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Fire Ecology and Biodiversity
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Welcome to 

Fire Ecology and

Biodiversity


School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences | Faculty of Science

University of Melbourne

About us

Saving the endangered heath mouse, one burn at a time

2/6/2020

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The following article by Lucy Smith was originally published in Australian Geographic and features Amy Smith's and Rachel Nalliah's PhD and Masters research (respectively). 

Without Amy and Rachel's incredible trap-wrangling efforts and invaluable help from Erin Thomas and other students and volunteers, the life and times of the Glenelg Region's endangered heath mice would be set to remain a mystery! 
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, meet the dayang (Pseudomys shortridgei) – heath dweller, flower feaster and day napper. At a petite 9.5-12cm, this long-whiskered lovely is a member of the Old World rat family, which will no doubt send shivers down the spine of musophobes! But fear not rat haters, this bobble-eyed, endangered heath mouse is at the cutting edge of scientific research into the link between fire and native species’ survival.

As we all know, bushfires in Australia not only threaten human life and property, but cause significant changes to ecosystems. Increasingly, prescribed fire regimes are used to reduce dry fuel load as well as lower the intensity and spread of fires. 

Along with affecting wildlife populations directly, bushfires can also affect animals indirectly by changing the surrounding vegetation. This influences where habitat is available and how animals will respond to fire-induced changes depending on their habitat requirements.

The heath mouse lives in patches of treeless heath surrounded by woodland. Occurring in two geographically remote areas in south-western Western Australia and around the southern border of South Australia and Victoria, it’s sensitive to the effects of fire regimes on the small amount of available habitat left.

Scientists at the Fire Ecology and Biodiversity Lab at the University of Melbourne are mapping the DNA of heath mouse populations to discover how fire regimes affect their movement. 

“We hope to find out whether fire helps or hinders movement among these islands of treeless heath by catching the animals and taking DNA samples,” says Dr Holly Sitters, coordinator of the Fire and Fragmentation Project. 

“The ability of animals to disperse and breed is critical to the survival of populations under changing environmental conditions. By relating genetic information to fire history and other aspects of landscape structure, we’ll be able to help fire managers decide where and when to apply fire to promote population persistence in the long term.”

​Like any animal, heath mice require a minimum habitat area to meet their needs for food, shelter and breeding. 

Current ecological approaches to fire management involve the use of fire mosaics, however this presents several problems when it comes to preserving biodiversity; the effect of fire on how they move through their habitat and the significance of fire on their ability to find other mice to have sex with, a vital part of population survival. 

Their ability to connect affects genetic diversity, which is the basis of population health.

 “Currently, fire simulation is normally applied in the context of hazard reduction rather than biodiversity conservation, but there’s huge potential to use fire simulation in wildlife management,” says Holly. 

There is a capacity to use fire to influence wildlife movement patterns for the benefit of genetic diversity and the species survival such as the heath mouse, as well as the surrounding ecosystems. Holly says a shift in the focus of ecological fire management to consider functional connectivity (the connectivity between brain regions that share functional properties) could result in better conservation outcomes for all species facing a changing climate. 

“Genes are at the foundation of ecological function, and genetic diversity in populations is linked to ecosystem resilience, the capacity to adjust to environmental disturbances such as fire or drought,” she says.

Holly and her colleagues are leading a small army of students and volunteers to collect data on a variety of small lizard and bat species, as well as southern brown bandicoots and even a marsupial mouse, the yellow-footed antechinus. 

They’re hoping to use the genetic data they collect to map functional connectivity and assist fire managers to refine methods for promotion of long-term species persistence. 

“The combined use of fire simulation and empirical data could help us decide where and when to use prescribed fire for the benefit of wildlife populations at the scale of both fire events and fire regimes.”

Lucy Smith holds a Master of Environmental Science, specialising in forest community ecology. Her interests span a range of ecological areas, including natural asset management in agriculture and the interaction between humans and wildlife.
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Tune in for Simeon Zylinski's PhD confirmation seminar on Friday 1 March

26/2/2019

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Please come along to Simeon's PhD confirmation seminar to hear about his plans to disentangle the effects of fire and landscape structure on mammal communities. 

Join person or via Zoom.

Where:  Small Lecture Theatre, Room 123, Uni Building, Creswick
When:  10 am, Friday 1 March

Simeon's project involves camera trapping and collection of bandicoot DNA samples.  If you'd like to volunteer to help with data collection in the spectacular Mount Lofty Ranges between March and May, please get in touch!
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The 2018-19 fieldwork season kicks off with mixed results

26/11/2018

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A multi-faceted team of reptile, mammal and bat-trappers recently headed out west for a week of fieldwork highs, disappointments and everything in between. 

In terms of animal numbers, Taylor and Holly's sites were most bountiful, with 35 reptiles falling into pitfall or funnel traps.  Microbats appeared in Amanda's harp traps in dribs and drabs until she hit a bumper night of 19 animals, resulting in 25 for the week.  A very promising start to the season although microbat ID makes peering at skink scales seem terribly straight forward.

One thousand two hundred and fifty Elliott-trap nights yielded one very special Yellow-footed Antechinus plus two mildly confused Shinglebacks.  We are hopeful that Amy, Rachel, Saumya and Julian's mammoth efforts will be rewarded soon, and that the low trap success reflects the time of year.  Kelvin experienced similarly low animal numbers this time last year, and Rachel had heath mice coming out of her ears during her pilot study in March.

We're currently seeking volunteers for our programme of almost back-to-back trapping over the next few months.  Food, basic accommodation, and transport from Ballarat or Creswick are provided.  Please let us know if you're interested, and keep an eye on the facebook page for details of specific trips.
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Mammal functional diversity increases across vegetation gradients

5/11/2018

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Our new paper arose from Hilman Sukma's Masters research, and highlights the importance of structurally complex vegetation for mammal functional diversity. 

Hilman used wildlife cameras to survey mammals in the Otway Ranges, and combined species occurrence data with ecological trait information to derive measures of functional diversity, which provides a link between species diversity and ecosystem function. 

Mammal functional diversity responded positively to two measures of vegetation structural complexity in both wet and dry forest.  Hilman concluded that conserving structurally complex vegetation may help to enhance ecosystem function.

The paper is free to download until 22 December: 


Sukma, H., Di Stefano, J., Swan, M. & Sitters, H. (2019). Mammal functional diversity increases with vegetation structural complexity in two forest types. Forest Ecology and Management. 433: 85-92
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News from the front

8/3/2018

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(The fieldwork front)

A team of reptile trappers and vegetation measurers has made Casterton its second home over the past couple of months. 


This work forms part of Annalie and Sarah's PhD projects, and Kelvin's Masters project.  Their missions are fairly ambitious and they've been assisted by Zahlia, Holly, Julian and Matt, as well as a crew of fantastic volunteers.

Please enjoy a selection of their favourite photos, and don't hesitate to get in touch via facebook if you're interested in helping.


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Join us for Bushfire & Biodiversity 2018!

22/1/2018

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Our graduate subject runs as a two-week intensive from Monday 9 - Friday 20 April at the Parkville Campus.  It combines lectures, computer labs and a field trip to the beautiful Otway Ranges (including an occasional snap tournament, if you're lucky). 

The course covers the effects of fire on aspects of biodiversity and ecological processes. Managers are committed to developing science-based ecological burning strategies which achieve both biodiversity and asset protection objectives. Increased knowledge of the ecological impacts of fire on plants and animals facilitates a better understanding of how more effective management can be achieved.

More information on Bushfire & Biodiversity and other fire-related graduate subjects is available here.  The Handbook provides additional details. 

Please contact us if you have any questions about the course.
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Reptile-trapping gets off to a cracking start

16/11/2017

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Annalie, Sarah, Holly, Julian and Matt caught more animals than in their wildest dreams during their inaugural reptile-trapping trip last week.

They used six funnel traps and six pitfall traps at each of 10 sites in the Drajurk and Roseneath State Forests near Casterton in western Victoria. 
They were treated to visits from the Eastern three-lined Skink (Bassiana duperreye - a particularly trap-happy species), South-eastern Slider (Lerista bougainvillii), Jacky Dragon (Amphibolurus muricatus), Striped Worm-lizard (Aprasia striolata), Common Garden Skink (Lampropholis guitchenoti), Southern Grass Skink (Pseudemoia entrecasteauxii), and Obscure Skink (Morethia obscura).

The work forms part of Annalie and Sarah's PhD projects. Annalie is examining the responses of reptile communities to spatial pattern in fire history, and is also interested in comparing the efficacy of trapping methods. Sarah is exploring the combined effects of fire and fragmentation on species' movement capacities with a view to finding out how managers can apply fire to enhance species' connectivity and persistence.

Between trap checks we found time to admire the swathes of Xanthorrhoea australis, which is flowering spectacularly. Kelvin plans to measure the shape and distribution of X. australis as part of his studies of small mammal habitat associations, so we also spent a while pondering alternative methods.

Many months of trapping lie ahead (10 sites down, 130 to go), but it was a promising start.

Please visit the Fire & Fragmentation Project page for more information about this research.

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Non-reptilian highlights included a Silky Mouse (Pseudomys apodemoides)
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Before heading home we deployed six camera traps at each site.
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Eastern Shinglebacks (Tiliqua rugosa), aka Sleepy Lizards, were hanging out everywhere except the traps.
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Volunteer opportunity: microbats and fire in the Otway Ranges

9/10/2017

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Sandra is looking for volunteers to join her on short field trips between now and Christmas. She'll be working with bat detectors and invertebrate traps at various sites in the beautiful Otway Ranges.

A reasonable level of fitness is required for walking short distances through the bush to sites without established walking tracks. 

All food, accommodation, coffee etc. will be provided.  Upcoming dates are:

October
Sun 15 – Mon 16

November
Sun 5 – Mon 6
Sat 11 – Sun 12

December
Sun 3 – Mon 4
Sun 10 – Mon 11
Sun 17

If you’d like to join in or find out more, please contact Sandra.
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Is the Fire & Fragmentation Project honeymoon period over?

31/5/2017

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Evidence for

Evidence against

Having carefully balanced the evidence, we conclude that the honeymoon period lives on.

Last week the Fire & Fragmentation Project team ventured out to the heathy woodland between Dartmoor and Edenhope to set up their second round of camera traps.  This work is part of Zahlia and Lauren's studies into the effects of fire and fragmentation on mammals.  They are currently going through the photos from their first round of camera trapping, and will compile their favourites soon.  Please stay tuned.

Thanks to Sarah, Lauren and Zahlia for providing all the evidence.
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Conservation of the threatened brush-tailed phascogale in a degraded landscape

14/5/2017

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Brush-tailed phascogale. © Jerry Alexander
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Degraded woodland in Central Victoria. © Cara Mansfield
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A phascogale being wrangled. © Cara Mansfield
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Cat Nield weighing an animal. © Cara Mansfield
Habitat loss and degradation have contributed significantly to the decline of many species worldwide. To address this loss, we first require a comprehensive understanding of habitat requirements and resource-use patterns of the species under threat.

In our new paper, we aimed to quantify variation in the habitat of a the threatened brush-tailed phascogale (Phascogale tapoatafa tapoatafa), by measuring several physical characteristics of trees and ground cover.  We surveyed phascogales in Central Victoria over a 13-year period from 2000 to 2012, and measured habitat variables characterising tree communities, ground cover and coarse woody debris.

The highest overall animal abundance was at sites characterised by red stringybark, red box, grey box and broad-leaved and narrow-leaved peppermints. At these sites, red stringybark and grey box trees were of small diameter and tended to have small hollows.

Our study has provided new information concerning spatial patterns of phascogale abundance and resource use within a forested area that has been subjected to multiple disturbances. Currently, the composition and age structure of tree communities and ground habitats are a response to severe disturbance due to past mining and harvesting activities.

​Successful conservation of this threatened species could be enhanced through active management of this forest to maintain the ongoing supply of nesting hollows and foraging resources.


Mansfield, C., Arnold, A., Bell, T.L. & York, A. (in press). Habitat characteristics and resource use of a threatened arboreal marsupial in a degraded landscape: the brush-tailed phascogale (Phascogale tapoatafa tapoatafa) in central Victoria, Australia. Wildlife Research. DOI
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Where to find us

University of Melbourne
4 Water Street
Creswick
Victoria 3363

Phone +61 (0)3 5321 4300 or email us

Photos contributed by Holly Sitters, Bronwyn Hradsky, students of the Fire Ecology and Biodiversity Group, and remote cameras.
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