Blog Posts

Bumper news catch-up #1

11/4/2017

Since February we’ve welcomed five new students, all of whom have hit the ground running by heading out to the field within weeks (or days) of commencing.

Annalie Dorph and Ellen Rochelmeyer are deploying camera traps and measuring vegetation structure at long-term monitoring sites in the Otway Ranges; Lauren Delaney and Zahlia Payne are studying the responses of ground-dwelling mammals to fire and fragmentation in the heathy woodland of western Victoria. Sarah Mulhall has been working with Lauren and Zahlia with a view to trapping reptiles in SW Victoria and SE South Australia later in the year, when Kelvin Doyle will also be joining the group to conduct a Masters project.

In the first of two bumper news catch-ups, we illustrate the activities of the heathy woodland team, who are working under the umbrella of the Fire & Fragmentation Project.

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Possum Magic in the Central Highlands

23/1/2017

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Kate and a team of volunteers have recently returned from several weeks of field work out in the forests of the Central Highlands, where they have been attempting to catch Mountain Brushtail Possums (Bobucks) as part of Kate’s PhD research.

This study aims to understand how fire affects resource use and movement patterns of the possums at sites burnt during the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires. Kate is particularly keen to understand if this species alters its movement patterns and energy use between areas of differing burn severities.

For this project Kate has built her own GPS collars, which contain: a VHF for relocating the possums, a GPS to record horizontal movement patterns, an altimeter to measure changes in height, as well as a three-axis accelerometer to measure energy use. This device will enable us to look at resource selection and movement patterns in three-dimensions, across a range of different burn severities.

If you’d like to volunteer to come along on an upcoming field trip with Kate, please get in touch with her by email.

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Our first (of many) western Victorian (and eastern South Australian) road trip

9/12/2016

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Our ARC Linkage project officially begins in 2017, and Holly, Julian, Matt and Alan took a road trip this week to scope out the study area. The ultimate aim of the project is to conserve biodiversity in fire-prone fragmented landscapes by addressing two key knowledge gaps: the combined effects of fire and fragmentation on animal movement, and the implications of current and future fire regimes for animal populations.

We'll be embarking on an busy field program from mid February to May and are seeking volunteers to join week-long trips involving:

setting up sites
Elliott-trapping small mammals
setting up camera traps
funnel-trapping reptiles
pitfall-trapping invertebrates
measuring vegetation

Please contact Holly if you're interested or would like further information.

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Opportunity for a masters/honours project on fire and flying insects

29/11/2016

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We have an exciting opportunity for a masters or honours student to examine how fire influences the ecology of flying insects in the Otway Ranges.

Flying insects (e.g. butterflies, moths, beetles, flies) are an important part of forest ecosystems. They contribute to ecosystem function through services such as pollination, provide a large food resource for vertebrate fauna, and are interesting in their own right.

This project is part of a larger study examining fire impacts on fauna, with all fieldwork and project costs covered.

If you are interested please contact Alan York.

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How does fire affect pollination of a sexually deceptive orchid?

20/10/2016

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The effects of fire on pollination haven’t been explored in sexually deceptive systems. Sexually deceptive plants achieve pollination by mimicking the sex pheromone of female insects in order to attract male insects. These systems are highly specialised, with the orchid often being pollinated by a single insect species.

In our new paper, we observed the frequency of pollinator visits to flowers of a sexually deceptive orchid, Caladenia tentaculata, and related it to the post-fire age class of heathy woodland in south-western Victoria.

We also related the number of the pollinator’s putative larval hosts (scarab beetles) captured at these sites to age class. At the local scale, visitation was highest in recently burnt sites. At the landscape scale, positive associations were observed between (1) putative pollinator hosts and vegetation burnt 36–50 years ago, and (2) pollinator visitation and vegetation burnt more than 50 years ago. Local- and landscape-scale effects on visitation were synergistic, such that visitation was greatest when fire age was variable within the pollinator foraging range.

Brown, J., York, A. & Christie, F. (2016). Fire effects on pollination in a sexually-deceptive orchid. International Journal of Wildland Fire. 25: 888-895.

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New PhD opportunities with our research group

9/8/2016

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We're offering three exciting PhD projects within the following two research programs:

Fire management for biodiversity conservation in fragmented landscapes, an ARC Linkage-funded project focussing on the heathy woodland of SW Victoria and SE South Australia (two projects available).
Fire, spatial pattern and biodiversity, a long-term monitoring project in the Otway Ranges (one project available).

Please find further information here. Within the scope of the existing research frameworks, candidates will have the flexibility to develop projects based on their interests and skills.

The projects will run between 2017 and 2020 and are based at the University of Melbourne's Creswick campus. We are committed to supporting PhD students by providing:

an experienced supervisory team
a collaborative research environment
fieldwork support
project operating expenses
computing resources
a top-up scholarship of $21,000 ($7,000/year)

Applicants should send a written expression of interest, including CV and statement of results, to Julian by 30 September 2016. Julian can also be contacted with any enquiries.

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Bushfire and Biodiversity - class of 2016

11/5/2016

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Nineteen students took our two-week intensive Masters subject "Bushfire and Biodiversity" as part of the Master of Forest Ecosystem Science and Master of Environment.

The course covers the effects of fire on many aspects of biodiversity and ecological processes, and involves a three-day field trip to the Otway Ranges. Students were free to design their own field exercise in groups using a pre-defined canvas - an area near Anglesea burnt by planned fire in autumn 2015. Three groups chose to explore the effects of fire severity on plant species diversity and one group focused on birds.

Despite the intensive fieldwork, we managed to find time in the evening for table tennis and snap tournaments.

Please contact us for more information about what the subject involves.

Many thanks to Julio and Alan for photos.

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Contrasting responses of small mammals to fire and topographic refugia

29/4/2016

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Bush rat

Agile antechinus

Unburnt patches are expected to provide an important resource for fauna, potentially acting as a refuge from the direct effects of fire, and allowing animals to persist in burnt landscapes. Nevertheless there is little information about the way refugia are used by fauna and how populations may be affected by them.

In our new paper, we tested three alternative hypotheses relating to the abundance of two small mammal species, bush rat (Rattus fuscipes) and agile antechinus (Antechinus agilis), after a planned fire at Henderson Creek in the Otway Ranges:

Active refugia – increased abundance in unburnt patches due to a post-fire shift of individuals from burnt to unburnt areas
Passive refugia – abundance in unburnt patches would remain similar to pre-fire levels, and,
Limited or no refugia – reduced abundance in unburnt patches related to the change induced by fire in the wider landscape.

We surveyed small mammals using Elliott Traps, and found that the two species responded differently to the presence of unburnt refugia in the landscape. Whilst fire resulted in reduced abundance of bush rats on burnt slopes, there was no change in gullies, suggesting that their use of refugia is passive. In contrast, agile antechinus abundance increased in gullies immediately post-fire, consistent with a shift of individuals from burnt parts of the landscape and suggesting active use of refugia.

Our work highlights that different species' responses to patchy disturbances are likely to be influenced by factors such as site fidelity, habitat use and intraspecific competition.

Find the paper in Early View:

Swan, M., Galindez-Silva, C., Christie, F., York, A. & Di Stefano, J. (in press). Contrasting responses of small mammals to fire and topographic refugia. Austral Ecology.

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How does planned fire affect bush rat movement and resource selection?

1/3/2016

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Small mammals select resources based on their requirements for food, shelter and protection from predators. Understanding the influence of fire on resource selection can help to guide species conservation and management.

Our new paper investigates the effects of a planned fire on resource selection, abundance, body condition, and movement pathways of a native rodent, the bush rat (Rattus fuscipes). This work formed Amber Fordyce's Honours thesis, and involved gathering data from 60 individuals fitted with spool-and-line tracking devices at Breakfast Creek in the Otway Ranges.

After the fire, rats selected patches of unburnt vegetation, and no rats were caught at a trapping site where most of the understory had been burnt. The fire also reduced bush rat abundance and body condition and caused movement pathways to become more convoluted. After the fire, some individuals moved through burnt areas but the majority of movements occurred within unburnt patches.

Our findings suggest the influence of planned fire on small mammals will depend on the resulting mosaic of burnt and unburnt patches and how well this corresponds to the resource requirements of particular species.

Thanks to Amber, Bronwyn and Julian for the photos. Find the paper here:

Fordyce, A., Hradsky, B.A., Ritchie, E. & Di Stefano, J. (2016). Fire affects microhabitat selection, movement patterns and body condition of an Australian rodent (Rattus fuscipes). Journal of Mammalogy. 97(1): 102-111

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The animal chase continues in 2016

6/1/2016

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Our 2016 fieldwork program has already kicked off with a team of seven visiting the Otways to help Hilman and Natasha measure vegetation structure and trap small mammals.

Hilman is nearing the end of a mammoth effort to deploy camera traps and measure vegetation at 130 long-term monitoring sites spanning foothills forest, forby forest, tall-mixed woodland and heathland. His Masters research examines the influence of time since fire and habitat structure on the functional diversity of ground-dwelling mammals, and will reveal the attributes of prescribed burns that are likely to enhance ecosystem function.

Natasha has recently begun fieldwork for her Masters project which seeks to test species distribution models for mammals in heathland, where several species appear to have become locally extinct or persist in very small numbers. She is using Elliott traps to target small mammals, and plans to create new models of species' current distributions.

Please contact us if you are interested in joining a field trip as a volunteer. Our Otways fieldwork is finishing shortly, but several opportunities are coming up in the Central Highlands.

Many thanks to Matt and Natasha for these photos.

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Welcome to

Fire Ecology and

Biodiversity

Bumper news catch-up #1

Possum Magic in the Central Highlands

Our first (of many) western Victorian (and eastern South Australian) road trip

Opportunity for a masters/honours project on fire and flying insects

How does fire affect pollination of a sexually deceptive orchid?

New PhD opportunities with our research group

Bushfire and Biodiversity - class of 2016

Contrasting responses of small mammals to fire and topographic refugia

How does planned fire affect bush rat movement and resource selection?

The animal chase continues in 2016

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University of Melbourne
4 Water Street
Creswick
Victoria 3363

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

Welcome to Fire Ecology andBiodiversity

Author

Archives

Categories

Links

Where to find usUniversity of Melbourne4 Water StreetCreswickVictoria 3363Phone +61 (0)3 5321 4300 or email us

Welcome to

Fire Ecology and

Biodiversity

Where to find us

University of Melbourne
4 Water Street
Creswick
Victoria 3363

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