Population biology of coppicing plants: survival of mallee (Eucalyptus spp.) populations exposed to contrasting fire and cutting regimes
James C. Noble A C and Peter J. Diggle BA CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia. Present address: 10–12 Tyndall Street, Mittagong, NSW 2575, Australia.
B Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YF, England, UK.
C Corresponding author. Email: jim.c.noble@gmail.com
Australian Journal of Botany 61(7) 552-557 https://doi.org/10.1071/BT13141
Submitted: 23 May 2013 Accepted: 18 November 2013 Published: 11 February 2014
Abstract
We examined data obtained from two experiments running concurrently over an 8-year period, designed to investigate the survival of mallee eucalypts exposed to various decapitation treatments applied by either fire or axe at contrasting frequencies. Annual autumn decapitation, with or without combined spring decapitation, gave the most rapid rates of depletion. The estimated half-life, i.e. time to 50% mortality, ranged from 278 days when both autumn and spring fires were applied annually, up to 3366 days when plants were cut by axe every fourth autumn. These were followed in turn by autumn decapitation every second year, then spring annually and autumn every third year and finally autumn decapitation imposed every fourth year. With the marginal exception of one treatment (burnt every third autumn), the estimated rates of depletion were greater for the burning treatments than for their cutting counterparts. The ranking of the six treatments by estimated rates of depletion was the same in both the fire and cutting trials. Prescribed fire is a powerful and cost-effective management tool for manipulating semiarid woodlands in temperate Australia. In addition to reducing grass and litter fuel, prescribed fire has the potential to promote herbage production for domestic livestock. We provide clear evidence based on field experiments that a management strategy based on relatively frequent fires applied in the autumn will significantly reduce mallee density, thereby promoting herbage productivity.
Additional keywords: Australia, decapitation treatments, fire-tolerant shrubs, generalised linear model methodology, lignotillers, lignotubers, multi-stemmed coppices, Weibull model.
References
Aspinall D (1963) The control of tillering in the barley plant. 2. The control of tiller-bud growth during ear development. Australian Journal of Biological Sciences 16, 285–304.Beadle NCW (1968) Some aspects of the ecology and physiology of Australian xeromorphic plants. Australian Journal of Science 30, 348–355.
Beeston GR, Webb AA (1977) ‘The ecology and control of Eremophila mitchellii.’ Technical Bulletin No. 2. (Queensland Department of Primary Industries: Brisbane)
Blake TJ, Carrodus BB (1970) Studies on the lignotubers of Eucalyptus obliqua L’Heri. II. Endogenous inhibitor levels correlated with apical dominance. New Phytologist 69, 1073–1079.
| Studies on the lignotubers of Eucalyptus obliqua L’Heri. II. Endogenous inhibitor levels correlated with apical dominance.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DyaE3MXktFegsg%3D%3D&md5=ebe00b34ee14d43109e2295a0ba42d83CAS |
Burrows GE (2000) An anatomical study of epicormic bud strand structure in Eucalyptus cladocalyx (Myrtaceae). Australian Journal of Botany 48, 233–245.
| An anatomical study of epicormic bud strand structure in Eucalyptus cladocalyx (Myrtaceae).Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Chattaway MM (1958) Bud development and lignotuber formation in eucalypts. Australian Journal of Botany 6, 103–115.
| Bud development and lignotuber formation in eucalypts.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Cremer KW (1972) Morphology and development of the primary and accessory buds of Eucalyptus regnans. Australian Journal of Botany 20, 175–195.
| Morphology and development of the primary and accessory buds of Eucalyptus regnans.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Ford-Robertson FC (1977) ‘Terminology of forest science technology practice and products.’ (American Society of Foresters: Bethesda, MD)
Gill AM (1975) Fire and the Australian flora: a review. Australian Forestry 38, 4–25.
| Fire and the Australian flora: a review.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Gill AM (1977) Management of fire-prone vegetation for plant species conservation in Australia. Search 8, 20–26.
Gimingham CH (1972) ‘Ecology of heathlands.’ (Chapman & Hall: London)
Harper JL (1977) ‘Population biology of plants.’ (Academic Press: London)
Hill KD (1989) Mallee eucalypt communities: their classification and biogeography. In ‘Mediterranean landscapes in Australia: mallee ecosystems and their management’. (Eds JC Noble, RA Bradstock) pp. 93–108. (CSIRO: Melbourne)
James S (1984) Lignotubers and burls: their structure, function and ecological significance in Mediterranean ecosystems. Botanical Review 50, 225–266.
| Lignotubers and burls: their structure, function and ecological significance in Mediterranean ecosystems.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Kays S, Harper JL (1974) The regulation of plant and tiller density in a grass sward. Journal of Ecology 62, 97–105.
| The regulation of plant and tiller density in a grass sward.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Ladiges PY, Ashton DH (1974) Variation in some central Victorian populations of Eucalyptus viminalis Labill. Australian Journal of Botany 22, 81–102.
| Variation in some central Victorian populations of Eucalyptus viminalis Labill.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
McCullagh P, Nelder JA (1989) ‘Generalised linear models.’ 2nd edn. (Chapman & Hall: London)
McKinnell FH (1982) ‘Forestry terminology in Western Australia.’ (Forests Department of Western Australia: Perth)
Mullette KJ (1978) Studies of the lignotubers of Eucalyptus gummifera (Gaertn & Hochr.). I. The nature of the lignotuber. Australian Journal of Botany 26, 9–13.
| Studies of the lignotubers of Eucalyptus gummifera (Gaertn & Hochr.). I. The nature of the lignotuber.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
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’. (Eds WR Barker, PJM Greenslade) pp. 153–159. (Peacock Publications: Adelaide)
Noble JC (1984) Mallee. In ‘Management of Australia’s rangelands’. (Eds GN Harrington, AD Wilson, MD Young) pp. 223–240. (CSIRO: Melbourne)
Noble JC (1989a) Fire regimes and their influence on herbage and mallee coppice dynamics. In ‘Mediterranean landscapes in Australia: mallee ecosystems and their management’. (Eds JC Noble, RA Bradstock) pp. 168–180. (CSIRO: Melbourne)
Noble JC (1989b) Fire studies in mallee (Eucalyptus spp.) communities of western New South Wales: the effects of fires applied in different seasons on herbage productivity and their implications for management. Australian Journal of Ecology 14, 169–187.
| Fire studies in mallee (Eucalyptus spp.) communities of western New South Wales: the effects of fires applied in different seasons on herbage productivity and their implications for management.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Noble JC (1997) ‘The delicate and noxious scrub.’ (CSIRO Wildlife and Ecology: Canberra)
Noble JC (2001) Lignotubers and meristem dependence in mallee (Eucalyptus spp.) coppicing after fire. Australian Journal of Botany 49, 31–41.
| Lignotubers and meristem dependence in mallee (Eucalyptus spp.) coppicing after fire.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Noble JC, Kimber RG (1997) On the ethno-ecology of mallee root-water. Aboriginal History 21, 170–202.
Noble JC, Bell AD, Harper JL (1979) The population biology of plants with clonal growth. I. The morphology and structural demography of Carex arenaria. Journal of Ecology 67, 983–1008.
| The population biology of plants with clonal growth. I. The morphology and structural demography of Carex arenaria.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Noble JC, Smith AW, Leslie HW (1980) Fire in the mallee shrublands of western New South Wales. Australian Rangeland Journal 2, 104–114.
| Fire in the mallee shrublands of western New South Wales.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Packham DR (1971) Heat transfer above a small ground fire. Australian Forest Research 5, 19–24.
Palacio S, Maestro M, Montseratt-Martin G (2007) Relationship between shoot-rooting and root-sprouting abilities and the carbohydrate and nitrogen reserves of Mediterranean dwarf shrubs. Annals of Botany 100, 865–874.
| Relationship between shoot-rooting and root-sprouting abilities and the carbohydrate and nitrogen reserves of Mediterranean dwarf shrubs.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BD2sXhtlyhs7nM&md5=9b9a5c36ccfd6a8a71d6f5b4eca8934cCAS | 17728338PubMed |
Paton DM (1978) Eucalyptus physiology. 1. Photoperiodic responses. Australian Journal of Botany 26, 633–642.
| Eucalyptus physiology. 1. Photoperiodic responses.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Pianka ER (1974) ‘Evolutionary ecology.’ (Harper & Row: New York)
Wildy DT, Pate JS (2002) Quantifying above-and below-ground growth responses of the Western Australian oil mallee, Eucalyptus kochii subsp. plenissima, to contrasting decapitation regimes. Annals of Botany 90, 185–197.
| Quantifying above-and below-ground growth responses of the Western Australian oil mallee, Eucalyptus kochii subsp. plenissima, to contrasting decapitation regimes.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 12197516PubMed |
