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Fire controls population structure in four dominant tree species in a tropical savanna
Citation
Lehmann, CER and Prior, LD and Bowman, DMJS, Fire controls population structure in four dominant tree species in a tropical savanna, Oecologia, 161, (3) pp. 505-515. ISSN 0029-8549 (2009) [Refereed Article]
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The original publication is available at www.springerlink.com
DOI: doi:10.1007/s00442-009-1395-9
Abstract
The persistence of mesic savannas has been
theorised as being dependent on disturbances that restrict
the number of juveniles growing through the sapling size
class to become Wre-tolerant trees. We analysed the population
structures of four dominant tropical savanna tree species
from 30 locations in Kakadu National Park (KNP),
northern Australia. We found that across KNP as a whole,
the population size structures of these species do not exhibit
recruitment bottlenecks. However, individual stands had
multimodal size-class distributions and mixtures of tree
species consistent with episodic and individualistic recruitment
of co-occurring tree species. Using information theory
and multimodel inference, we examined the relative importance
of Wre frequency, stand basal area and elevation
diVerence between a site and permanent water in explaining
variations in the proportion of sapling to adult stems in four
dominant tree species. This showed that the proportion of
the tree population made up of saplings was negatively
related to both Wre frequencies and stand basal area.
Overall, Wre frequency has density-dependent eVects in the
regulation of the transition of saplings to trees in this
Australian savanna, due to interactions with stem size,
regeneration strategies, growth rates and tree–tree competition.
Although stable at the regional scale, the spatiotemporal
variability of Wre can result in structural and Xoristic diversity
of savanna tree populations.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Article |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | Demography · Fire · Population dynamics · Tree–grass coexistence · Tree–tree competition |
| Research Division: | Environmental Sciences |
| Research Group: | Ecological applications |
| Research Field: | Ecosystem function |
| Objective Division: | Environmental Management |
| Objective Group: | Fresh, ground and surface water systems and management |
| Objective Field: | Assessment and management of freshwater ecosystems |
| UTAS Author: | Prior, LD (Dr Lynda Prior) |
| UTAS Author: | Bowman, DMJS (Professor David Bowman) |
| ID Code: | 61788 |
| Year Published: | 2009 |
| Web of Science® Times Cited: | 48 |
| Deposited By: | Plant Science |
| Deposited On: | 2010-03-05 |
| Last Modified: | 2011-08-30 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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