The vegetation on either side of fire boundaries in the alpine zone of Mount Wellington, Tasmania, was surveyed in 1978 and 1998. This combination of spatial and temporal sampling gave data for 16, 31, 36 and 51 years since burning. These data were used to test for convergence in vegetation characteristics through time between the areas burned in 1947 and those burned in 1962 and to determine whether lifeform is a reasonable predictor of the successional dynamics of species. While convergence largely prevailed, some lifeforms and species diverged and lifeform was generally a poor predictor of species responses. For example, size class analyses of the larger shrub species indicated a wide variety of successional responses to fire. The tall shrubs on Mt Wellington have higher percentages of tolerators and species relying on the soil seed store for postfire regeneration than physiognomically similar vegetation in more fire-prone environments. Fifty-one years after fire, there is evidence of continuing floristic and structural change in the alpine vegetation that may be partly related to recent climatic warming.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Research Division:	Biological Sciences
Research Group:	Ecology
Research Field:	Terrestrial Ecology
Objective Division:	Environment
Objective Group:	Rehabilitation of Degraded Environments
Objective Field:	Rehabilitation of Degraded Mountain and High Country Environments
UTAS Author:	Kirkpatrick, JB (Professor James Kirkpatrick)
UTAS Author:	Bridle, K (Dr Kerry Bridle)
UTAS Author:	Wild, AS (Dr Anita Wild)
ID Code:	24760
Year Published:	2002
Web of Science® Times Cited:	16
Deposited By:	Geography and Environmental Studies
Deposited On:	2002-08-01
Last Modified:	2007-10-23
Downloads:	0