Congratulations to Dr Nathan Wong

Another of my PhD students graduated this week. Congrats to Nathan Wong for getting to the end of his thesis on the role of disturbance in long-grazed Riverine Plains native grasslands. It's taken a while, but good things happen to those who wait! Nathan is currently working with the Trust for Nature, busily helping to protect the endangered grassy ecosystems of Victoria.

Ben Zeeman joins the Plant Ecology Lab

Ben Zeeman has joined my Lab as a PhD student. Here's a little about Ben and his project.

I completed Honours in the Department of Botany at La Trobe University in mid-2013. Under the supervision of John Morgan and Ian Lunt (Charles Sturt University), I examined the long-term effects of drought, fire exclusion and herbivory on temperate woodland dynamics. From this research, I've just published my first scientific paper - in the Journal of Vegetation Science.

Following honours, I gained employment as a Research Assistant at the Australian Research Centre for Urban Ecology (ARCUE). At ARCUE, I worked on the design of a long-term ecological monitoring program in Melbourne’s urban grasslands, including the development of species inventories and the establishment of permanent transects across the entire reserve system. This work, funded by the Myer Foundation, provides an opportunity to document current condition of threatened grassland reserves, but will also allow us to track vegetation change in response to management over the coming decades.

My current PhD research is again being undertaken in the Department of Botany at La Trobe University under the supervision of John Morgan. My research will follow on from my work at ARCUE, using historical data to understand the current trajectory of vegetation change in Melbourne’s grasslands. In addition, I aim to identify how to best restore and conserve urban grasslands. My project will focus on examining how re-instating disturbance regimes will affect species composition, understanding the mechanisms of exotic species invasion, understanding the challenges for species adaptation to future climate predictions, and identifying the barriers to the recovery of declining native populations. The intention of my research is to assist in the management of a critically endangered ecosystem.

 

Karina Salmon - Hons 2013/14 - Role of fire in non-Themeda grasslands

Last year I completed my Bachelor of Science (Conservation Biology and Ecology) at La Trobe University, Bundoora, Australia. I am currently undertaking Honours in the Botany Department at La Trobe University under the supervision of Dr. John Morgan.

 

I am interested in grassland ecology and the role that fire plays in these highly threatened systems, particularly its use to improve conservation outcomes.

With 35+ years of knowledge gained from fire studies in Themeda triandra grasslands, my Honours research aims to investigate the impacts of fire not only in T. triandra-dominated grasslands, but in other grassland types. The core of my research is to uncover whether fire as a positive management tool in one grassland type can be transferred to other systems, namely that of C3 grasslands which contain a different suite of plant species and have different management histories (grazing and fire suppression).  Most importantly, I aim to determine what factors influence survival of the dominant grass species (size of tussocks, grassland composition pre-fire, the number of grass tillers etc.) and assess recovery of these species post fire. Along with this, my work will also characterize fire events in these two grassland types and will contribute knowledge to the few studies that have looked at fire behaviour in grasslands in south-eastern Australia. This is inherently linked to my key question and will address whether the actual fire event, or, the individual species and composition of the grassland pre-fire determine survival post-fire. Answering these two key questions will contribute knowledge to the resilience of different grassland types to fire and will assist managers in using fire as a positive management tool into the future.

 

Email: klsalmon@students.latrobe.edu.au    

Congratulations to Brad Farmilo

Brad Farmilo submitted his PhD thesis just before Christmas titled "The internal dynamics of forest fragments". Brad's been with me these last four years, and undertaken  a really neat study about the ecological mechanisms that change (e.g. herbivory, recruitment dynamics) when you grow pine forests around remnant eucalypt forest. He did this at the world's second longest experimental fragmentation study site: the Wog Wog Habitat Fragmentation Experiment, near Bombala in southern NSW.

Importantly, we think we've seen an interaction between climate drying and fragmentation as it affects plant species density. Brad's work lays the foundation for understanding how pine forest harvesting (which is due to occur soon) then subsequently affects patterns and processes in these forests.


You can check out his Research Blog here: http://wogwogfragmentationexperiment.blogspot.com.au/
It tracks his progress over the years, and provides some neat tips about undertaking a PhD.

Here's the Executive Summary of his thesis:

Virtually all of Earth’s ecosystems have been dramatically transformed via human actions leading to irreversible biodiversity losses. Global extinctions are expected to result as species richness declines towards an equilibrium determined by the amount of remaining habitat. This thesis uses the Wog Wog Habitat Fragmentation Experiment (the second longest running experiment of its kind) in temperate south-eastern Australia to investigate how patterns of plant species density vary with size of forest fragments (0.25, 0.88 and 3.06 ha), as well as identifying factors which may influence vegetation dynamics within a plantation landscape. Species density in small fragments was higher than continuous forest for both total and common species at small spatial scales. This finding contradicts much of the fragmentation literature suggesting that the mature plantation matrix may alter important within-fragment conditions, which are yet to be documented. Small fragments were also characterized as having higher soil moisture and canopy cover, and lower daily maximum temperatures, which is strongly influenced by the structure of the adjacent plantation. Rates of recruitment of the dominant shrub appear to be more pronounced within fragments, irrespective of size, than in areas of continuous forest (although not significant at alpha = 0.05). This finding, in concert with microclimatic changes in small fragments, may have caused an increase in structural complexity within fragments, which may also positively influence plant species density in small fragments. We also show that the affect of vertebrate herbivores on understorey seedlings is species-specific, but that their influence is largely uniform across the fragmented landscape and continuous forest areas. These findings have been generated from a single point in time and therefore, it is expected that due to the nature of the landscape (forest removal and a subsequent cycle of plantation development and harvesting) the long-term biodiversity in forest-plantation systems will be imperiled more so than traditional grass-forest systems because of profound ecological changes that are occurring not just in space, but in time.  In addition, many of our results suggest that there is a minimum size of fragment to be maintained in these landscapes below which ecological processes are disrupted and may therefore be of reduced value to native biodiversity.


 

Students completing in 2013

BEN ZEEMAN
Changes in the stand dynamics and composition of a long-unburned coastal woodland - effects of drought, fire and herbivory

My honours research assessed changes in vegetation structure and composition in a woodland at Ocean Grove, Victoria using data from three points in time (1971, 1996, 2012). Previous assessments of the site had documented the replacement of Eucalyptus with the mid-storey species Black She-Oak in the long absence of fire. In my study, changes in the continued absence of fire were assessed, as well as whether these changes could be reversed with the re-introduction of fire.

 

Long-unburned coastal grassy woodland at Ocean Grove Nature Reserve

I identified that in the continued absence of fire, Black She-Oak had consolidated dominance, with declines in tree density compensated for through an increase in basal area, while all other trees, as well as small shrubs in the understorey, declined markedly.  Where fire had been re-introduced, the structure of the woodland had opened up, creating large canopy gaps and killing many Black She-Oak trees. Surprisingly, trees did not recruit in open areas created by fire, most likely a consequence of wallaby browsing. Small shrubs that had declined in the absence of fire failed to recover with the re-introduction of fire, nor were these species found in the germinable soil seed bank. Changes that did occur with the re-introduction of fire were largely characterised by the proliferation of grass cover.

Burnt coastal woodland at Ocean Grove Nature Reserve. While the canopy has
opened up, fire did not recover once common native shrubs.

 

Thus, the changes that had occurred in the long absence of fire were found to be non-reversible with the re-introduction of fire.

thinking of Honours in plant ecology in 2013????

I am a plant ecologist interested in the long-term dynamics of native plant communities. I focus on plant communities in south-east Australia. In general, I am interested in the factors that govern local species richness and coexistence in plant communities, how recruitment shapes plant communities, how native ecosystems re-assemble following disturbance, using plant functional traits to assess vegetation responses to environmental change, using historical datasets and revisitation studies to assess long-term vegetation dynamics, and understanding the processes that underpin local extinction and persistence in communities, and the implications this has for ecosystem function and stability.

The process of applying for an Honours project in my Lab is easy. Firstly, let me know that you are keen to discuss undertaking research under my supervision and we can talk about potential projects. If you wish to apply for a project, I expect a grade average in Botany subjects >75%. I will generally supervise one to two students per year and I select these on the basis that I think that will conduct a good thesis, are inquisitive about the natural world, are likely to become plant ecologists, are motivated and independent workers, and have something to contribute to the Plant Ecology Lab more broadly. Students with good recommendations will be looked upon favourably.

Below, I list some ideas I have been thinking about as potential projects. All are necessarily vague at this stage but give an indication of the studies that currently occupy my thinking. If you have some ideas, I’m also happy to discuss those.

Project 1: Common species declines and niche limitation

Common plant declines don't get much more dramatic than that of Microseris (Yam Daisy) - a once common and extensive forb in Themeda grasslands of the Victorian Volcanic Plains, they are now incredibly hard to find. While such declines have been noted for some time, they probably continue unabated and it’s still unclear what factors favour the maintenance of such species. Taking historical data (sites where it was recorded, regardless of abundance measures) we could first ask: what evidence is there for continuing decline of the species in plains grasslands over the last few decades (using species detection theory to enhance our estimates). Then, in an experimental study, we might ask: how does seed limitation versus microsite limitation affect Microseris patterns - have grasslands changed so much that Microseris re-entry is prohibited by lack of germination and adult niches. This might entail a study sowing seed into different microsites (control native grassland, canopy removed but no soil disturbance, soil disturbance but no canopy removal, canopy removal and soil disturbance). It's thought Yam Daisies proffered from soil disturbance by aboriginal digging/bandicoot digging, but such processes have long been lost from plains grasslands. Might this be a key factor in the decline of the species? Where: grasslands on the western volcanic plains

Project 2: Heterogeneity, species diversity and conservation management

In Australia, native grasslands are highly endangered because they have been transformed by agriculture over most of their historic range. Hence, they are being acquired and managed for conservation of their important biodiversity.  On the northern riverine plains, for example, many sheep grazing properties are being acquired for conservation by Parks Victoria and the Trust for Nature. Because many / most of these have been grazed by sheep, they are somewhat degraded (but stable). Grazing is used as management tool because it can maintain species richness (at high numbers in small quadrats) - based on the idea that competitive exclusion reduces small scale diversity. But, and this is the point of the project, is it the 'best' way to manage grasslands for their structural, functional and floristic diversity? Maybe grazing maintains a subset of native species (i.e. the grazing-tolerant ones) but reduces heterogenity across sites. While alpha diversity is high, beta diversity across the landscape may be low when grazed - i.e. grazing promotes species similarity from one point to the next, whereas destocking enhances variation in composition. Conservation managers are loathe to remove stock from native grasslands because they are acutely aware that destocking might lead to declines in alpha diversity. This fails to recognise that destocking might lead to increases in beta diversity because it promotes heterogeneity via microsite differentiation. We could survey a range of grasslands (with different management regimes - grazed, recently destocked, long destocked) and ask: does grazing promote alpha and beta diversity. Does destocking lead to loss of species, or shifts in species composition? Should we manage for habitat variability more explicitly across grasslands. The game changer here would be to accept that changing long-term grazing might actually lead to instability in the system, but improved conservation outcomes because it favours more species ultimately (at landscape scales). Alternatively, we could ask: does grazing nullify the ability of certain species to establish because it reduces their germination niche availability - this might be the mechanism that underpins why grazing favours some species over others. Where: this is a field-based project located across the grassland ecosystems of northern Victoria

Project 3: Establishment of native shrubs in temperate woodlands

Many native temperate woodlands have being undergoing a process of woody plant encroachment over the last few decades in response to land use change. Good examples include Kunzea increases in the foothills forests of the Yarra Valley, Coast Tea Tree encroachment in grassy swale woodlands at Yanakie Isthmus, and Leptospermum domination of herb-rich woodlands in the Grampians. Students in my Lab have also shown that Hedge Wattle (Acacia paradoxa) has increased in cover in temperate woodlands over the last five decades, but the processes that underpin this spread remain unclear.  High levels of herbivory by kangaroos (which reduce competition from ground layer plants) and soil disturbance (which create microsites for germination) are thought to be important precursors to shrub establishment in many woodlands, while the absence of fire also enables fire-sensitive species to become abundant. Using herbivore exclosures in grassy woodlands where groundcover biomass is now much higher than in surrounding (over)grazed woodland, this project aims to examine how competition and disturbance contributes to initial seedling establishment of species such as A.paradoxa to better understand this widespread process. Where: this is a field-based project located in grassy woodland near Geelong

Project 4: Building a framework for temperate ecosystem dynamics that includes rainfall variability

Climate fluctuation is the ‘norm’ in southern Australia, with climate variation driven by El Nino/La Nina oscillations.  Most ecological focus of climate variability has been on the effects that drought has on tree mortality in woodlands and forests. But what about the effects of La Nina, above-average rainfall years? In non-fire prone ecosystems such as Box-Ironbark forest and herb-rich semi-arid woodlands, where fire is not the cue for germination, might recruitment of key species such as Acacia be linked to rainfall variability. Hence, might La Nina recruitment vs. El Nino mortality be the chief driver of population processes in many ecosystems (as opposed to fire-driven systems where time since fire is of primary importance). If population processes are clearly linked to rainfall variability, this should be observable in the stand structure of species i.e pulsed recruitment that coincides with wet years. Additionally, what traits of species that are responsive to rainfall variability – we know this for fire but not climate-driven recruitment. Where: this is a field-based project located in ecosystems such as Yellow Gum woodlands of far western Victoria

Project 5: Woodland tree recruitment and patch-dynamic theory

Tree–grass coexistence in savanna ecosystems – or the ability of grassy and woody vegetation to co-occur without either life-form becoming dominant – is not well understood, although rainfall and disturbance regimes are generally implicated.  According to patch-dynamics theory, woody vegetation does not become dominant because dense episodic recruitment is mirrored (over time) by episodic mortality (caused by drought). Alternatively, following dense episodic recruitment, trees self-thin over time as slightly larger trees out-compete smaller trees in an even-aged stand. Tree spacing and size inequality may be related to self-thinning because patterns of tree distribution can be the result of competitive interactions among individuals. For example, regular spacing could indicate competitive interactions and self-thinning among individuals in a population, such that larger trees are further from neighbours than small trees. Both concepts generally apply to trees that recruit en masse (e.g. Red Gums) but I think they could be applied to understand recruitment dynamics in the iconic eucalypt woodlands of eastern Australia. Hence, this project will investigate the applicability of the patch-dynamics model of tree–grass coexistence as a means of explaining the recruitment of temperate woodland trees and the capacity of woodlands to resist thickening into forests. Where: this is a field-based project located in woodland ecosystems

The David Ashton Scholarship winner announced

Citra Jewson-Brown was recently awarded the David Ashton Scholarship. Congratulations!

The award recognises the most outstanding new Honours students undertaking research in the field of plant ecology in the Department of Botany at La Trobe University. It is named after Dr David Ashton, a Victorian plant ecologist who spent his entire working life trying to understand the regeneration and succesional dynamics of Mountain Ash forests. He also worked with students in the alpine regions of Victoria, so would be chuffed to know that Citra intends to focus her thesis on high mountain ecology.

Citra will work with Dr John Morgan on insect herbivory in high altitude populations of Snow Gum (Eucalyptus pauciflora). In particular, she is keen to quantify how herbivory varies within and between populations of Snow Gum. This will likely involve an interaction between environment (altitude) and "provenance".