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Type: Journal Article
Author(s): Jennifer K. Styger; James B. Kirkpatrick; Jon B. Marsden-Smedley; Steven W. J. Leonard
Publication Date: 2011

The regeneration of plants post-fire has widely been shown to be attractive to vertebrate herbivores. However, there are few data relevant to the effect of fire size on herbivore densities. In dry eucalypt forest in one region and hummock sedgeland in another region, we used timed scat counts to test the effect of fire and fire size on Tasmanian macropod densities 6 months after burning. We also tested whether soil characteristics and the nature of ground cover related to the degree of attractiveness of post-burn regeneration. Soil nutrients and higher covers of grasses and herbs in ground layer vegetation were associated with higher macropod densities. In dry eucalypt forest, fire incidence and fire size did not affect macropod density, while in hummock sedgeland, fire had a positive effect on macropod density, but fire size had no effect.

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Citation: Styger, Jennifer K.; Kirkpatrick, James B.; Marsden-Smedley, J. O. N.; Leonard, Steven W. J. 2011. Fire incidence, but not fire size, affects macropod densities. Austral Ecology 36(6):679-686.

Cataloging Information

Regions:
Keywords:
  • Australia
  • cover
  • fertility
  • fertility
  • fire
  • fire frequency
  • fire management
  • fire size
  • grasses
  • grassland
  • grazing
  • macropod
  • marsupials
  • population density
  • post-fire recovery
  • pyric herbivory
  • regeneration
  • Tasmania
  • wildfires
  • wildlife habitat management
Tall Timbers Record Number: 26702Location Status: Not in fileCall Number: Not in FileAbstract Status: Okay, Fair use, Reproduced by permission
Record Last Modified:
Record Maintained By: FRAMES Staff (https://www.frames.gov/contact)
FRAMES Record Number: 18052

This bibliographic record was either created or modified by Tall Timbers and is provided without charge to promote research and education in Fire Ecology. The E.V. Komarek Fire Ecology Database is the intellectual property of Tall Timbers.