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Climatic, vegetation and edaphic influences on the probability of fire across mediterranean woodlands of south-eastern Australia

Gibson, Rebecca; Bradstock, Ross A.; Penman, T.D.; Keith, David; Driscoll, Don

Description

Aim: We investigated how the probability of burning is influenced by the time since fire (TSF) and gradients of climate, soil and vegetation in the fire-prone mediterranean-climate mallee woodlands of south-eastern Australia. This provided insight into the processes controlling contemporary fuel dynamics and fire regimes across biogeographical boundaries, and the consequent effects of climate change on potential shifts in boundaries between fuel systems and fire regimes, at a subcontinental...[Show more]

dc.contributor.authorGibson, Rebecca
dc.contributor.authorBradstock, Ross A.
dc.contributor.authorPenman, T.D.
dc.contributor.authorKeith, David
dc.contributor.authorDriscoll, Don
dc.date.accessioned2015-12-13T22:19:05Z
dc.identifier.issn0305-0270
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1885/71631
dc.description.abstractAim: We investigated how the probability of burning is influenced by the time since fire (TSF) and gradients of climate, soil and vegetation in the fire-prone mediterranean-climate mallee woodlands of south-eastern Australia. This provided insight into the processes controlling contemporary fuel dynamics and fire regimes across biogeographical boundaries, and the consequent effects of climate change on potential shifts in boundaries between fuel systems and fire regimes, at a subcontinental scale. Location: South-eastern Australia. Methods: A desktop-based GIS was used to generate random sampling points across the study region to collect data on intersecting fire interval, rainfall, vegetation and soil type. We used a Bayesian framework to examine the effects of combinations of rainfall, vegetation and soil type on the hazard-of-burning and survival parameters of the Weibull distribution. These analyses identify the nature of environmental controls on the length of fire intervals and the age-dependence of the hazard of burning. Results: Higher rainfall was consistently associated with shorter fire intervals. Within a single level of rainfall, however, the interaction between soil and vegetation type influenced the length of fire intervals. Higher-fertility sands were associated with shorter fire intervals in grass-dominated communities, whereas lower-fertility sands were associated with shorter fire intervals in shrub-dominated communities. The hazard of burning remained largely independent of TSF across the region, only markedly increasing with TSF in shrub-dominated communities at high rainfall. Main conclusions: Rainfall had a dominant influence on fire frequency in the mediterranean-climate mallee woodlands of south-eastern Australia. Predicted changes in the spatial distribution and amount of rainfall therefore have the potential to drive changes in fire regimes, although the effects of soil fertility and rainfall on fire regimes do not align on a simple productivity gradient. Reduced soil fertility may favour plant traits that increase the rate of woody litter fuel accumulation and flammability, which may alter the overriding influence of rainfall gradients on fire regimes.
dc.publisherBlackwell Publishing Ltd
dc.sourceJournal of Biogeography
dc.titleClimatic, vegetation and edaphic influences on the probability of fire across mediterranean woodlands of south-eastern Australia
dc.typeJournal article
local.description.notesImported from ARIES
local.identifier.citationvolume42
dc.date.issued2015
local.identifier.absfor050205 - Environmental Management
local.identifier.ariespublicationa383154xPUB2805
local.type.statusAccepted Version
local.contributor.affiliationGibson, Rebecca, University of Wollongong
local.contributor.affiliationBradstock, Ross A., University of Wollongong
local.contributor.affiliationPenman, T.D., University of Wollongong
local.contributor.affiliationKeith, David, Joint Colleges of Science, ANU
local.contributor.affiliationDriscoll, Don, College of Medicine, Biology and Environment, ANU
local.bibliographicCitation.issue9
local.bibliographicCitation.startpage1750
local.bibliographicCitation.lastpage1760
local.identifier.doi10.1111/jbi.12547
local.identifier.absseo960806 - Forest and Woodlands Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity
dc.date.updated2015-12-11T07:45:04Z
local.identifier.scopusID2-s2.0-84936817457
dcterms.accessRightsOpen Access
dc.provenanceSherpa/ Romeo (Viewed 16/11/2018) Author's Pre-print: author can archive pre-print (ie pre-refereeing) Author's Post-print: subject to Restrictions below, author can archive post-print (ie final draft post-refereeing) Restrictions:12 months embargo Publisher's Version/PDF: author cannot archive publisher's version/PDF
CollectionsANU Research Publications

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