ORCID Profile
0000-0002-2226-9356
Current Organisation
Territory Natural Resource Management
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Publications
The effects of fire history on hollow-bearing tree abundance in montane and subalpine eucalypt forests in southeastern Australia
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2018
The disproportionate importance of long‐unburned forests and woodlands for reptiles
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 17-10-2018
DOI: 10.1002/ECE3.4561
More long-unburnt forest will benefit mammals in Australian sub-alpine forests and woodlands
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 02-06-2019
DOI: 10.1111/AEC.12786
Long-unburnt habitat is critical for the conservation of threatened vertebrates across Australia
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 09-03-2022
DOI: 10.1007/S10980-022-01427-7
Abstract: Increases in fire frequency, intensity and extent are occurring globally. Relative to historical, Indigenous managed conditions, contemporary landscapes are often characterised by younger age classes of vegetation and a much smaller representation of long-unburnt habitat. We argue that, to conserve many threatened vertebrate species in Australia, landscape management should emphasise the protection of existing long-unburnt patches from fire, as well as facilitate the recruitment of additional long-unburnt habitat, while maintaining historically relevant age distributions of more recently burned patches. We use a range of case studies and ecosystem types to illustrate three lines of evidence: (1) that many threatened vertebrate species depend on mid- to late-successional ecosystem attributes (2) disturbance to long-unburnt habitat tends to increase risk of future disturbance and ecosystem collapse and (3) contemporary landscapes exhibit a range of characteristics that differ to historical conditions and require context-specific management. It is crucial that we adequately consider the implications of altered contemporary landscapes for management activities that aim to conserve threatened vertebrates. Contemporary landscapes often lack a range of critical structural and compositional components typical of late-successional habitat that are required for the persistence of threatened vertebrates. We need to shift towards strategic, objective-driven approaches that identify and protect long-unburnt habitats and promote their recruitment to enable recovery of many declining and threatened species.
Predation of pitfall-trapped rodents by the ghost bat, Macroderma gigas
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2016
DOI: 10.1071/AM15022
Abstract: Pitfall trapping for wildlife research is accompanied by the risk of predation of captured animals. However, predation events are sometimes difficult to observe and not subsequently reported. We describe the first known records of predation of pitfall-trapped animals by ghost bats. We discuss these observations in the context of ghost bat hunting behaviour and the implications for pitfall trapping studies in northern Australia.
Features associated with effective biodiversity monitoring and evaluation
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2019
Best bait for your buck: Bait preference for camera trapping north Australian mammals
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2015
DOI: 10.1071/ZO15050
Abstract: Critical evaluations of bait attractiveness for camera trapping wildlife are scant even though use of the most attractive bait should improve detection of cryptic, threatened species. We aimed to determine the most attractive bait for camera trapping the northern hopping-mouse (Notomys aquilo) and sympatric mammals. We also tested the effectiveness of overhead camera trap orientation in identifying in idual northern quolls (Dasyurus hallucatus) as this could be used to define a camera trap event for analysis purposes. Using white-flash camera traps, the attractiveness of four baits (peanut butter with oats, corn, sesame oil and sunflower kernels) and a control were compared for N. aquilo, D. hallucatus, the northern brown bandicoot (Isoodon macrourus) and the agile wallaby (Notamacropus agilis). Spot patterns of D. hallucatus were compared to determine the visitation rate of in iduals. Peanut butter– and sesame oil–based baits were significantly more attractive to D. hallucatus, while I. macrourus strongly preferred the peanut butter bait. Bait type did not affect the mean number of events for N. aquilo or N. agilis. The consistently identifiable images of in idual D. hallucatus were used to determine the optimal event delineator of 15 min. The improved techniques for camera trapping D. hallucatus should be valuable for future capture–recapture studies of this species. Camera trapping is a viable replacement for the ineffective method of indexing the abundance of N. aquilo using indirect signs.
A comparison of fuel hazard in recently burned and long-unburned forests and woodlands
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2018
DOI: 10.1071/WF18037
Abstract: Fuel hazard is often assumed to increase with fuel age, or the time-since-fire. However, studies on fuel hazard in long-unburned forests are scarce. We measured overall fuel hazard in Eucalyptus forests and woodlands in south-eastern Australia at 81 sites where time-since-fire spans 0.5 years to at least 96 years. Overall fuel hazard was higher in forests and woodlands burned 6–12 years previously than those unburned for at least 96 years. The probability of high, very high or extreme overall fuel hazard – which is an operational threshold considered to equate with almost no chance of wildfire suppression in severe fire-weather – was highest 0.5–12 years post-fire, and lowest where fire had not occurred for at least 96 years. Frequent burning can maintain forest understorey in an early successional ‘shrubby’ state, leading to higher overall fuel hazard than forests where a lack of fire is associated with the senescence of shrubs. Protecting long-unburned sites from fire and managing to transition a larger proportion of forest to a long-unburned state may benefit fuel-hazard management within these forests in the long-term.
Related Organisations
Related Funding Activities
No related grants have been discovered for Kelly Dixon.