |
Page range | 1-434 |
Final version | License File Access Level Open |
Supplementary Files (Layperson Summary) | File Access Level Controlled |
Output status | Published |
Publication dates | |
Online | 17 May 2023 |
Publication process dates | |
Completed | 08 Nov 2021 |
Deposited | 16 May 2023 |
https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/item/8z085/an-examination-of-fire-history-and-fire-management-in-the-context-of-fauna-conservation-in-south-eastern-australia
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Final version
Williamson_2021_An_examination_of_fire_history_and.pdf | |
License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 | |
File access level: Open |
Restricted files
Supplementary Files (Layperson Summary)
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