ORCID Profile
0000-0001-8817-4360
Current Organisations
Lincoln University
,
UNSW
,
University of New England
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Publisher: Wiley
Date: 20-06-2011
Publisher: New Zealand Ecological Society
Date: 2018
Publisher: Research Square Platform LLC
Date: 11-01-2022
DOI: 10.21203/RS.3.RS-1242094/V1
Abstract: Animals, such as termites, have largely been overlooked as global-scale drivers of biogeochemical cycles 1,2 , despite site-specific findings 3,4 . Deadwood turnover, an important component of the carbon cycle, is driven by multiple decay agents. Studies have focused on temperate systems 5,6 , where microbes dominate decay 7 . Microbial decay is sensitive to temperature, typically doubling per 10°C increase (decay effective Q 10 = ~2) 8–10 . Termites are important decayers in tropical systems 3,11–13 and differ from microbes in their population dynamics, dispersal, and substrate discovery 14–16 , meaning their climate sensitivities also differ. Using a network of 133 sites spanning 6 continents, we report the first global field-based quantification of temperature and precipitation sensitivities for termites and microbes, providing novel understandings of their response to changing climates. Temperature sensitivity of microbial decay was within previous estimates. Termite discovery and consumption were both much more sensitive to temperature (decay effective Q 10 = 6.53), leading to striking differences in deadwood turnover in areas with and without termites. Termite impacts were greatest in tropical seasonal forests and savannas and subtropical deserts. With tropicalization 17 (i.e., warming shifts to a tropical climate), the termite contribution to global wood decay will increase as more of the earth’s surface becomes accessible to termites.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 12-2013
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 29-01-2019
DOI: 10.3390/FIRE2010006
Abstract: A key determinant of wildfire behaviour is the flammability of constituent plants. One plant trait that influences flammability is the retention of dead biomass, as the low moisture content of dead material means less energy is required to achieve combustion. However, the effect of the dead-to-live ratio of fuel on plant flammability has rarely been experimentally quantified. Here we examine the nature of the relationship between dead fuel accumulation and flammability in Ulex europaeus (common gorse). Shoots with varying proportions of dead material were ignited in a purpose-built plant-burner. Three components of flammability were measured: sustainability (flame duration), consumability (proportion burnt biomass) and combustibility (maximum temperature). While flame duration and proportion burnt biomass had a positive linear relationship with the proportion of dead material, the response of maximum temperature was positive but non-linear. All three flammability components were reduced to a single variable using principal components analysis this had a non-linear relationship with the proportion of dead material. The response of maximum temperature to dead material plateaued at 39%. These findings have implications for the management of habitats invaded by gorse to mitigate fire hazard associated with gorse, stands should be kept at a relatively young age when dead fuel is less prevalent.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 30-09-2021
DOI: 10.1038/S41597-021-01006-6
Abstract: We introduce the AusTraits database - a compilation of values of plant traits for taxa in the Australian flora (hereafter AusTraits). AusTraits synthesises data on 448 traits across 28,640 taxa from field c aigns, published literature, taxonomic monographs, and in idual taxon descriptions. Traits vary in scope from physiological measures of performance (e.g. photosynthetic gas exchange, water-use efficiency) to morphological attributes (e.g. leaf area, seed mass, plant height) which link to aspects of ecological variation. AusTraits contains curated and harmonised in idual- and species-level measurements coupled to, where available, contextual information on site properties and experimental conditions. This article provides information on version 3.0.2 of AusTraits which contains data for 997,808 trait-by-taxon combinations. We envision AusTraits as an ongoing collaborative initiative for easily archiving and sharing trait data, which also provides a template for other national or regional initiatives globally to fill persistent gaps in trait knowledge.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 06-05-2008
Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
Date: 2011
DOI: 10.1039/C1CP90197D
Publisher: Telecommunications Association Inc.
Date: 29-06-2021
Abstract: On 24 March 2021, TelSoc hosted the sixth Broadband Futures Forum, held online, with a focus on regional and rural broadband access. Mr Gavin Williams from NBN Co, the developer of Australia’s National Broadband Network (NBN), spoke about developments in Fixed Wireless and Satellite services and described NBN Co’s commitment to ongoing enhancement of broadband access in regional and rural Australia. A question-and-answer session followed the presentation in which Mr Williams fielded a variety of questions on broadband access and technological developments.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 04-04-2017
DOI: 10.1111/JBI.12950
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 16-09-2021
DOI: 10.1111/PCE.14176
Abstract: Record‐breaking fire seasons in many regions across the globe raise important questions about plant community responses to shifting fire regimes (i.e., changing fire frequency, severity and seasonality). Here, we examine the impacts of climate‐driven shifts in fire regimes on vegetation communities, and likely responses to fire coinciding with severe drought, heatwaves and/or insect outbreaks. We present scenario‐based conceptual models on how overlapping disturbance events and shifting fire regimes interact differently to limit post‐fire resprouting and recruitment capacity. We demonstrate that, although many communities will remain resilient to changing fire regimes in the short‐term, longer‐term changes to vegetation structure, demography and species composition are likely, with a range of subsequent effects on ecosystem function. Resprouting species are likely to be most resilient to changing fire regimes. However, even these species are susceptible if exposed to repeated short‐interval fire in combination with other stressors. Post‐fire recruitment is highly vulnerable to increased fire frequency, particularly as climatic limitations on propagule availability intensify. Prediction of community responses to fire under climate change will be greatly improved by addressing knowledge gaps on how overlapping disturbances and climate change‐induced shifts in fire regime affect post‐fire resprouting, recruitment, growth rates, and species‐level adaptation capacity.
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2016
DOI: 10.1071/WF15047
Abstract: Fire is an important ecological disturbance in vegetated ecosystems across the globe, and also has considerable impacts on human infrastructure. Vegetation flammability is a key bottom-up control on fire regimes and on the nature of in idual fires. Although New Zealand (NZ) historically had low fire frequencies, anthropogenic fires have considerably impacted indigenous vegetation as humans used fire extensively to clear forests. Few studies of vegetation flammability have been undertaken in NZ and only one has compared the flammability of indigenous plants this was a qualitative assessment derived from expert opinion. We addressed this knowledge gap by measuring the flammability of terminal shoots from a range of trees and shrubs found in NZ. We quantified shoot flammability of 60 indigenous and exotic species, and compared our experimentally derived ranking with expert opinion. The most flammable species was the invasive exotic shrub Gorse (Ulex europaeus), followed by Manna Gum (Eucalyptus viminalis), Kūmarahou (Pomaderris kumeraho), Rimu (Dacrydium cupressinum) and Silver Beech (Lophozonia menziesii). Our experimentally derived ranking was strongly correlated with expert opinion, lending support to both methods. Our results are useful to ecologists seeking to understand how fires have and will influence NZ’s ecosystems, and for fire managers identifying high-risk landscapes, and low flammability species for ‘green firebreaks’.
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2011
DOI: 10.1071/BT10321
Abstract: Drought affects the distribution of plant species in tropical forests and will likely increase under climate change. Future rainforest composition may be determined by species’ abilities to withstand increased drought incidence, particularly at the vulnerable seedling stage. A greenhouse drought survival experiment was conducted on seedlings of three common evergreen tree species from Australia’s Wet Tropics to assess species’ drought survival. This was then related to five functional traits to evaluate the relative importance of desiccation tolerance (ability to persist through drought) and desiccation delay (ability to postpone drought stress) in drought survival. Among the three species examined, delay traits (leaf shedding, root-to-shoot ratio and stem saturated water content) corresponded with experimental drought survival better than tolerance traits (specific leaf area, stem density). Notably, we found differential leaf shedding among these evergreen species and a positive correlation between percent leaf loss and drought survival among in iduals across all species (R2 = 0.42). If this pattern holds with greater species replication, it suggests that desiccation delay, particularly via leaf shedding, is important for drought survival even in nominally evergreen species. We suggest that finer classifications of deciduousness such as percent leaf loss under drought stress may be useful in predicting species’ responses to drought conditions.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 13-04-2020
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 08-10-2019
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 11-06-2020
DOI: 10.1111/NPH.16651
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 12-03-2010
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 20-02-2018
DOI: 10.1111/AEC.12577
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 25-09-2017
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 20-02-2018
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2013
DOI: 10.1071/BT12081
Abstract: Water availability influences regional tree distributions in rainforests, often by affecting survival of seedlings. The occurrence of ‘dry rainforest’ species in subhumid climates has been attributed to the evolution of drought-resistant species from their mesic rainforest congeners. Many genera are found in both dry and mesic rainforest of Australia but the extent to which this is due to differential drought resistance has not been confirmed experimentally. We compared drought survival within three congeneric pairs of dry and mesic rainforest taxa in a glasshouse dry-down experiment. Soil type could also play a role, with dry rainforests mostly occurring on fine-textured soils such as loams, which have a high available water-holding capacity, compensating for lower rainfall. Hence, we grew plants in loam or sand soil. In all pairs, the dry rainforest taxon was better able to survive drought, providing support for the climate-induced evolution of a dry rainforest flora and further confirming that drought resistance of seedlings can shape tree species distributions at regional scales. Two of three pairs had higher seedling survival on basalt-derived loam soil, suggesting that such soils may aid seedling persistence during drought. Over evolutionary time, this may have resulted in the high fidelity of dry rainforest for these soils.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 24-08-2011
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2019
DOI: 10.1016/J.JENVMAN.2018.12.043
Abstract: Wildfire is a widespread natural hazard that is expected to increase in areal extent, severity and frequency with ongoing changes in climate and land-use. One tool that has been used in an effort to reduce the damage caused by wildfires is green firebreaks: strips of low-flammability vegetation grown at strategic locations in the landscape. Green firebreaks are increasingly being recommended for wildfire management and have been implemented in many countries. The approach is particularly widely used in China, where more than 364,000 km of green firebreaks have been planted and a further 167,000 km are planned for construction before 2025. China is not only a world leader in the implementation of green firebreaks but has also led the way in testing the effectiveness of green firebreaks and in providing guidelines for green firebreak construction. However, most of this research has been reported in the non-English literature, and so is inaccessible to many readers. Here we review the extensive research on the construction and effectiveness of green firebreaks in China and examine how the lessons learned from this research could contribute to the effective implementation of green firebreaks globally. Chinese studies suggest that the ideal species for green firebreaks should meet trait requirements from three perspectives: ecological, silvicultural and economic. Green firebreaks with a multi-layered structure and a closed canopy have the potential to be an effective, long-term, bio ersity-friendly and low-cost tool for fire suppression, although they complement rather than replace other more traditional fire suppression approaches.
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2013
DOI: 10.1071/AM12035
Abstract: The tree mouse (Pogonomys sp.) is a cryptic species from north-east Queensland. We report the first known predation of this species by a reptile, the carpet python (Morelia spilota), based on the identification of hair retrieved from a road-killed python. We describe characteristics of the hair s le and comment on implications that erse foraging strategies in a reptilian predator may have for prey behaviour and vulnerability.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 06-05-2008
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 2013
DOI: 10.1111/EMR.12031
Publisher: PeerJ
Date: 04-03-2014
DOI: 10.7717/PEERJ.285
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 06-05-2008
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2022
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 06-2008
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 28-02-2020
DOI: 10.3390/F11030269
Abstract: Resprouting is an important trait that allows plants to persist after fire and is considered a key functional trait in woody plants. While resprouting is well documented in fire-prone biomes, information is scarce in non-fire-prone ecosystems, such as New Zealand (NZ) forests. Our objective was to investigate patterns of post-fire resprouting in NZ by identifying the ability of species to resprout and quantifying the resprouting rates within the local plant community. Fire occurrence is likely to increase in NZ as a consequence of climate change, and this investigation addresses an important knowledge gap needed for planning restoration actions in fire-susceptible regions. The study was conducted in two phases: (1) A detailed review of the resprouting ability of the NZ woody flora, and (2) a field study where the post-fire responses of plants were quantified. The field study was undertaken in the eastern South Island, where woody plants ( cm diameter at 30 cm height) were s led in 10 plots (10x10 m), five- and 10-months post-fire. The research synthesized the resprouting ability of 73 woody species and is the first to provide extensive quantitative data on resprouting in NZ. Most of the canopy dominant species were non-resprouters, but many smaller trees and shrubs were capable of resprouting, despite their evolution in an environment with low fire frequency. Species composition and abundance were important predictors of resprouting patterns among plots, with similar communities resulting in similar resprouting responses. Resprouting capacity provides species with a competitive advantage in the post-fire recovery. We suggest that it is possible to engineer more fire resilient restoration plantings by planting higher proportions of the resprouters identified in this study. The incorporation of resprouting as a trait in restoration plans is likely to be relevant not just in NZ, but also in other non-fire-prone regions facing increases in fire frequency.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 22-10-2021
DOI: 10.1111/PCE.14201
Abstract: The cover image is based on the Invited Review Limits to post‐fire vegetation recovery under climate change by Rachael H. Nolan et al., 0.1111 ce.14176 . image
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 02-10-2014
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 10-2015
DOI: 10.3732/AJB.1500157
Abstract: In fire-prone ecosystems, variation in bark thickness among species and communities has been explained by fire frequency thick bark is necessary to protect cambium from lethal temperatures. Elsewhere this investment is deemed unnecessary, and thin bark is thought to prevail. However, in rain forest ecosystems where fire is rare, bark thickness varies widely among species and communities, and the causes of this variation remain enigmatic. We tested for functional explanations of bark thickness variation in temperate rain forest species and communities. We measured bark thickness in 82 tree species throughout New Zealand temperate rain forests that historically have experienced little fire and applied two complementary analyses. First, we examined correlations between bark traits and leaf habit, and leaf and stem traits. Second, we calculated community-weighted mean (CWM) bark thickness for 272 plots distributed throughout New Zealand to identify the environments in which thicker-barked communities occur. Conifers had higher size-independent bark thickness than evergreen angiosperms. Species with thicker bark or higher bark allocation coefficients were not associated with "slow economic" plant traits. Across 272 forest plots, communities with thicker bark occurred on infertile soils, and communities with thicker bark and higher bark allocation coefficients occurred in cooler, drier climates. In non-fire-prone temperate rain forest ecosystems, investment in bark is driven by soil resources, cool minimum temperatures, and seasonal moisture stress. The role of these factors in fire-prone ecosystems warrants testing.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2022
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2015
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2024
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Date: 28-09-2022
Abstract: Deadwood is a large global carbon store with its store size partially determined by biotic decay. Microbial wood decay rates are known to respond to changing temperature and precipitation. Termites are also important decomposers in the tropics but are less well studied. An understanding of their climate sensitivities is needed to estimate climate change effects on wood carbon pools. Using data from 133 sites spanning six continents, we found that termite wood discovery and consumption were highly sensitive to temperature (with decay increasing .8 times per 10°C increase in temperature)—even more so than microbes. Termite decay effects were greatest in tropical seasonal forests, tropical savannas, and subtropical deserts. With tropicalization (i.e., warming shifts to tropical climates), termite wood decay will likely increase as termites access more of Earth’s surface.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 09-02-2021
DOI: 10.1002/FEE.2285
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 11-2017
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 26-04-2023
DOI: 10.1071/WF22192
Abstract: Background Mitigation of wildfires at the wildland–urban interface (WUI) will be enhanced by understanding the flammability of plants growing in this zone. Aims We aimed to: (1) compare shoot flammability among wildland native, and both urban native and urban exotic ornamental plants (2) quantify relationships between shoot traits and flammability and (3) establish flammability scores to distinguish low- from high-flammability species. Methods Flammability and traits of field-collected shoots were measured and relationships quantified in 44 species from the Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, Australia. Key results In our study area, urban exotic plants were less flammable than wildland and urban native plants. Slow-igniting shoots had high fuel moisture and bulk density short-burning shoots had low bulk density and volume shoots recording low maximum temperatures had high fuel moisture, low bulk density and volume and shoots with low biomass consumed in flames had high fuel moisture and low volume. Our novel flammability scores distinguished low-flammability (e.g. Lophostemon confertus) from high-flammability native species (e.g. Callistemon citrinus). Conclusions and implications Low-flammability plantings at the WUI should preferably use native species given potential ecological impacts of exotics. We suggest that future work should seek to identify broader suites of low-flammability native species.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 05-04-2023
DOI: 10.1111/NPH.18905
Abstract: Plant flammability is an important driver of wildfires, and flammability itself is determined by several plant functional traits. While many plant traits are influenced by climatic conditions, the interaction between climatic conditions and plant flammability has rarely been investigated. Here, we explored the relationships among climatic conditions, shoot‐level flammability components, and flammability‐related functional traits for 186 plant species from fire‐prone and nonfire‐prone habitats. For species originating from nonfire‐prone habitats, those from warmer areas tended to have lower shoot moisture content and larger leaves, and had higher shoot flammability with higher ignitibility, combustibility, and sustainability. Plants in wetter areas tended to have lower shoot flammability with lower combustibility and sustainability due to higher shoot moisture contents. In fire‐prone habitats, shoot flammability was not significantly related to any climatic factor. Our study suggests that for species originating in nonfire‐prone habitats, climatic conditions have influenced plant flammability by shifting flammability‐related functional traits, including leaf size and shoot moisture content. Climate does not predict shoot flammability in species from fire‐prone habitats here, fire regimes may have an important role in shaping plant flammability. Understanding these nuances in the determinants of plant flammability is important in an increasingly fire‐prone world.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 04-2015
DOI: 10.1890/ES14-00198.1
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 22-12-2017
DOI: 10.3390/FIRE1010003
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2009
DOI: 10.1071/BT09128
Abstract: The occurrence of dry rainforest in climates considered drier than the recognised limit for rainforest has been explained by the edaphic compensation hypothesis, which proposed that finer-textured soils facilitate the occurrence of rainforest at climatic extremes. We tested this by examining the effect of soil type on the water relations and plant traits of four dry rainforest species, during a severe drought and subsequent non-drought periods. We predicted plants growing in sandy soils would exhibit higher levels of water stress (lower predawn water potential and stomatal conductance) and possess morphological and physiological traits that more typically reflect drought resistance (late leaf fall in deciduous species, low specific leaf area, vertical leaf angles and stomata that close at low water potential) than those growing in loam soils. During drought, levels of water stress were similar across soil types, while post-drought plants on sandy soils were less stressed. Soil type did not cause shifts in drought tolerance traits, suggesting there has been no ecotypic differentiation of dry rainforest species across soil types for these traits. Hence, we found no support for the edaphic compensation hypothesis in adult plants future studies should consider other life-cycle stages, such as seedlings.
No related grants have been discovered for Timothy Curran.