Do habitat fragmentation and fire influence variation of plant species composition, structure and diversity within three regional ecosystems on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia?

Rohan Etherington; Alison Shapcott

doi:10.1071/BT13232

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Do habitat fragmentation and fire influence variation of plant species composition, structure and diversity within three regional ecosystems on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia?

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Do habitat fragmentation and fire influence variation of plant species composition, structure and diversity within three regional ecosystems on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia?

Rohan Etherington and Alison Shapcott

Australian Journal of Botany, Vol.62, pp.36-47

2014

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1071/BT13232

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Abstract

diversity

functional groups

fire

isolation

open forest

patch size

rainforest

Habitat fragmentation is considered to be one of the greatest threats to biodiversity. Species richness is predicted to decrease with decreasing patch size and increasing isolation, and this has been shown in some ecosystems. However, few studies have specifically investigated the effects of fragmentation on specific vegetation types, or compared different vegetation types within the same region. In this study, we assessed the influence of habitat fragmentation and time since fire on the floristic composition, structure and diversity of three ecosystems with varying fire proneness within the Sunshine Coast region. This study found that the tall-open forest ecosystem (RE 12.9-10.14) had higher overall species richness within fixed sample areas used for this study than did either open forest (RE 12.5.3) or gallery rainforest (RE 12.3.1), because it was composed of species typical of each of these ecosystem types. Open forest species richness was found mostly in the lower stratum, whereas gallery rainforest diversity was found in the upper stratum. Species richness decreased with increasing isolation in the open forest ecosystem where seeds are mostly abiotically dispersed. However, this study did not find strong evidence for reduced species richness within smaller patches in any ecosystem type studied; instead, finding species richness decreased with increasing patch size in the open forest ecosystem. Overall, across ecosystems, time since fire affected vegetation structure, but in fire-prone ecosystems, time since fire was not a determinant of species richness within the sites studied.

Details

Title: Do habitat fragmentation and fire influence variation of plant species composition, structure and diversity within three regional ecosystems on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia?
Authors: Rohan Etherington (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering
Alison Shapcott (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering
Publication details: Australian Journal of Botany, Vol.62, pp.36-47
Publisher: C S I R O Publishing
Date published: 2014
DOI: 10.1071/BT13232
ISSN: 0067-1924
Organisation Unit: School of Science and Engineering - Legacy; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Science, Technology and Engineering; Centre for Bioinnovation
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99448968702621
Output Type: Journal article

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