The impacts of prescribed burning and timber harvesting on species diversity have been the subject of considerable debate. The temporal and spatial scale of these disturbances often presents major limitations to many studies. Here we present the medium-term results of a planned long-term study examining the impacts of logging and prescribed burning on the understorey floristic richness in shrubby dry sclerophyll forest in the south-east of New South Wales, Australia. Generalized estimating equations were used to model the effect of environmental factors and disturbance variables on species richness at the coupe (~30 ha) and plot (~0.01 ha) scale. At the plot scale, fire effects on separate components of the vegetation were broadly consistent with other studies, with frequent fire resulting in a relative increase of species richness for species less than 1 m in height and a decline of larger species taller than this height. At the coupe scale, there was no decline in richness of larger shrub species, possibly owing to the spatial heterogeneity of fire frequency at this scale. Logging resulted in significantly greater species richness in the shrub layer, but had no significant effect on species richness in the ground layer. During the study period, there was a general decline in plant species richness at both coupe and plot scales which occurred independently of imposed management regimes. This is thought to be related to a natural succession following wildfire, and may be due to the absence of high-intensity fire in the study area since 1973, or to an effect related to season of burning.

Wildfire has shaped historic and contemporary vegetation assemblages in Australia. Ecological research has generally focussed on the effects of frequent fire on plant assemblages, with less attention given to the changes that occur in the absence of wildfire. Here we examine changes in understorey assemblages in dry sclerophyll forest catchments where wildfires have not occurred since 1973 and 1979 to determine if the initial floristics model applies. Understorey species (<2 m height) richness peaked approximately 5 years after fire with an average of 22.7 ± 0.4 (s.e.) species per 10 m2. These values declined throughout the study period resulting in an average of 13.4 ± 0.5 (s.e.) species per 10 m2 33 years after fire. Similarly, significant shifts in the understorey community composition were seen with increasing time since wildfire. These changes were attributed to a decrease in 40 species (24 resprouters, 16 obligate seeders) and an increase in 11 species (10 resprouters, 1 obligate seeder). Large shrub species richness (>2 m height) and stem density increased steadily until 10–15 years post-wildfire at which point they remained stable at ~3.2 species per 100 m2. In the absence of wildfire, these forests undergo significant changes in understorey/large shrub communities consistent with the initial floristics model.

Forest management practices have the potential to impact upon native vegetation. Most studies focus on the effects of management on the above-ground vegetation communities, with little attention given to the soil stored seed bank. Here we examine the soil stored seed bank of a long-term experimental site in south-eastern Australia, which has experienced timber harvesting and repeated prescribed burning over a 20-year period. At each of 213 long-term vegetation measurement plots, 3.5 kg of soil was collected and germinated in a glasshouse over a period of 2 years. Comparisons were made between the experimental treatments considering differences in species richness, abundance and community composition of the understorey seed bank. Logged sites had a higher diversity and abundance of seedlings compared with unlogged sites, which is consistent with observed changes in standing vegetation within 10 years following logging. Prescribed burning resulted in a lower diversity and abundance of seedlings, which contrasts with the increase in species diversity observed in response to frequent fire in standing vegetation. Individual taxa that declined in the seed bank in response to frequent fire were all taxa for which germination is enhanced by exposure to smoke. Contrary to expectations, these did not exhibit a corresponding decline as standing plants. While management actions above ground are having minor impacts, greater effects were seen in the soil stored seed bank.

This paper explores the lived experience of incivility for neurodiverse students with traumatic brain injury (TBI) in Ireland. The higher education (HE) environment can be challenging for students with TBI. Incivility is common in higher education, and students with disabilities such as TBI are often marginalized within academia, making them more vulnerable to incivility. For this paper, data are drawn from the first author’s autoethnographic study, and is supplemented with semi-structured interviews from a sample of HE seven students also with TBI. Results revealed that participants’ experiences of incivility were common and were linked to the organizational culture of higher education. Our experiences point to a need for better responsiveness when interactions are frequently uncivil, despite there being policies that recognize diversity and equality. This is the first paper of its kind to explore this particular experience in Ireland and the purpose of this paper is to raise awareness of the challenges of neurodiverse students and how they are exacerbated by organizational and interpersonal incivility.

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