1
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Lindenmayer DB, Bowd EJ, Gibbons P. Forest restoration in a time of fire: perspectives from tall, wet eucalypt forests subject to stand-replacing wildfires. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2023; 378:20210082. [PMID: 36373929 PMCID: PMC9661950 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0082] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2021] [Accepted: 09/30/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Wildfires have the potential to add considerably to the already significant challenge of achieving effective forest restoration in the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. While fire can sometimes promote forest restoration (e.g. by creating otherwise rare, early successional habitats), it can thwart it in others (e.g. by depleting key patch types and stand structures). Here we outline key considerations in facilitating restoration of some tall wet temperate forest ecosystems and some boreal forest ecosystems where the typical fire regime is rare high-severity stand-replacing fire. Some of these ecosystems are experiencing altered fire regimes such as increased fire extent, severity and/or frequency. Achieving good restoration outcomes in such ecosystems demands understanding fire regimes and their impacts on vegetation and other elements of biodiversity and then selecting ecosystem-appropriate management interventions. Potential actions range from doing nothing (as the ecosystem already maintains full post-fire regenerative capacity) to interventions prior to a conflagration like prescribed burning to limit the risks of high-severity fire, excluding activities that impair post-fire recovery (e.g. post-fire logging), and artificial seeding where natural regeneration fails. The most ecologically effective actions will be ecosystem-specific and context-specific and informed by knowledge of the ecosystem in question (such as plant life-history attributes) and inter-relationships with attributes like vegetation condition at the time it is burnt (e.g. young versus old forest). This article is part of the theme issue 'Understanding forest landscape restoration: reinforcing scientific foundations for the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration'.
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Affiliation(s)
- David B. Lindenmayer
- Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Elle J. Bowd
- Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Philip Gibbons
- Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
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2
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Singh A, Baker PJ, Kasel S, Trouvé R, Stewart SB, Nitschke CR. The role of climatic variability on Eucalyptus regeneration in southeastern Australia. Glob Ecol Conserv 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.gecco.2021.e01929] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
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3
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Lindenmayer D, Taylor C, Blanchard W. Empirical analyses of the factors influencing fire severity in southeastern Australia. Ecosphere 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.3721] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- David Lindenmayer
- Fenner School of Environment & Society The Australian National University Canberra Australian Capital Territory 2601 Australia
| | - Chris Taylor
- Fenner School of Environment & Society The Australian National University Canberra Australian Capital Territory 2601 Australia
| | - Wade Blanchard
- Fenner School of Environment & Society The Australian National University Canberra Australian Capital Territory 2601 Australia
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4
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Gale MG, Cary GJ. Stand boundary effects on obligate seeding
Eucalyptus delegatensis
regeneration and fuel dynamics following high and low severity fire: Implications for species resilience to recurrent fire. AUSTRAL ECOL 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/aec.13024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Matthew G. Gale
- Fenner School of Environment & Society The Australian National University Canberra Australian Capital Territory2600Australia
| | - Geoffrey J. Cary
- Fenner School of Environment & Society The Australian National University Canberra Australian Capital Territory2600Australia
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5
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Lindenmayer D, Bowd E, McBurney L. Long-Term Empirical Studies Highlight Multiple Drivers of Temporal Change in Bird Fauna in the Wet Forests of Victoria, South-Eastern Australia. Front Ecol Evol 2021. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2021.610147] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Birds are high profile elements of the vertebrate biota in almost all terrestrial ecosystems worldwide. Many studies have uncovered evidence of a decline in bird biodiversity, but temporal patterns of change vary among ecosystems and among bird species with different life history traits. Ecosystem-specific, long-term studies are critical for identifying patterns of temporal change in bird biodiversity and the drivers of that change. Here we present a case study of drivers of temporal change in the bird fauna of the Mountain Ash and Alpine Ash eucalypt forests of south-eastern Australia. Using insights from observational studies and experiments conducted over the past 18 years, we discuss the direct and interactive effects of fire and logging on birds. The extent and severity of wildfires have major negative effects on almost all bird species, and have persisted for more than a decade after the last major conflagration (in 2009). Logging has markedly different effects on birds than those quantified for fire, and may have resulted in elevated levels of site occupancy in remaining uncut areas in the landscape. Both fire and logging have led to marked losses in the extent of old growth forest in Mountain Ash and Alpine Ash ecosystems. This is a concern given the strong association of most species of birds with old forest relative to younger age cohorts. Based on an understanding of the effects of fire and logging as drivers of change, we propose a series of inter-related management actions designed to enhance the conservation of avifauna in Mountain Ash and Alpine Ash ecosystems. A particular focus of management must be on increasing the interval between fires and limiting the spatial extent of wildfires and, in turn, significantly expanding the extent of old growth forest. This is because old growth forest is where most bird species are most likely to occur, and in the event of future wildfires, where fire severity will be lowest. Expansion of the old growth estate will require commercial logging operations to be excluded from large parts of Mountain Ash and Alpine Ash forests.
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6
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MacGregor CI, Blanchard W, Stein JA, Lindenmayer DB. Factors influencing the occurrence of the Southern Long‐nosed Bandicoot (
Perameles nasuta
Geoffroy) during a population irruption and decline. AUSTRAL ECOL 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/aec.12930] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Christopher I. MacGregor
- Fenner School of Environment and Society The Australian National University Canberra Australian Capital Territory2601 Australia
- Threatened Species Recovery Hub National Environmental Science Program Fenner School of Environment and Society The Australian National University Canberra Australian Capital Territory2601 Australia
| | - Wade Blanchard
- Fenner School of Environment and Society The Australian National University Canberra Australian Capital Territory2601 Australia
| | - John A. Stein
- Fenner School of Environment and Society The Australian National University Canberra Australian Capital Territory2601 Australia
| | - David B. Lindenmayer
- Fenner School of Environment and Society The Australian National University Canberra Australian Capital Territory2601 Australia
- Threatened Species Recovery Hub National Environmental Science Program Fenner School of Environment and Society The Australian National University Canberra Australian Capital Territory2601 Australia
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7
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Lindenmayer DB, Foster CN, Westgate MJ, Scheele BC, Blanchard W. Managing interacting disturbances: Lessons from a case study in Australian forests. J Appl Ecol 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.13696] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- David B. Lindenmayer
- Fenner School of Environment and Society The Australian National University Canberra ACT Australia
- Threatened Species Recovery Hub National Environmental Science ProgramFenner School of Environment and SocietyThe Australian National University Canberra ACT Australia
| | - Claire N. Foster
- Fenner School of Environment and Society The Australian National University Canberra ACT Australia
| | - Martin J. Westgate
- Fenner School of Environment and Society The Australian National University Canberra ACT Australia
| | - Ben C. Scheele
- Fenner School of Environment and Society The Australian National University Canberra ACT Australia
- Threatened Species Recovery Hub National Environmental Science ProgramFenner School of Environment and SocietyThe Australian National University Canberra ACT Australia
| | - Wade Blanchard
- Fenner School of Environment and Society The Australian National University Canberra ACT Australia
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8
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von Takach Dukai B, Peakall R, Lindenmayer DB, Banks SC. The influence of fire and silvicultural practices on the landscape-scale genetic structure of an Australian foundation tree species. CONSERV GENET 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/s10592-019-01245-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
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9
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Hidden collapse is driven by fire and logging in a socioecological forest ecosystem. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2018; 115:5181-5186. [PMID: 29712832 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1721738115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Increasing numbers of ecosystems globally are at risk of collapse. However, most descriptions of terrestrial ecosystem collapse are post hoc with few empirically based examples of ecosystems in the process of collapse. This limits learning about collapse and impedes development of effective early-warning indicators. Based on multidecadal and multifaceted monitoring, we present evidence that the Australian mainland Mountain Ash ecosystem is collapsing. Collapse is indicated by marked changes in ecosystem condition, particularly the rapid decline in populations of keystone ecosystem structures. There also has been significant decline in biodiversity strongly associated with these structures and disruptions of key ecosystem processes. In documenting the decline of the Mountain Ash ecosystem, we uncovered evidence of hidden collapse. This is where an ecosystem superficially appears to be relatively intact, but a prolonged period of decline coupled with long lag times for recovery of dominant ecosystem components mean that collapse is almost inevitable. In ecosystems susceptible to hidden collapse, management interventions will be required decades earlier than currently perceived by policy makers. Responding to hidden collapse is further complicated by our finding that different drivers produce different pathways to collapse, but these drivers can interact in ways that exacerbate and perpetuate collapse. Management must focus not only on reducing the number of critical stressors influencing an ecosystem but also on breaking feedbacks between stressors. We demonstrate the importance of multidecadal monitoring programs in measuring state variables that can inform quantitative predictions of collapse as well as help identify management responses that can avert system-wide collapse.
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10
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Tulloch AIT, McDonald J, Cosier P, Sbrocchi C, Stein J, Lindenmayer D, Possingham HP. Using ideal distributions of the time since habitat was disturbed to build metrics for evaluating landscape condition. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2018; 28:709-720. [PMID: 29490122 DOI: 10.1002/eap.1676] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2017] [Revised: 09/01/2017] [Accepted: 11/03/2017] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Developing a standardized approach to measuring the state of biodiversity in landscapes undergoing disturbance is crucial for evaluating and comparing change across different systems, assessing ecosystem vulnerability and the impacts of destructive activities, and helping direct species recovery actions. Existing ecosystem metrics of condition fail to acknowledge that a particular community could be in multiple states, and the distribution of states could worsen or improve when impacted by a disturbance process, depending on how far the current landscape distribution of states diverges from pre-anthropogenic impact baseline conditions. We propose a way of rapidly assessing regional-scale condition in ecosystems where the distribution of age classes representing increasing time since last disturbance is suspected to have diverged from an ideal benchmark reference distribution. We develop two metrics that (1) compare the observed mean time since last disturbance with an expected mean and (2) quantify the summed shortfall of vegetation age-class frequencies relative to a reference age-class distribution of time since last disturbance. We demonstrate the condition metrics using two case studies: (1) fire in threatened southwestern Australian proteaceaous mallee-heath and (2) impacts of disturbance (fire and logging) in the critically endangered southeastern Australian mountain ash Eucalyptus regnans forest on the yellow-bellied glider Petaurus australis. We explore the effects of uncertainty in benchmark time since last disturbance, and evaluate metric sensitivity using simulated age-class distributions representing alternative ecosystems. By accounting for and penalizing too-frequent and too-rare disturbances, the summed shortfall metric is more sensitive to change than mean time since last disturbance. We find that mountain ash forest is in much poorer condition (summed shortfall 38.5 out of 100 for a 120-yr benchmark disturbance interval) than indicated merely by loss of extent (84% of vegetation remaining). Proteaceaous mallee-heath is in worse condition than indicated by loss of extent for an upper benchmark interval of 80 yr, but condition almost doubles for the minimum tolerable time since last disturbance interval of 20 yr. To fully describe ecosystem degradation, we recommend that our summed shortfall metric, focused on habitat quality and informed by biologically meaningful baselines, be added to existing condition measures focused on vegetation extent. This will improve evaluation of change in ecosystem states and enhance management of ecosystems in poor condition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ayesha I T Tulloch
- Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, 2601, Australia
- Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions, Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, 4072, Australia
| | - Jane McDonald
- Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions, Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, 4072, Australia
| | - Peter Cosier
- Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists, Level 4, Plaza Building, Australia Square, 95 Pitt Street, Sydney, New South Wales, 2000, Australia
| | - Carla Sbrocchi
- Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists, Level 4, Plaza Building, Australia Square, 95 Pitt Street, Sydney, New South Wales, 2000, Australia
- University of Technology Sydney, 15 Broadway, Ultimo, New South Wales, 2007, Australia
| | - John Stein
- Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, 2601, Australia
| | - David Lindenmayer
- Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, 2601, Australia
| | - Hugh P Possingham
- Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions, Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, 4072, Australia
- The Nature Conservancy, South Brisbane, Queensland, 4101, Australia
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11
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Lindenmayer DB, McBurney L, Blair D, Wood J, Banks SC. From unburnt to salvage logged: Quantifying bird responses to different levels of disturbance severity. J Appl Ecol 2018. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.13137] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- David B. Lindenmayer
- Fenner School of Environment and Society The Australian National University Canberra ACT Australia
- Long Term Ecological Research Network Fenner School of Environment and Society The Australian National University Canberra ACT Australia
| | - Lachlan McBurney
- Fenner School of Environment and Society The Australian National University Canberra ACT Australia
- Long Term Ecological Research Network Fenner School of Environment and Society The Australian National University Canberra ACT Australia
| | - David Blair
- Fenner School of Environment and Society The Australian National University Canberra ACT Australia
- Long Term Ecological Research Network Fenner School of Environment and Society The Australian National University Canberra ACT Australia
| | - Jeff Wood
- Fenner School of Environment and Society The Australian National University Canberra ACT Australia
- Long Term Ecological Research Network Fenner School of Environment and Society The Australian National University Canberra ACT Australia
| | - Sam C. Banks
- Fenner School of Environment and Society The Australian National University Canberra ACT Australia
- Long Term Ecological Research Network Fenner School of Environment and Society The Australian National University Canberra ACT Australia
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12
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Crowther MS, Tulloch AI, Letnic M, Greenville AC, Dickman CR. Interactions between wildfire and drought drive population responses of mammals in coastal woodlands. J Mammal 2018. [DOI: 10.1093/jmammal/gyy003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Mathew S Crowther
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Ayesha I Tulloch
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
- Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, The University of Queensland, Australia
| | - Mike Letnic
- Centre for Ecosystem Science, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
- School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
| | - Aaron C Greenville
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Chris R Dickman
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
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13
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Smith AL. Successional changes in trophic interactions support a mechanistic model of post-fire population dynamics. Oecologia 2017; 186:129-139. [DOI: 10.1007/s00442-017-4016-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2016] [Accepted: 11/16/2017] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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14
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Lindenmayer DB, Laurance WF. The ecology, distribution, conservation and management of large old trees. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2016; 92:1434-1458. [PMID: 27383287 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12290] [Citation(s) in RCA: 126] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2016] [Revised: 05/30/2016] [Accepted: 06/09/2016] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
Large old trees are some of the most iconic biota on earth and are integral parts of many terrestrial ecosystems including those in tropical, temperate and boreal forests, deserts, savannas, agro-ecological areas, and urban environments. In this review, we provide new insights into the ecology, function, evolution and management of large old trees through broad cross-disciplinary perspectives from literatures in plant physiology, growth and development, evolution, habitat value for fauna and flora, and conservation management. Our review reveals that the diameter, height and longevity of large old trees varies greatly on an inter-specific basis, thereby creating serious challenges in defining large old trees and demanding an ecosystem- and species-specific definition that will only rarely be readily transferable to other species or ecosystems. Such variation is also manifested by marked inter-specific differences in the key attributes of large old trees (beyond diameter and height) such as the extent of buttressing, canopy architecture, the extent of bark micro-environments and the prevalence of cavities. We found that large old trees play an extraordinary range of critical ecological roles including in hydrological regimes, nutrient cycles and numerous ecosystem processes. Large old trees strongly influence the spatial and temporal distribution and abundance of individuals of the same species and populations of numerous other plant and animal species. We suggest many key characteristics of large old trees such as extreme height, prolonged lifespans, and the presence of cavities - which confer competitive and evolutionary advantages in undisturbed environments - can render such trees highly susceptible to a range of human influences. Large old trees are vulnerable to threats ranging from droughts, fire, pests and pathogens, to logging, land clearing, landscape fragmentation and climate change. Tackling such diverse threats is challenging because they often interact and manifest in different ways in different ecosystems, demanding targeted species- or ecosystem-specific responses. We argue that novel management actions will often be required to protect existing large old trees and ensure the recruitment of new cohorts of such trees. For example, fine-scale tree-level conservation such as buffering individual stems will be required in many environments such as in agricultural areas and urban environments. Landscape-level approaches like protecting places where large old trees are most likely to occur will be needed. However, this brings challenges associated with likely changes in tree distributions associated with climate change, because long-lived trees may presently exist in places unsuitable for the development of new cohorts of the same species. Appropriate future environmental domains for a species could exist in new locations where it has never previously occurred. The future distribution and persistence of large old trees may require controversial responses including assisted migration via seed or seedling establishment in new locales. However, the effectiveness of such approaches may be limited where key ecological features of large old trees (such as cavity presence) depend on other species such as termites, fungi and bacteria. Unless other species with similar ecological roles are present to fulfil these functions, these taxa might need to be moved concurrently with the target tree species.
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Affiliation(s)
- David B Lindenmayer
- Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, 2601, Australia
| | - William F Laurance
- Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Science (TESS) & College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Cairns, 4878, Australia
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15
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Lindenmayer DB, Laurance WF. The Unique Challenges of Conserving Large Old Trees. Trends Ecol Evol 2016; 31:416-418. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2016.03.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2016] [Revised: 02/26/2016] [Accepted: 03/03/2016] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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