The Mallee fire and biodiversity project

Watson, Simon J.; Taylor, Rick S.; Spence‐Bailey, Lisa M.; Nimmo, Dale G.; Kenny, Sally A.; Kelly, Luke T.; Haslem, Angie; Griffioen, Peter; Callister, K.; Brown, Lauren; Avitabile, Sarah C.; Bennett, Andrew F.; Clarke, Michael F.

doi:10.1071/rs12038

Cited by 8 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…2011). Similar results have been obtained in two broader regional surveys: the first, conducted at 280 mallee sites between 2006 and 2008, yielded 17 individuals (Watson et al . 2012, unpublished data), and the second, conducted at 60 mallee sites between October 2007 and March 2008, coincidently also yielded 17 individuals (Val et al .…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Spatial prioritisation of survey and management efforts for a threatened pygopodid in south-western New South Wales

Waudby,

Turak,

Callister

et al. 2023

Aust. J. Zool.

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Determining species’ distributions is challenging for cryptic species that are difficult to detect using standard techniques. The mallee worm-lizard (Aprasia inaurita Kluge, 1974) is a cryptic reptile in the family Pygopodidae, listed as Endangered in New South Wales. We modelled the species’ potential distribution (Maxent) to improve understanding of the species’ distribution and surveyed potential habitat in the Scotia Mallee region (an area with suitable habitat) from 2018 to 2022, with pitfall traps and artificial refuges (terracotta roof tiles). We completed 11 587 pitfall trap-nights and 3200 tile checks over eight monitoring sessions. Over this period, we detected six vertebrate species (all lizards) using roof tiles and 40 species with pitfall traps, but no mallee worm-lizards. Evaluation of existing records of the mallee worm-lizard from NSW suggested that the state constitutes the north-eastern edge of its continental range, with the species apparently present in low numbers across a wide swathe of south-western NSW. Most records were located within or near to spinifex or porcupine grass (Triodia spp.) communities, on private land. Species distribution modelling provided outputs that are useful for spatial prioritisation of conservation efforts for the species, with region-wide maps showing that much of the Scotia Mallee study area contains potentially suitable habitat for the mallee worm-lizard. However, habitat suitability scores for individual cells in this area were low, in some instances, because of high maximum summer temperatures and soil available water capacity. We anticipate that increasing temperatures associated with climate change may further reduce the suitability of habitat in this area in the future.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Spatial prioritisation of survey and management efforts for a threatened pygopodid in south-western New South Wales

Waudby,

Turak,

Callister

et al. 2023

Aust. J. Zool.

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“…All of these resources were less abundant immediately post-fire and accumulated thereafter, and in most cases changes continued throughout the 56 year post-fire chronosequence. This reiterates findings from studies to the north of our study region (the Mallee Fire and Biodiversity Project [54]), which showed that many habitat attributes continue to change for over a century following fire [19,55]. Also consistent with those and other studies [56][57][58] was the finding that the response of habitat attributes to fire is context dependent-in this instance, different rates of recovery of habitat attributes were apparent in different vegetation types.…”

Section: Does Fire Affect Termite Habitat Resources?supporting

confidence: 90%

Testing the assumptions of the pyrodiversity begets biodiversity hypothesis for termites in semi-arid Australia

et al. 2018

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Fire shapes the composition and functioning of ecosystems globally. In many regions, fire is actively managed to create diverse patch mosaics of fire-ages under the assumption that a diversity of post-fire-age classes will provide a greater variety of habitats, thereby enabling species with differing habitat requirements to coexist, and enhancing species diversity (the pyrodiversity begets biodiversity hypothesis). However, studies provide mixed support for this hypothesis. Here, using termite communities in a semi-arid region of southeast Australia, we test four key assumptions of the pyrodiversity begets biodiversity hypothesis (i) that fire shapes vegetation structure over sufficient time frames to influence species' occurrence, (ii) that animal species are linked to resources that are themselves shaped by fire and that peak at different times since fire, (iii) that species’ probability of occurrence or abundance peaks at varying times since fire and (iv) that providing a diversity of fire-ages increases species diversity at the landscape scale. Termite species and habitat elements were sampled in 100 sites across a range of fire-ages, nested within 20 landscapes chosen to represent a gradient of low to high pyrodiversity. We used regression modelling to explore relationships between termites, habitat and fire. Fire affected two habitat elements (coarse woody debris and the cover of woody vegetation) that were associated with the probability of occurrence of three termite species and overall species richness, thus supporting the first two assumptions of the pyrodiversity hypothesis. However, this did not result in those species or species richness being affected by fire history per se. Consequently, landscapes with a low diversity of fire histories had similar numbers of termite species as landscapes with high pyrodiversity. Our work suggests that encouraging a diversity of fire-ages for enhancing termite species richness in this study region is not necessary.

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“…nov. with Triodia extends beyond the presence vs absence of hummock grass habitat mallee vegetation to a dependence on particular successional stages of development of Triodia hummocks post-fire. Bennett et al (2010) identified the species as being more common in landscapes with large amounts of Triodia Mallee vegetation, with the "time window" for greatest cover of spinifex and presence of large healthy hummocks c. 20-50 years post-fire, with a peak at 35 years (Watson et al, 2012), after which densities decline slowly. In inland southeast Australia Triodia Mallee habitat is fragmented, naturally and through clearing.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ctenophorus spinodomus sp. nov., a new species of dragon lizard (Squamata: Agamidae) from Triodia Mallee habitat of southeast Australia

Sadlier¹,

Colgan²,

Beatson³

et al. 2019

Rec. Aust. Mus.

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Research into geographic variation in the agamid lizard Ctenophorus fordi supports a pattern of regional lineage diversity identified in earlier genetic studies, and provides new information on differences in morphology diagnostic of these lineages. One of the most genetically divergent and morphologically distinctive of these lineages is that consisting of populations from Triodia Mallee habitat of the red sandplains of inland southeast Australia. Populations from this region are the sister lineage to all other "C. fordi", a suite of four genetically regionally discrete lineages distributed across the arid inland of southern Australia. They can be distinguished by a unique black "T" shaped chest pattern in adult males which, in combination with certain features of body proportions and scalation, diagnose the lineage from all other "C. fordi". On the strength of these differences we describe populations belonging to this lineage as a new species, Ctenophorus spinodomus sp. nov. This new species is highly restricted in the habitat it occupies, and its ecology tied to a reliance on the presence of Triodia hummock grass groundcover (spinifex) for shelter, foraging and social interactions. It appears to be most abundant in areas of extensive and healthy Triodia that develop 20-50 years post-burn, and as a consequence too many or too few fires can both have negative impacts on the suitability of hummock grass groundcover for this species. Mallee habitat in southeast Australia is fragmented, and large fires in the smaller isolated areas of habitat could result in loss of suitable habitat for the species, resulting in localized extinction with no opportunity for recruitment. These factors in combination with ongoing loss of habitat place the remaining populations of C. spinodomus sp. nov. at a high level of vulnerability.

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The Mallee fire and biodiversity project

Cited by 8 publications

References 21 publications

Spatial prioritisation of survey and management efforts for a threatened pygopodid in south-western New South Wales

Spatial prioritisation of survey and management efforts for a threatened pygopodid in south-western New South Wales

Testing the assumptions of the pyrodiversity begets biodiversity hypothesis for termites in semi-arid Australia

Ctenophorus spinodomus sp. nov., a new species of dragon lizard (Squamata: Agamidae) from Triodia Mallee habitat of southeast Australia

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