Size/age distribution and vegetative recovery of Eucalyptus niphophila (snowgum, Myrtaceae) one year after fire in Kosciuszko National Park
Catherine Marina Pickering A B and Kristy Barry AA School of Environmental and Applied Sciences, Griffith University, PMB 50, Gold Coast Mail Centre, Qld 9726, Australia.
B Corresponding author. Email: c.pickering@griffith.edu.au
Australian Journal of Botany 53(6) 517-527 https://doi.org/10.1071/BT04117
Submitted: 11 August 2004 Accepted: 26 May 2005 Published: 30 September 2005
Abstract
Size/age distribution and vegetative regeneration were examined for 50 Eucalyptus niphophila Maiden & Blakely trees in each of eight subalpine sites in Kosciuszko National Park 1 year after the January–February 2003 bushfires. Trees sampled were generally large and mature, with an average of 2.5 trunks, lignotuber diameter of 54 cm and largest trunk diameter of 18 cm, with a few larger trees at all sites. Converting the girth of largest trunk into rough age estimates by using an existing regression formula gave an approximate minimum (~29 years), maximum (~186 years), median (~58 years) and average age of ~64 years (error of ~15 years). For trees with trunks after fire, 96.5% had lost all existing leaves. Nearly all trees (95%) had shoots from the lignotuber, but only 4.25% of trees had also epicormic shoots on trunks and stems. Size/age were related to some but not all measures of regeneration. In the future, existing trunks could senesce, with nearly all regrowth from the lignotubers. This could result in a change from open woodlands with large/old trees with a few trunks to closed woodlands of lower-growing trees with a mallee form.
Acknowledgments
We thank New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service for access to the field sites. The authors also thank Mr Brian Smith for assistance in the field, Mr Michael Arthur for statistical advice and Wendy Hill, Roger Good, Dane Wimbush and Alex Costin for commenting on a draft of this manuscript. The comments of two anonymous reviewers are also appreciated.
Ashton, DH ,
and
Williams, RJ (1989). Dynamics of the subalpine vegetation in the Victorian Region. In ‘The scientific significance of the Australian Alps’. pp. 143–168. (Australian Academy of Sciences: Canberra)
Banks JCG
(1982) The use of dendrochronology in the interpretation of the dynamics of the snow gum forest. PhD Thesis
(Australian National University:
Canberra)
[Cited by Cary 2002]
Barker S
(1988) Population structure of snow gum (Eucalyptus pauciflora Sieb. Ex Spreng.) subalpine woodland in Kosciusko National Park. Australian Journal of Botany 36, 483–501.
Barker, S (1989). Snow gum woodland: past, present and future. In ‘The scientific significance of the Australian Alps’. pp. 359–369. (Australian Academy of Sciences: Canberra)
Bellingham PJ, Sparrow AD
(2000) Resprouting as a life history strategy in woody plant communities. Oikos 89, 409–416.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Bond WJ, Midgley JJ
(2001) Ecology of sprouting in woody plants: the persistence niche. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 16, 45–51.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Bond WJ, Midgley JJ
(2003) The evolutionary ecology of sprouting in woody plants. International Journal of Plant Sciences 164, S103–S114.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Bryant WG
(1969) Vegetation and ground cover trends following the exclusion of stock at three sites in the Snowy Mountains, NSW. Journal of Soil Conservation NSW 25, 183–198.
Bryant WG
(1971) Grazing, burning and regeneration of tree seedlings in Eucalyptus pauciflora woodlands. Journal of Soil Conservation NSW 27, 121–134.
Burrows GE
(2002) Epicormic strand structure in Angophora, Eucalyptus and Lophostemon (Myrtaceae)—implications for fire resistance and recovery. New Phylologist 153, 111–131.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Costin, A ,
Wimbush, D ,
and
Kirkpatrick, J (2004). Flora values. In ‘An assessment of the values of Kosciuszko National Park’. pp. 55–72. (NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service: Queanbeyan, ACT)
Cary, GJ (2002). Importance of a changing climate for fire regimes in Australia. In ‘Flammable Australia, the fire regimes and biodiversity of a continent’. pp. 26–46. (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK)
Carey, A ,
Evans, M ,
Hann, P ,
Lintermans, M ,
MacDonald, T ,
Ormay, P ,
Sharp, S ,
Shorthouse, D ,
and
Webb, N (2003).
Gill, AM (1997). Eucalypts and fire: interdependent or independent. In ‘Eucalypt ecology: individuals to ecosystems’. pp. 151–167. (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK)
Good RB
(1982) The effects of prescribed burning in the subalpine area of Kosciuszko National Park. MSc Thesis
(University of NSW:
Sydney)
Good, RB (1989). Fire management in the Australian Alps. In ‘Scientific significance of the Australian Alps’. pp. 452–477. (Australian Alps Liaison Committee: Canberra)
Good, RB (1992).
Hill, KD (1989). Mallee eucalypt communities: their classification and biogeography. In ‘Mediterranean landscapes in Australia. Mallee ecosystems and their management’. pp. 96–108. (CSIRO: Melbourne)
Hughes L
(2003) Climate change and Australia: trends, projections and impacts. Austral Ecology 28, 423–443.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Leaver, B (2004). Fire values. In ‘An assessment of the values of Kosciuszko National Park’. pp. 117–128. (NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service: Queanbeyan, ACT)
NPWS (2004).
Noble, JC (1982). The significance of fire in the biology and evolutionary ecology of mallee Eucalyptus populations. In ‘Evolution of the flora and fauna of arid Australia’. pp. 153–159. (Peacock Publications: Adelaide)
Noble JC
(2001) Lignotubers and meristem dependence in mallee (Eucalyptus spp.) coppicing after fire. Australian Journal of Botany 49, 31–41.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Pickering, CM ,
Good, R ,
and
Green, K (2004).
Sparrow AD, Bellingham PJ
(2001) More to resprouting than fire. Oikos 94, 195–208.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Wahren CHA,
Papst WA, Williams RJ
(2001) Early post-fire regeneration in subalpine heath land and grassland in the Victorian Alpine National Park, south-eastern Australia. Austral Ecology 26, 670–679.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Wardell-Johnson GW
(2000) Responses of forest eucalypts to moderate and high intensity fire in the Tingle Moasic, south-western Australia: comparisons between locally endemic and regionally distributed species. Austral Ecology 25, 409–421.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Williams, RJ ,
and
Costin, AB (1994). Alpine and subalpine vegetation. In ‘Australian vegetation’. pp. 467–500. (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK)
Wildy DT, Pate JS
(2002) Quantifying above- and below-ground growth responses of the western oil mallee, Eucalyptus kochii subsp. plenissima, to contrasting decapitation regimes. Annals of Botany 90, 185–197.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
Wimbush DJ, Costin AB
(1979) Trends in vegetation at Kosciusko. I. Grazing trails in the subalpine zone, 1957–1971. Australian Journal of Botany 27, 741–787.
Wimbush DJ, Forrester RI
(1988) Effects of rabbit grazing and fire on a subalpine environment. II. Tree vegetation. Australian Journal of Botany 36, 287–298.
Vesk PA, Westoby M
(2004a) Sprouting ability across diverse disturbances and vegetation types worldwide. Journal of Ecology 92, 310–320.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Vesk PA, Westoby M
(2004b) Funding the bud bank: a review of the costs of buds. Oikos 106, 200–208.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
