Journal article
The influence of unburnt patches and distance from refuges on post-fire bird communities
SJ Watson, RS Taylor, DG Nimmo, LT Kelly, MF Clarke, AF Bennett
Animal Conservation | Published : 2012
Abstract
Predicting the response of faunal communities to fire presents a challenge for land managers worldwide because the post-fire responses of species may vary between locations and fire events. Post-fire recovery can occur via nucleated recovery from in situ surviving populations or by colonization from ex situ populations. Fine-scale spatial patterns in the patchiness of fires and the proximity of burnt sites to source populations may contribute to both the variability in post-fire responses and the processes by which populations recover. We examined the avifauna at recently burnt sites within extensive semi-arid shrublands of south-eastern Australia, including 72 sites 27 years since fire) and..
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Funding Acknowledgements
This research was conducted as part of the Mallee Fire and Biodiversity project. Funding and support for this project was provided by Land and Water Australia, Department for Environment and Heritage (SA), Parks Victoria, Department of Sustainability and Environment (Vic.), Mallee Catchment Management Authority (Vic.), NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, Department of Environment and Climate Change (NSW), Lower Murray-Darling Catchment Management Authority (NSW), Natural Heritage Trust, Birds Australia, Australian Wildlife Conservancy and the Murray Mallee Partnership. We are also greatly appreciative to the Doyle and Barnes families for allowing us access to Petro and Lethero Stations, respectively, and to Jane Elith who provided advice on statistical analyses. Lluis Brotons, Allan Burbidge and Jack Baker provided comments on an earlier version of this manuscript.