Are long-unburnt eucalypt forest patches important for the conservation of plant species diversity?

Abstract

Question: Are long-unburnt patches of eucalypt forest important for maintaining floristic diversity? Location: Eucalyptus forests of southeastern New South Wales, Australia. Methods: Data from 976 sites representing a range of fire history from three major vegetation formations - shrubby dry sclerophyll forest (SF), grassy dry SF and wet SF - were analysed. Generalized linear models were used to examine changes in species richness with increasing time since wildfire and analysis of similarities to examine changes in community composition. Chi-squared tests were conducted to examine the distribution of individual species across four time since fire categories. Results: Plant species relations..