Flammable Australia
The Fire Regimes and Biodiversity of a Continent

An investigation of the action of fire on the Australian ecosystem and its application in land management.

Ross A. Bradstock (Edited by), Jann E. Williams (Edited by), Malcolm A. Gill (Edited by)

9780521125314, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 17 December 2009

488 pages
24.6 x 18.9 x 2.5 cm, 0.86 kg

Review of the hardback: '… this book will become an invaluable reference for the current and next generation of scholars and practitioners with a stake in understanding and managing the world's most fire-prone continent.' Journal of Biogeography

Fire is pivotal to the functioning of ecosystems in Australia, affecting the distribution and abundance of the continent's unique and highly diverse range of plants and animals. Conservation of this natural biodiversity therefore requires a good understanding of scientific processes involved in the action of fire on the landscape. This book provides a synthesis of current knowledge in this area and its application in contemporary land management. Central to the discussion is an exploration of the concept of the fire regime - the cumulative pattern of fires and their individual characteristics (fire type, frequency, intensity and season) - and its interactions with biodiversity. Contributions by thirty-two leading experts cover a broad sweep of topics, including prehistory, future climate change, fire behaviour, modelling of temporal and spatial patterns, plant and animal life-cycles, case studies of major ecosystems, and management policies and systems.

Preface
Part I. Past and Future: 1. A history of fire in Australia A. Peter Kershaw, James S. Clark, A. Malcolm Gill and D. M. D'Costa
2. Importance of a changing climate for fire regimes in Australia Geoffrey J. Cary
Part II. Fire Regimes and Life Histories: 3. Fire properties and burn patterns in heterogeneous landscapes Wendy Catchpole
4. Fire regimes in landscapes: models and realities Michael A. McCarthy and Geoffrey J. Cary
5. Critical life cycles of plants and animals - developing a process-based understanding of population changes in fire-prone landscapes Robert J. Whelan, Louise Rodgerson, Chris R. Dickman and Elizabeth F. Sutherland
6. Spatial variability in fire regimes: its effects on recent and past vegetation James S. Clark, A. Malcolm Gill and A. Peter Kershaw
Part III. Ecosystems: Grasslands: 7. Fire regimes in the Spinifex landscapes of Australia Grant Allan and Richard Southgate
8. The role of fire regimes in temperate lowland grasslands of south-eastern Australia Ian D. Lunt and John W. Morgan
Part IV. Ecosystems: Shrublands: 9. Fire regimes in Australian heathlands and their effects on plants and animals David A. Keith, W. Lachie McCaw and Robert J. Whelan
10. Fires regimes and biodiversity in semi-arid mallee ecosystems Ross A. Bradstock and Janet S. Cohn
11. Fire regimes in Acacia wooded landscapes: effects on functional processes and biodiversity Ken C. Hodgkinson
Part V. Ecosystems: Woodlands: 12. Fire regimes and biodiversity in the savannahs of northern Australia Richard J. Williams, Anthony D. Griffiths and Grant Allan
13. Fire regimes and their effects in Australian temperate woodlands Richard Hobbs
Part VI. Ecosystems: Forests: 14. Fire regimes and fire management of rainforest communities across northern Australia Jeremy Russell-Smith and Peter Stanton
15. Fire regimes and biodiversity of forested landscapes of southern Australia A. Malcolm Gill and Peter C. Catling
Part VII. Applications: 16. Fire regimes in semi-arid and tropical pastoral lands: managing biological diversity and ecosystem function James C. Noble and Anthony C. Grice
17. Fire management and biodiversity conservation - key approaches and principles David A. Keith, Jann E. Williams and John C. Z. Woinarski
Part VII. Conclusions: 18. Fire regimes and biodiversity: legacy and vision A. Malcolm Gill, Ross A. Bradstock and Jann E. Williams
Index.

Subject Areas: Environmental science, engineering & technology [TQ], Natural disasters [RNR], Pollution & threats to the environment [RNP], Conservation of the environment [RNK], Plant ecology [PSTS], Ecological science, the Biosphere [PSAF]