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Effects of multiple fires on tree invasion in montane grasslands

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Abstract

There is circumstantial evidence that grasslands on the Bunya Mountains were once maintained by Aboriginal burning, and with lack of fire under European management are being colonised by trees. To assess the efficacy of burning for maintaining grasslands, 119 fires were lit between 1996 and 2006. The total area of unburnt grasslands decreased by 27%, while grasslands burnt at least once decreased by 1%. The density of invading trees was recorded from fixed plots on 23 grasslands burnt between one and six times. Cassinia was virtually eliminated and the density of the Rainforest species guild slowly but continually declined. Acacia irrorata exhibited a humped response, with initial increases resulting from vegetative resprouting and gradual decline with persistent burning. Phyllodinous Acacia and Woodland trees were the least fire sensitive guilds, having stable or increased density with repeated burning. Multi-factor regression modelling detected no significant relationships between changes in woody plant density and the interval between fires, fire intensity, the initial density of large trees, an index of soil moisture, or the cumulative number of fires for any species guild. The survivorship of both Cassinia and Rainforest guilds was significantly lower with summer burning than winter burning, but a seasonal effect of burning was not evident for other guilds. The findings suggest that regardless of fire conditions, frequent burning will reduce the number of adult trees, maintain resprouts in an immature state, facilitate further fire and reduce the rate of grassland loss. Woodland species are especially resilient to fire, and burning to maintain grassy ecosystems will be most successful where the main colonisers are rainforest species and burning is conducted in summer. The findings suggest that the montane grasslands of the Bunya Mountains were maintained by anthropogenic burning and active fire management will prolong their existence.

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Acknowledgments

This project was characterised by the successful collaboration of park managers, volunteers and researchers assisting with burning and monitoring. Dave Sansom, Dave Beatty, Tim Ryan, Tony Mlynarik and Tony Parkins in particular gave their time and effort. Special thanks to Tom Daniels and the late Paddy Jerome for their support. Thanks also to Nev Ludke, Les Yann, Ray Humphreys, Wally Coleman and Dic Trousdel for sharing their local knowledge. Jiarong Li kindly rectified aerial photography.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Queensland Department of Environment and Resource Management, Queensland Herbarium, Mt. Coot-tha Rd, Toowong, Brisbane, QLD, 4066, Australia

    Russell Fairfax, Rod Fensham, Don Butler & James Holman

  2. School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia

    Rod Fensham

  3. Bunya Mountains National Park, 57 Bunya Avenue, Bunya Mountains, QLD, 4405, Australia

    Kelvin Quinn & Bernice Sigley

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  1. Russell Fairfax
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  2. Rod Fensham
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Correspondence to Rod Fensham.

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Fairfax, R., Fensham, R., Butler, D. et al. Effects of multiple fires on tree invasion in montane grasslands. Landscape Ecol 24, 1363–1373 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-009-9388-y

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