Life Sciences Commons^™

Within-Fire Patchiness Associated With Prescribed Burning In The Northern Jarrah Forests Of Western Australia, Zigourney Nielsen

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

There is growing understanding of the importance of landscape mosaics and heterogeneity for biodiversity outcomes in Western Australia. However, there is limited information on the patchiness (spatial configuration of unburnt and burnt patches which occur at a range of spatial scales) within the perimeter of a single prescribed burn. Of particular concern is the idea that prescribed burning operations, carried out under very restricted weather and environmental conditions, can lead to structural and floristic homogenization of the area within a burn perimeter. This may be evident as reduced post-fire vegetation patchiness. Western Australian Jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata) forests are managed to …

Fate Of Eucalyptus Marginata Seed From Canopy-Store To Emergence In The Northern Jarrah Forests Of Western Australia: Research To Help Improve Regeneration Following Shelterwood Treatment, Jeffrey Cargill

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The establishment of seedling regeneration is a key process in and indicator of ecologically sustainable forest management. The availability of seed and the creation of a suitable seedbed are recognised as important factors limiting seedling recruitment. A silvicultural method commonly used across northern and eastern jarrah forest blocks is shelterwood cutting. The primary objective of treating jarrah forest to shelterwood is to promote seedling regeneration in areas lacking sufficient advanced growth. Despite the widespread and progressive implementation of the shelterwood method, its application in jarrah forest has shown varying degrees of success.

This thesis sought to investigate and better understand …

Establishment Of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (Amf) On Micropropagated Teak (Tectona Grandis L. F.), Maria Isabel Ramirez Caro

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Improvement of root production and ability to establish mycorrhizas from different Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) inoculum sources on two micropropagated teak (Tectona grandis L. f.) clones was examined at the acclimatisation phase. Teak shoots were maintained on a multiplication medium containing Murashige and Skoog (MS) nutrients and organics, 30 g L-1 sucrose, 0.5 μM benzyl amino purine, 0.5 μM kinetin, 2.5 g L-1 agar, 2.5 g L-1 gelrite and pH 5.8. After 35 days shoots were exposed to a rooting medium (RM) containing ¼ strength MS macronutrients, ½ strength MS iron, full strength MS micronutrients, and 20 g L-1 …

Food Resource Availability For Carnaby's Cockatoo Calyptorhynchus Latirostris On The Swan Coast Plain, Teagan Johnston

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

To achieve a balance between sustainable development and conservation of threatened species, management depends on understanding the predicted response and interaction of that species with their environment in order to develop appropriate mitigating solutions. The Carnaby’s cockatoo Calyptorhynchus latirostris is declining across much of its range due to the detrimental effect of habitat degradation and loss. Since the decline of food resource availability in non-breeding areas is believed to be contributing to the reduction in the number of Carnaby’s cockatoos knowledge of the birds’ foraging ecology and the influence of external factors on food resource availability is essential for effective …

Drought Traits Of Eucalyptus Gomphocephala In Yalgorup National Park, Paul L. Drake

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Isohydric and anisohydric regulation of plant water status has been observed over several decades of field, glasshouse and laboratory studies, yet the functional significance and mechanism of both remain obscure. W e studied the seasonal trends in plant water status and hydraulic properties in a natural stand of Eucalyptus gomphocephala through cycles of varying environmental moisture (rainfall, groundwater depth, evaporative demand ) in order to test for isohydry and to provide physiological information for the mechanistic interpretation of seasonal trends in plant water status. Over a 16-month period of monitoring, spanning two summers, midday leaf water potential correlated with pre-dawn …

Soil Community Structure And Litter Decomposition Under Irrigated Eucalyptus Globulus In South Western Australia, Derek J. Swarts

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Plantations provide a range of benefits, including the potential to ameliorate salinity and soil erosion, enhance biodiversity, and provide timber and wood chips. They are increasingly important because of their role in carbon sequestration (Adolphson, 2000; Anonymous, 2005; Jones et al. , 2005; Kozlowski, 2002; Paul and Polglase, 2004). Recent research has highlighted the connection between plantation health and soil fertility (Johnston and Crossley Jr, 2002). Within an Australian context there is little published data on the composition of the soil and litter fauna and their contribution to litter decomposition under plantation systems (Adolphson, 2000). The Albany Effluent Irrigated Tree …

A Comparison Of Logging And Fire Disturbance On Biophysical Attributes Of The Northern Jarrah Forest, Alexander W. Watson

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Ecologically sustainable forest management (ESFM) serves dual purposes: 1) to ensure the conservation of biodiversity, and 2) in production forest (forest managed for the production of timber and woodchips), to maintain an economically viable timber industry in perpetuity. A central axiom of ESFM is that any manipulation of a forest ecosystem should emulate the `natural' disturbance patterns of the forest. This is based on the assumption that forest communities have evolved with endogenous disturbance regimes and will be better able to cope if exogenous disturbance (e.g., logging) remains within natural levels and spatial and temporal bounds of intensity. The objective …

Environmental Correlates And Associations Of Tuart (Eucalyptus Gomphocephala) Decline, Todd A. Edwards

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Tuart (Eucalyptus gomphocephala DC.) is an ecologically and culturally important tree species that grows across a narrow 400 km long coastal belt, from the Sabrina River south of Perth, to Jurien Bay in the north. Unfortunately, Tuart is also a species under considerable threat due to clearing, lack of recruitment and canopy decline. Canopy decline is of particular concern, being increasingly reported throughout the Tuart distribution. Despite this, previous studies of Tuart have generally been limited to localised canopy decline events. This two-phased study firstly involved an assessment of Tuart canopy condition at 46 sites across the species distribution. At …

Openness In The Face Of Systemic Constraints On Science, Public Participation, And The Western Australian Regional Forest Agreement, Martin Brueckner

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The aim of this thesis is to explore the role of science and public participation in environmental policy-making processes in Australia. To this end, I analyse the Western Australian Regional Forest Agreement (RFA) process, a recent Australian Federal Government initiative designed to resolve a longstanding dispute over native forest use and management. Theoretically underpinned by an open systems approach, the thesis employs a case study method for the analysis of the RFA process, using data from three distinct sources; interviews, RFA-related literature, and media content. The analysis of the RFA occurs against the historical background to this policy process and …

The Economic Value Of Tourism And Recreation In Forested Areas Of Western Australia, Rachel Goff

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

In recent years, natural area tourism has been presented as a more profitable, labour intensive and environmentally sound industry than the traditional extractive industries which have resulted in the depletion of primary resources in many countries (Burr, 1995). However, in order for economic returns from tourism to be maintained over a long period of time, investment in resources and infrastructure that support and encourage sustainable tourism and recreation activity in natural areas is required. The key to sustainability is maintaining the capital stock of resources (Garrod & Fyall, 1998; Russell, 2001). In a society driven by economics, resources are allocated …