Journal article
Landscape-scale effects of fire on bird assemblages: Does pyrodiversity beget biodiversity?
RS Taylor, SJ Watson, DG Nimmo, LT Kelly, AF Bennett, MF Clarke
Diversity and Distributions | Published : 2012
Abstract
Aim A common strategy for conserving biodiversity in fire-prone environments is to maintain a diversity of post-fire age classes at the landscape scale, under the assumption that 'pyrodiversity begets biodiversity'. Another strategy is to maintain extensive areas of a particular seral state regarded as vital for the persistence of threatened species, under the assumption that this will also cater for the habitat needs of other species. We investigated the likely effects of these strategies on bird assemblages in tree mallee vegetation, characterized by multi-stemmed Eucalyptus species, where both strategies are currently employed. Location The semi-arid Murray Mallee region of south-eastern ..
View full abstractGrants
Funding Acknowledgements
We are grateful for funding and support from: Parks Victoria, Department of Sustainability and Environment, Mallee Catchment Management Authority, NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, Department of Environment and Climate Change, Lower Murray Darling Catchment Management Authority, Department for Environment and Heritage, Land and Water Australia, Natural Heritage Trust, Birds Australia, Australian Wildlife Conservancy and the Murray Mallee Partnership. We thank the Doyle and Barnes families for providing access to private reserves on Petro and Lethero Stations, respectively. We thank Chris Maplestone for helping to prepare figures. Finally, we thank John Woinarski, whose insightful comments and criticisms substantially improved the manuscript.