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Ecology of Tropical Savannas pp 246–272Cite as

Fire in Australian Tropical Savannas

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Part of the book series: Ecological Studies ((ECOLSTUD,volume 42))

Abstract

Savannas have been defined in many ways. In this paper Australian tropical savannas are defined as communities in which the grass component is often predominant but in which predominance may vary between grassy and woody components. The grassy-woody status is determined not only by static landscape factors, but also by the dynamic interactions of fire-grazing intensities and by fluctuations in climate, particularly rainfall. The tropical savannas are well represented north of the tropic of Capricorn but, particularly in eastern Australia, may have significant continuous southward extensions. The hummock and tussock grasslands which occupy large areas of the essentially desert interior of Australia are not considered in this chapter.

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Authors
  1. C. J. Lacey
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  2. J. Walker
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  3. I. R. Noble
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. CSIR, Cooperative Scientific Programmes, P.O. Box 395, 0001, Pretoria, South Africa

    Brian J. Huntley

  2. Department of Botany and Microbiology, University of the Witwatersrand, P.O. Box 1176, 2000, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Brian H. Walker

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© 1982 Springer-Verlag Berlin · Heidelberg

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Lacey, C.J., Walker, J., Noble, I.R. (1982). Fire in Australian Tropical Savannas. In: Huntley, B.J., Walker, B.H. (eds) Ecology of Tropical Savannas. Ecological Studies, vol 42. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-68786-0_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-68786-0_12

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-68788-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-68786-0

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