Effects of fire on the bird communities of tropical woodlands and open forests in northern Australia

Woinarski, J. C. Z.

doi:10.1111/j.1442-9993.1990.tb01016.x

Cited by 96 publications

(72 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Under the third scenario, fire frequency is markedly reduced but severe-fire frequency is increased in accord with observations that fire severity associated with fuel accumulation in regional savannas increases substantially with time since fire and for at least eight years in the instance of LDS fires (Williams et al 1999, Murphy andRussellSmith 2010). This scenario aligns also with indications that unburned intervals of at least several years are required for recruitment of tree stems, taller shrubs, and associated development of habitat (including logs, older hollow trees) and species structural diversity for a variety of fauna ranging from ants to midstorydependent birds and small terrestrial and arboreal mammals (Woinarski 1990, Andersen 1991, Andersen et al 2003, 2005, Russell-Smith et al 2003b. A majority of structural components are predicted to decrease under this regime, but notably small trees and fruit tree species richness are predicted to increase substantially.…”

Section: Fire Management and The Savanna Matrixmentioning

confidence: 96%

Managing the matrix: decadal responses of eucalypt‐dominated savanna to ambient fire regimes

Russell‐Smith

Price

Murphy

2010

Ecological Applications

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Much of our understanding of the response of savanna systems to fire disturbance relies on observations derived from manipulative fire plot studies. Equivocal findings from both recent Australian and African savanna fire plot assessments have significant implications for informing conservation management and reliable estimation of biomass stocks and dynamics. Influential northern Australian replicated fire plot studies include the 24-year plot-scale Munmarlary and the five-year catchment-scale Kapalga, mesic savanna ( . 1000 mm/yr of rainfall) experiments in present-day Kakadu National Park. At Munmarlary, under low-tomoderate-intensity fire treatments, woody vegetation dominated by mature eucalypts was found to be structurally stable. At Kapalga, substantial declines in woody biomass were observed under more intense fire treatments, and modeling assessments implicate early-season fires as having adverse effects on longer-term tree recruitment. Given these contrasting perspectives, here we take advantage of a landscape-scale fire response monitoring program established on three major northern Australian conservation reserves (Kakadu, Litchfield, and Nitmiluk National Parks). Using statistical modeling we assess the decadal effects of ambient fire regime parameters (fire frequency, severity, seasonality, time since fire) on 32 vegetation structure components and abundance of 21 tree and 16 grass species from 122 monitoring plots. Over the study period the mean annual frequency of burning of plots was 0.53, comprising mostly early-dry-season, low-severity fires. Structural and species responses were variable but often substantial, notably resulting in stem recruitment and declines in juveniles, but only weakly explained by fire regime and habitat variables. Modeling of these observations under three realistic scenarios (increased fire severity under projected worsening climate change; modest and significant reductions in fire frequency to meet conservation criteria) indicates that all scenarios have positive and negative structural implications. Effecting significant regional fire regime change (e.g., reduction in frequency and size of severe fires) is demonstrably feasible, but it incurs risks and potentially some undesirable structural consequences. Given recent Australian and African experience, the generality and application of landscape-scale implications derived from manipulative fire assessments (including variable grazing and browsing regimes) in savanna require more critical assessment. Abstract. Much of our understanding of the response of savanna systems to fire disturbance relies on observations derived from manipulative fire plot studies. Equivocal findings from both recent Australian and African savanna fire plot assessments have significant implications for informing conservation management and reliable estimation of biomass stocks and dynamics. Influential northern Australian replicated fire plot studies include the 24-year plot-scale Munmarlary and the five-year catchment-scale Kapalga, m...

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Section: Fire Management and The Savanna Matrixmentioning

confidence: 96%

Managing the matrix: decadal responses of eucalypt‐dominated savanna to ambient fire regimes

Russell‐Smith

Price

Murphy

2010

Ecological Applications

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“…Decreased abundance of ground-or shrub-nesting birds after burns is likely due to temporary reductions in shrubs and leaf litter. Many birds forage within burned sites despite a paucity of suitable nesting substrate (Artman et al, 2001;Woinarski, 1990), making it difficult to assess how burning affects different components of habitat suitability.…”

Section: Breeding Birdsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bird response to fire severity and repeated burning in upland hardwood forest

Greenberg¹,

Waldrop²,

Tomcho³

et al. 2013

Forest Ecology and Management

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Dean, "Bird response to fire severity and repeated burning in upland hardwood forest" (2013 a b s t r a c tPrescribed burning is a common management tool for upland hardwood forests, with wildlife habitat improvement an often cited goal. Fire management for wildlife conservation requires understanding how species respond to burning at different frequencies, severities, and over time. In an earlier study, we experimentally assessed how breeding bird communities and species responded to fuel reduction treatments by mechanical understory reduction, low-severity prescribed fires, or mechanical understory reduction followed a year later by high-severity prescribed fires in upland hardwood forest. Here, we assess longer-term response to the initial mechanical treatment (M), and a second low-intensity burn in twice burned (B2) and mechanical + twice burned (MB2) treatments and controls (C). Initial (2003) higher dead fuel loadings and consequently high-severity fires in MB2 created open-canopy structure with abundant snags, resulting in much higher species richness and density of breeding birds compared to other treatments. Relative bird density and richness remained much higher in MB2 after a second burn, but few changes were evident that were not already apparent after one burn. The initial (2003) burn in B2 had cooler, low-severity fires that killed few trees. Delayed tree mortality occurred in both burn treatments after one burn, and continued in both after a second low-intensity burn. In B2, this resulted in gradual development of a ''perforated,'' patchy canopy structure with more snags. Abundance of total birds and most species in B2 was similar to C, but several additional species associated with open-forest conditions occurred at low levels, increasing richness in B2. In both burn treatments, burning temporarily reduced habitat suitability for ground-nesting birds. Bird communities in M were similar to C, as shrubs recovered rapidly. Results indicate that one or two relatively low-intensity burns with patches of hotter fire may result in gradual, subtle changes to canopy cover and structure that may slightly increase bird species richness over time. In contrast, a single high-intensity, high severity fire can create young forest conditions and a heterogeneous canopy structure that can be maintained by repeated burning and increase breeding bird relative abundance and richness by attracting disturbance-adapted species while retaining most other forest species.Published by Elsevier B.V.

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“…Fire affects resource production and access in diverse ways. In the short term, fire in savanna environments will clear the dense grass layer, allowing easier access to many resources (such as fallen seeds : Woinarski 1990) but also increasing predation risks for some species and, conversely, hunting efficiency for some predators (Oakwood 2000). Fire will affect phenology, typically reducing the production, and delaying the onset, of flowers, fruits and seeds (Setterfield 1997;Crowley and Garnett 1999;Williams et al 1999).…”

Section: Climatic Seasonality and Resource Fluctuationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Landscapes without boundaries: wildlife and their environments in northern Australia

et al. 2005

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This paper provides an introduction to the ecological fabric of northern Australia, described here as being a land characterised by extreme climatic seasonality and largely devoid of marked topographic features. Largely as a result of the latter trait, many species have extensive geographic ranges, and the spatial turnover in species composition is extremely limited. Somewhat counter-intuitively, these two traits can be accommodated by organisms only through reliance on critical, but often subtle, landscape variation. We present some preliminary models for Gouldian finch (Erythrura gouldiae) and black-footed tree-rat (Mesembriomys gouldii) to illustrate patterns of variation in their resource availability, and the consequences of such variation. We discuss briefly some studies that have attempted to integrate, or at least consider, these elements.

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Effects of fire on the bird communities of tropical woodlands and open forests in northern Australia

Abstract: Birds were censused at 24 plots which

Cited by 96 publications

References 22 publications

Managing the matrix: decadal responses of eucalypt‐dominated savanna to ambient fire regimes

Managing the matrix: decadal responses of eucalypt‐dominated savanna to ambient fire regimes

Bird response to fire severity and repeated burning in upland hardwood forest

Landscapes without boundaries: wildlife and their environments in northern Australia

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