The vegetation of the Sydney Basin, Australia, is highly flammable and subject to a wide range of fire regimes. Sclerophyllous shrubs and sedges are common and in some vegetation types up to 70 % of fuel consumed during a fire can be live. Research into fire behaviour and fuel dynamics has been minimal. To address this issue this thesis investigated the principal factor affecting the ease of ignition and rate of combustion of individual fuel particles and fuel beds in bushfires: dead fine fuel moisture (FFM). Two common Sydney Basin vegetation types, eucalypt woodland and heathland, each with a history of problematic fire management, were measured in the field for diurnal fluctuations in FFM following rain, under conditions similar to when prescribed burns are conducted. The FFM components of current operational fire behaviour models were found to be inadequate for predictions of FFM and fire behaviour under these conditions. The equilibrium moisture content (EMC) of five fuel types from the field site was investigated in a laboratory study. An existing function describing EMC as a function of temperature and relative humidity was evaluated and found to be very accurate for these fuels. Two FFM predictive models incorporating this function were evaluated on the field data and the laboratory results were shown to be applicable to the estimation of FFM in the field. One model gave very accurate predictions of FFM below fibre saturation point, but its accuracy was reduced when screen level conditions were used instead of those measured at fuel level. A recent process-based model that accounts for rainfall showed promise for predicting when fuel is < 25 % FFM. Systematic problems with the radiation budget of this model reduced the accuracy of predictions and further refinement is required. Live fine fuel moisture content (LFMC) of common heathland shrubs and sedge was investigated over two years and found to be both seasonal and influenced by phenology. LFMC minima occurred in late winter and spring (August to October), and maxima were in summer (December to February) when new growth was recorded. The dominant near-surface fuel in mature heath was sedge. It was found to have little seasonal variation in its??? percentage dead but the percentage dead maxima occured at the same time as the LFMC minima of shrubs and sedge in both years. Simple instantaneous models for duff moisture content in woodland and heathland and LFMC and the percentage dead sedge in heathland were developed. The information gained by this study will form the basis for future development of fuel moisture models for prescribed burning guidelines and fire spread models specific to the vegetation communities of the Sydney Basin.

Agricultural environments are critical to the conservation of biota throughout the world. This is due both to the limited extent of current reserve systems and the large, and still expanding, proportion of terrestrial environments already dominated by agricultural land-uses. Consequently, there is a growing call from scientists around the world for the need to maximise the conservation value of agricultural environments. Efforts to identify key influences on the conservation status of fauna in agricultural landscapes have taken complementary approaches. Many studies have focussed on the role of remnant or semi-natural vegetation, and emphasised the influence on biota of spatial patterns in the landscape. Others have recognised that many species use diverse ‘countryside’ elements (matrix habitats) within farmland, and emphasise the benefits of landscape heterogeneity for conservation. Here, these research themes have been combined. This study takes a whole-of-landscape approach to investigating how landscape pattern and countryside heterogeneity influence the occurrence of birds in agricultural environments. Birds were sampled in 27 agricultural mosaics, each 1 km x 1 km in size (100 ha), in Gippsland, south-eastern Australia. Mosaics were selected to incorporate variation in two landscape properties: the cover of native vegetation, and richness of different types of element (i.e. land-uses/vegetation types). In each mosaic, 15 fixed sampling locations were stratified among seven different elements in proportion to their cover in the mosaic: native vegetation, linear vegetation, tree plantation, scattered paddock trees, pasture, wetlands and farm dams. Six point counts of birds were undertaken at all sample points in each mosaic: three each in the breeding and non-breeding months of a one-year period (October 2004 – August 2005). Independent measures of the composition, configuration, and heterogeneity of elements in the mosaic had differing effects on the richness of bird species recorded in these same mosaics. Sub-groups of birds based on habitat requirements responded most strongly to the extent of preferred element types in mosaics. Woodland birds (those of greatest conservation concern in farmland environments in Australia) were richer in mosaics with higher cover of native vegetation while open-tolerant species responded to the extent of scattered trees. In contrast, for total species richness, mosaic heterogeneity (richness of element types) and landscape context (cover of native vegetation in surrounding area) had the greatest influence. Mosaic structural properties also influenced the composition of entire bird assemblages in study mosaics. Avifaunal composition showed systematic variation along two main gradients which were readily interpreted in relation to landscape properties: 1) a gradient in the cover of wooded vegetation and, 2) the proportional composition of vegetation types in the mosaic. These gradients represent common trajectories of landscape modification associated with agricultural development: namely, the removal of wooded vegetation and the replacement of native species with exotic vegetation (e.g. crops and plantations). Species possessing different characteristics in relation to three avian life-history traits (nest type, feeding guild and clutch size) varied significantly in their position along these gradients of landscape modification. Species with different nesting requirements showed a strong relationship with the gradient in wooded vegetation cover while species belonging to different feeding guilds were influenced by the gradient defined by the replacement of native vegetation with exotic species. More bird species were recorded in native vegetation than in any other type of element sampled in this study. Nevertheless, most countryside elements had value for many species; particularly structurally complex elements such as scattered trees and tree plantation. Further, each type of landscape element contained different bird assemblages. Species that were recorded in a greater number of different types of landscape element were also recorded in more mosaics. This was true for all species and for woodland birds, and indicates that species that can use a greater range of countryside elements may have an increased tolerance of future landscape modification. The richness of woodland species at survey sites in different elements was influenced by features of the mosaic in which they occurred. Notably, the richness of woodland bird species recorded at sites in scattered trees and pasture increased with a greater cover of native vegetation in the overall mosaic. Of the overall pool of woodland bird species documented in the broader study region, 35% of species were not recorded in the agricultural mosaics sampled here. While many of these species were uncommon in the study area, or were associated with vegetation communities infrequently sampled in mosaics, this shows that conservation efforts in agricultural landscapes will not be appropriate for all species. For those woodland species that were recorded, measures of the extent of wooded vegetation cover had a strong, positive influence on the frequency of occurrence of individual species in mosaics. Thus, individual species of woodland bird occurred more frequently in mosaics with a greater cover of wooded vegetation. Nine woodland species showed a stronger response to measures of vegetation cover that included tree plantation and/or scattered trees than to the cover of native vegetation alone. For these species, structurally complex countryside elements provide valuable supplementary habitat at the landscape scale. Results of this study show that landscape properties influence the occurrence of birds in agricultural mosaics. The extent of cover of element types, particularly native vegetation, had the strongest influence on all measures of bird occurrence in mosaics. Thus, native vegetation is vital for the persistence of birds in farmland landscapes and is the primary element on which conservation efforts in these environments depend. Nevertheless, with careful management, countryside elements may provide additional conservation benefits for many bird species. Countryside elements made an important contribution to landscape heterogeneity, the landscape property with greatest influence on overall bird richness in mosaics. Countryside elements also increased the structural complexity of cleared agricultural land, and so have the capacity to enhance connectivity in fragmented landscapes. A focus on these factors (landscape heterogeneity and structural complexity) will provide the greatest opportunities for using countryside elements to increase the conservation value of farmland environments for native fauna. The relatively small scale of this study indicates that the cumulative effect of even small elements in farm mosaics contributes to the structural properties of entire landscapes. Critically, this emphasises the important contribution that individual landholders can make to nature conservation in agricultural environments.

This study considered the influence of exotic shrubs on birds in urban patches of Yellow Box- Blakely's Red Gum (E. melliodora-E. blakelyi) woodlands in the Australian Capital Territory, Canberra. The aim of this research was to identify native and exotic birds that have their abundance influenced by exotic shrubs. The purpose of this work was to provide more information to managers of this woodland about the potential impacts of weed control on birds living in woodland reserves adjacent to suburban areas. Birds were sampled between 1996 and 1998 using the twenty minute area-search method to derive estimates of bird abundance. Around 680 twenty minute area-searches were completed, with 665 of these undertaken at 12 two hectare plots with varying levels of exotic shrub cover over a period of ten months. The abundance of birds for each of the ten months sampled were compared by pooling sites into four classes of exotic shrub cover. Classes of exotic shrub cover were nil, light, moderate and dense. Seasonal inferences were drawn from non-parametric analysis of variance. Non-parametric measures of association were used to test for correlation between the mean abundance of bird species at different woodland sites and percentage foliage estimates of exotic shrub cover. Percentage foliage estimates of native shrub cover were included in tests for correlation between bird abundance and exotic shrub cover by applying partial measures of association. To support statistical information, observations of birds in exotic shrub cover were also recorded. In one woodland site birds were sampled before and after the removal of exotic shrub cover. No statistical tests were applied to these samples because of a lack of replication; however, descriptive graphs of the abundance of selected birds following weed control are presented. To investigate the effect that exotic shrub invasion may have on the composition of bird assemblages in woodland cluster analysis and ordination of the 12 sites using the mean abundance of the 75 species recorded between July 1997 and June 1998 were also undertaken. The presence of exotic shrub cover in E. melliodora-E. blakelyi woodland in Canberra was found to have differential effects on bird abundance. Wrens, finches, thornbills, whistlers and pigeons were more abundant in woodland sites where exotic shrubs were present when compared to sites with no or little exotic shrub cover. Fruit-eating birds, such as Silvereyes (Zosterops lateralis), Pied Currawong (Strepera graculina) and Crimson Rosella (Platycercus elegans), were more abundant in woodland with exotic shrubs in winter and autumn when these shrubs provided food in the form of berries. The abundance of fruit-eating birds, and wrens and finches was reduced in a single woodland site following the removal of most of the exotic shrub cover. The Common Blackbird (Turdus merula) was the only exotic bird which showed a strong association with exotic shrubs in woodland, while the Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae) was negatively correlated with exotic shrub cover, possibly because prey is harder to detect and capture in woodland with a shrubby understorey. Cluster analysis and ordination of the 12 woodland sites did not group sites into the four experimental classes used to undertake analysis of variance. Multivariate analysis, however, did reveal that seasonal peaks in the abundance of fruit eating birds affected the composition of bird assemblages by increasing the mean abundance of these birds in densely invaded sites. Similarly, structural differences in the understorey resulted in some birds being more abundant in woodland sites invaded by exotic shrubs when compared to sites lacking a shrubby understorey. The distance between some sites confirmed this stark difference in bird life when plotted in three dimensions. The results of this study suggest that exotic shrubs add food and structural complexity to woodland habitat. Benefits of structural complexity for small native birds in woodland include nest sites and protection from predators. These benefits may operate at certain thresholds of invasion, as the woodland site with the densest level of exotic shrub invasion showed a slight decrease in the number of wrens and finches. Adverse impacts from exotic shrub invasion may include reduced open ground in which to forage and loss of floristic diversity in the understorey. In effect, exotic shrubs add and remove resources in woodland habitat, benefiting some bird species and limiting others. These findings suggest that the removal of exotic shrub cover in woodland located in urban landscapes simplifies the structural complexity of the understorey, reducing the quality of habitat for some birds. Thus, adverse impacts on biodiversity arising from the invasion of exotic shrubs in woodland need to be considered against the important role that a diverse bird population has in maintaining ecosystem function.

Thesis (M.S.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Biology Department, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references.

Woodland caribou population declines in west-central Alberta precipitated a wolfcontrol. This program to protect caribou could be compromised if (1) there are strong public pressures against helicopter gunning and strychnine poisoning of wolves and/or (2) other predators compensate to kill caribou. Because bears can be important ungulate predators, I used stable isotope techniques to reconstruct black and grizzly bear diets including contributions of caribou, caribou calves, ants, ungulates (moose, deer and elk), and 3 plant groups. Bears assimilated 2-58% terrestrial protein indicating large variation among individuals. As an alternative to current wolf-control practices, I reviewed spatial and temporal patterns of harvests (1985-2006) on registered traplines. Wolf trapping has increased during the past 2 decades, but on average trappers harvested only 10% of the provincial wolf population, well below culls required to control the population. Under the registered trapline system it is unlikely that trapping could control wolf abundance. / Ecology

A seed sowing experiment was conducted in a mixed secondary woodland on acidic soils in NE Germany with <i>Melampyrum pratense</i>, an annual ant-dispersed forest herb which lacks a natural population in the study area, but is abundant in similar habitats. Each set of 300 seeds was sown within one square metre at three sites in 1997, and the development of the populations was recorded from 1998 onward. Additionally, seed fall patterns were studied in a natural population by means of adhesive cardboard. All trials resulted in the recruitment of populations, which survived and increased in both individual number and area, up to the year 2001. Thus, local distribution of <i>Melampyrum pratense</i> is dispersallimited. Total individual number increased from 105 to 3,390, and total population area from 2.07 to 109.04 m². Migration occurred in all directions. Mean migration rate was 0.91 m per year, and the highest migration rate was 6.48 m. No individual was recorded beyond 7.63 m from the centres of the sawn squares after three years, suggesting exclusive short-distance dispersal. As primary dispersal enables only distances of up to 0.25 m, ants are presumed to be the main dispersal vectors. Despite differences in individual number and colonization patterns, migration rates did not differ significantly between the populations, but were significantly higher in 2001 due to an increased population size. Colonization patterns were characterized by a rapid, negative exponential decrease of population density with increasing distance from the sown plot, suggesting a colonization by establishment of more or less isolated outposts of individuals and a subsequent gradual infill of the gaps between. My results resemble myrmecochorous dispersal distances in temperate woodlands, and migration rates and patterns across ecotones from ancient to recent deciduous forests. They may function as a colonization model of <i>Melampyrum pratense</i> after accidental long-distance dispersal.

Recent archaeological surveys on Peter Pond Lake have provided an opportunity to better elucidate the Late Woodland period of occupation in the upper Churchill River basin of northwestern Saskatchewan. Previous studies identified two pottery-bearing cultures in the region. This included the Kisis complex of the well-documented Selkirk composite, which is characterized by Winnipeg Fabric-impressed ware and dates from approximately A.D. 1300 through to the historic period. The second was a lesser-known archaeological entity represented by limited pottery recoveries from just two sites in the region. Early interpretations proposed this latter Narrows pottery represented an incursion of the plains adapted Old Womens phase into the region, with a suggested age of approximately A.D. 1000 to 1300. <p> Through a comprehensive analysis of pottery assemblages recently recovered from over twenty sites in the Peter Pond Lake region, this study was able to further validate the original description of the Kisis complex, but more significantly, propose a new pottery ware and complex for the enigmatic Narrows pottery assemblages. As a result, this pottery is now formally classified as Narrows Fabric-impressed ware and is considered characteristic of the Buffalo Lake complex. This complex is centered on Peter Pond Lake and appears to have an extensive presence in the region. Recently obtained radiocarbon dates indicate it is slightly younger than originally believed, and spanned from approximately A.D 1200 to 1500. Unlike previous interpretations, which suggest this pottery represents a plains influence in the region, the Buffalo Lake complex is considered a boreal forest manifestation, with origins that lie in the woodlands to the southeast. The pottery shares particular affinities with contemporaneous Sandy Lake ware that has a distribution extending from east-central Saskatchewan through to northwestern Ontario and Minnesota, with additional influences evident from Winnipeg Fabric-impressed ware found throughout northern Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario.

Recent archaeological surveys on Peter Pond Lake have provided an opportunity to better elucidate the Late Woodland period of occupation in the upper Churchill River basin of northwestern Saskatchewan. Previous studies identified two pottery-bearing cultures in the region. This included the Kisis complex of the well-documented Selkirk composite, which is characterized by Winnipeg Fabric-impressed ware and dates from approximately A.D. 1300 through to the historic period. The second was a lesser-known archaeological entity represented by limited pottery recoveries from just two sites in the region. Early interpretations proposed this latter "Narrows" pottery represented an incursion of the plains adapted Old Women's phase into the region, with a suggested age of approximately A.D. 1000 to 1300. <p> Through a comprehensive analysis of pottery assemblages recently recovered from over twenty sites in the Peter Pond Lake region, this study was able to further validate the original description of the Kisis complex, but more significantly, propose a new pottery ware and complex for the enigmatic Narrows pottery assemblages. As a result, this pottery is now formally classified as Narrows Fabric-impressed ware and is considered characteristic of the Buffalo Lake complex. This complex is centered on Peter Pond Lake and appears to have an extensive presence in the region. Recently obtained radiocarbon dates indicate it is slightly younger than originally believed, and spanned from approximately A.D 1200 to 1500. Unlike previous interpretations, which suggest this pottery represents a plains influence in the region, the Buffalo Lake complex is considered a boreal forest manifestation, with origins that lie in the woodlands to the southeast. The pottery shares particular affinities with contemporaneous Sandy Lake ware that has a distribution extending from east-central Saskatchewan through to northwestern Ontario and Minnesota, with additional influences evident from Winnipeg Fabric-impressed ware found throughout northern Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario.

Recent archaeological surveys on Peter Pond Lake have provided an opportunity to better elucidate the Late Woodland period of occupation in the upper Churchill River basin of northwestern Saskatchewan. Previous studies identified two pottery-bearing cultures in the region. This included the Kisis complex of the well-documented Selkirk composite, which is characterized by Winnipeg Fabric-impressed ware and dates from approximately A.D. 1300 through to the historic period. The second was a lesser-known archaeological entity represented by limited pottery recoveries from just two sites in the region. Early interpretations proposed this latter Narrows pottery represented an incursion of the plains adapted Old Womens phase into the region, with a suggested age of approximately A.D. 1000 to 1300. <p> Through a comprehensive analysis of pottery assemblages recently recovered from over twenty sites in the Peter Pond Lake region, this study was able to further validate the original description of the Kisis complex, but more significantly, propose a new pottery ware and complex for the enigmatic Narrows pottery assemblages. As a result, this pottery is now formally classified as Narrows Fabric-impressed ware and is considered characteristic of the Buffalo Lake complex. This complex is centered on Peter Pond Lake and appears to have an extensive presence in the region. Recently obtained radiocarbon dates indicate it is slightly younger than originally believed, and spanned from approximately A.D 1200 to 1500. Unlike previous interpretations, which suggest this pottery represents a plains influence in the region, the Buffalo Lake complex is considered a boreal forest manifestation, with origins that lie in the woodlands to the southeast. The pottery shares particular affinities with contemporaneous Sandy Lake ware that has a distribution extending from east-central Saskatchewan through to northwestern Ontario and Minnesota, with additional influences evident from Winnipeg Fabric-impressed ware found throughout northern Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario.

Recent archaeological surveys on Peter Pond Lake have provided an opportunity to better elucidate the Late Woodland period of occupation in the upper Churchill River basin of northwestern Saskatchewan. Previous studies identified two pottery-bearing cultures in the region. This included the Kisis complex of the well-documented Selkirk composite, which is characterized by Winnipeg Fabric-impressed ware and dates from approximately A.D. 1300 through to the historic period. The second was a lesser-known archaeological entity represented by limited pottery recoveries from just two sites in the region. Early interpretations proposed this latter "Narrows" pottery represented an incursion of the plains adapted Old Women's phase into the region, with a suggested age of approximately A.D. 1000 to 1300. <p> Through a comprehensive analysis of pottery assemblages recently recovered from over twenty sites in the Peter Pond Lake region, this study was able to further validate the original description of the Kisis complex, but more significantly, propose a new pottery ware and complex for the enigmatic Narrows pottery assemblages. As a result, this pottery is now formally classified as Narrows Fabric-impressed ware and is considered characteristic of the Buffalo Lake complex. This complex is centered on Peter Pond Lake and appears to have an extensive presence in the region. Recently obtained radiocarbon dates indicate it is slightly younger than originally believed, and spanned from approximately A.D 1200 to 1500. Unlike previous interpretations, which suggest this pottery represents a plains influence in the region, the Buffalo Lake complex is considered a boreal forest manifestation, with origins that lie in the woodlands to the southeast. The pottery shares particular affinities with contemporaneous Sandy Lake ware that has a distribution extending from east-central Saskatchewan through to northwestern Ontario and Minnesota, with additional influences evident from Winnipeg Fabric-impressed ware found throughout northern Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario.