Ageing culturally significant relic trees in southeast Queensland to support bushfire management strategies

Ngugi, Michael R.; Knight, Jonathan; Hua, Quan; Dowling, Ralph; Kington, David; Burns, Darren

doi:10.1111/emr.12404

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 14 publications

(15 reference statements)

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“…0.3 ka after dune stabilization due to the presence of ∼1-m-diameter Corymbia intermedia found on the 0.5 ka dune upslope positions that are estimated to be ca. 175-350 yr old (Ngugi et al, 2020; Supplementary Fig. 1a).…”

Section: Implications Of Charcoal Layers In Dune Depositsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reconstructing Holocene fire records using dune footslope deposits at the Cooloola Sand Mass, Australia

Patton,

Shulmeister,

Hua

et al. 2023

Quat. res.

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In this study, we assess charcoal records from eolian deposits within the Cooloola Sand Mass, a subtropical coastal dune system in eastern Australia, to determine whether they can be used as a proxy for Holocene fire history. We excavate four profiles in depositional wedges at the base of dune slipfaces (footslope deposits) and calculate charcoal concentrations for three size classes (180–250 μm, 250–355 μm, and 355 μm–2 mm) at predetermined depth intervals. Age–depth models are constructed for each profile using radiocarbon measurements (n = 46) and basal optically stimulated luminescence ages (n = 4). All records appear intact with little evidence of postdepositional mixing as demonstrated by minimal age reversals and consistent trends in charcoal concentration and accumulation rates (CHAR) among size classes. Combining all four records, we generate a ca. 7 cal ka BP terrestrial fire history that depicts distinct peaks representing periods of increased local fire activity at <0.3, 1.1–0.4, 2.2–1.6, 3.4–2.6, and 6.7–5.3 cal ka BP. Our findings parallel regional records and highlight the utility of dune footslopes as ecological and sedimentary archives. As dune fields are much more common than wetlands and lakes in semiarid and arid areas, these deposits have the potential to increase the spatial resolution of fire records globally.

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Section: Implications Of Charcoal Layers In Dune Depositsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reconstructing Holocene fire records using dune footslope deposits at the Cooloola Sand Mass, Australia

Patton,

Shulmeister,

Hua

et al. 2023

Quat. res.

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“…To establish an age-DBH relationship, we initially explored per annum growth increments and comparisons with related species (Bowman et al 2014). These approaches tended to overestimate tree age (Ngugi et al 2020) and we found this to be the case for Smithton peppermints relative to published ages of other Eucalyptus spp. (Wormington & Lamb 1999;Gibbons et al 2010;Wood et al 2010).…”

Section: Simulation Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fire‐mediated tree cavity reduction needs to be considered in reintroduction strategies for a critically endangered bird

Stojanović

Gibbons

Young

et al. 2023

Restoration Ecology

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Fire is an important agent of tree cavity creation and loss in some forest ecosystems. Even though cavity‐bearing trees may be replaced over decades post fire, cavity‐nesting animals depend on uninterrupted access to suitable nesting sites. Balancing the impacts of fire on the availability and recruitment of suitable tree cavities for wildlife is important. We studied fire effects on trees with suitable nests for Critically Endangered Orange‐bellied Parrots Neophema chrysogaster to evaluate how to optimize suitable cavity availability both now and into the future. We used field surveys to quantify the age‐class distribution of trees across the species' historical range, and climbed them to reveal that only 16% of Smithton peppermints Eucalyptus nitida supported a potentially suitable nest cavity. We incorporated this information into a simulation that explored the impacts of fire on the occurrence of nest trees over a century under different fire regimes. We predicted that more frequent and severe fires resulted in lower probabilities of persistence of nesting sites for Orange‐bellied Parrots. Management of the foraging habitat of Orange‐bellied Parrots requires regular burning of moorlands adjacent to the forests where they nest. Our simulations show that preventing regular burning of these forests is important to maximize the probability of persistence of nesting habitat for Orange‐bellied Parrots. We show that by incorporating field data on the true availability of habitat, it is possible to simulate the uncertain impacts of fire on future perpetuation of suitable nesting cavities for wildlife.

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“…However, such a decline could transform the negative exponential structure into a unimodal or a multimodal distribution over time, which is widely regarded as evidence of a population in decline. Further monitoring of seedlingsapling recruitment dynamics and ageing (Ngugi et al 2020) of tree cohorts to determine recruitment timing, frequency and population trajectory (Ngugi & Neldner 2015) is recommended to inform ongoing management. Further data analyses that use the site-level data to examine mean and variance in size class distributions across the ranges of each species is recommended to facilitate better understanding of differences in demographics across geographic and environmental gradients.…”

Section: Conclusion and Recommendationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recruitment and demographic structure of floodplain tree species in the Queensland Murray‐Darling basin, Australia

Ngugi¹,

Neldner²,

Dowling³

et al. 2021

Eco Management Restoration

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Globally, floodplain and riparian forests are rapidly declining ecosystems due to anthropogenic influences coupled with a changing climate. In the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia, little is known about the demographic structural status and recruitment of floodplain and riparian tree species. The aim of this study is to provide a baseline assessment of the current demographic structure of the ecosystem-defining tree species: River Red Gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis), Coolibah (Eucalyptus coolabah), Black Box (Eucalyptus largiflorens) and River Cooba (Acacia stenophylla) within the basin in Queensland. Tree size data were collected from 131 plots of 0.25 ha located along major waterways and the abundance of individuals at the seedling, young tree, mature and senescent life cycle stages was determined. The diameter size distribution for the four species approximated a negative exponential distribution (reverse J-curve). Low tree abundance in the < 10-cm diameter class in all the species relative to the reverse J-curve suggested low recruitment and possible early evidence of a decline in the sustainability of the populations according to the Law of de Liocourt. This low abundance of young trees was more pronounced in Black Box and extended to the < 20-cm diameter class, but this species was not well replicated, and more data are required. In addition, the low abundance of recruitment trees occurred concurrently with the observed below average rainfall and erratic rainfall distribution in the last two decades relative to long-term totals. These results suggest a need for management interventions to foster seedling recruitment such as grazing management and tree planting programmes to ensure species establishment and survival along basin waterways.

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Ageing culturally significant relic trees in southeast Queensland to support bushfire management strategies

Cited by 5 publications

References 14 publications

Reconstructing Holocene fire records using dune footslope deposits at the Cooloola Sand Mass, Australia

Reconstructing Holocene fire records using dune footslope deposits at the Cooloola Sand Mass, Australia

Fire‐mediated tree cavity reduction needs to be considered in reintroduction strategies for a critically endangered bird

Recruitment and demographic structure of floodplain tree species in the Queensland Murray‐Darling basin, Australia

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