Interactions between rainfall, fire and herbivory drive resprouter vital rates in a semi-arid ecosystem

Abstract

Global change is threatening ecosystems and biodiversity world-wide, creating a pressing need to understand how climate and disturbance regimes interact and influence the persistence of species. We quantify how three ecosystem drivers – rainfall, fire and herbivory – influence vital rates in the perennial resprouting graminoid, Triodia scariosa, a foundation species of semi-arid Australia. We used an 11-year dataset from a fire and herbivore exclosure experiment, to model flowering, post-fire recruitment and the post-fire survival of seedlings and resprouting plants. Regression modelling quantified the effect of rainfall, inter-fire interval, fire type (wildfire or prescribed fire), grazing ..