Journal article
Without management interventions, endemic wet‐sclerophyll forest is transitioning to rainforest in World Heritage listed K’gari (Fraser Island), Australia
Ecology and Evolution, Vol.9(3), pp.1378-1393
2019
Abstract
Wet-sclerophyll forests are unique ecosystems that can transition to dry-sclerophyll forests or to rainforests. Understanding of the dynamics of these forests for conser-vation is limited. We evaluated the long-term succession of wet-sclerophyll forest on World Heritage listed K'gari (Fraser Island)-the world's largest sand island. We re-corded the presence and growth of tree species in three 0.4 hectare plots that had been subjected to selective logging, fire, and cyclone disturbance over 65 years, from 1952 to 2017. Irrespective of disturbance regimes, which varied between plots, rain-forest trees recruited at much faster rates than the dominant wet-sclerophyll forest trees, narrowly endemic species Syncarpia hillii and more common Lophostemon con-fertus. Syncarpia hillii did not recruit at the plot with the least disturbance and re-cruited only in low numbers at plots with more prominent disturbance regimes in the ≥10 cm at breast height size. Lophostemon confertus recruited at all plots but in much lower numbers than rainforest trees. Only five L. confertus were detected in the smallest size class (<10 cm diameter) in the 2017 survey. Overall, we find evidence that more pronounced disturbance regimes than those that have occurred over the past 65 years may be required to conserve this wet-sclerophyll forest, as without in- tervention, transition to rainforest is a likely trajectory. Fire and other management tools should therefore be explored, in collaboration with Indigenous landowners, to ensure conservation of this wet-sclerophyll forest.
Details
- Title
- Without management interventions, endemic wet‐sclerophyll forest is transitioning to rainforest in World Heritage listed K’gari (Fraser Island), Australia
- Authors
- Vithya Krishnan (Author) - The University of QueenslandNicole Robinson (Author) - The University of QueenslandJennifer Firn (Author) - Queensland University of TechnologyGrahame B Applegate (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, QueenslandJohn L Herbohn (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, QueenslandSusanne Schmidt (Author) - The University of Queensland
- Publication details
- Ecology and Evolution, Vol.9(3), pp.1378-1393
- Publisher
- John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
- Date published
- 2019
- DOI
- 10.1002/ece3.4853
- ISSN
- 2045-7758
- Copyright note
- Copyright © 2019 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
- Organisation Unit
- Australian Centre for Pacific Islands Research; Tropical Forests and People Research Centre; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; Forest Industries Research Centre; Forest Research Institute
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99450795302621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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