Journal article
The Mallee fire and biodiversity project
Simon J Watson, Rick S Taylor, Lisa Spence-Bailey, Dale G Nimmo, Sally Kenny, Luke T Kelly, Angie Haslem, Peter Griffioen, Kate Callister, Lauren Brown, Sarah Avitabile, Andrew F Bennett, Michael F Clarke
Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria | CSIRO Publishing | Published : 2012
DOI: 10.1071/rs12038
Abstract
Fire is a widespread disturbance and an important ecological process in semi-arid mallee ecosystems of southern Australia. Understanding the effects of fire on plants and animals is a key challenge for the conservation and management of biodiversity in this ecosystem. Commencing in 2006, the Mallee Fire and Biodiversity Project is investigating the effects of fire on a range of taxa (vascular plants, invertebrates, reptiles, birds and mammals), with a focus on the influence of the properties of ‘fire mosaics’ on biota. A ‘whole of landscape’ design was employed, in which the flora and fauna were sampled in 28 study landscapes, each 4 km in diameter (12.5 km2) across a 104, 000 km2 area of th..
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