Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Fire controls population structure in four dominant tree species in a tropical savanna

  • Population Ecology - Original Paper
  • Published:
Oecologia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The persistence of mesic savannas has been theorised as being dependent on disturbances that restrict the number of juveniles growing through the sapling size class to become fire-tolerant trees. We analysed the population structures of four dominant tropical savanna tree species from 30 locations in Kakadu National Park (KNP), northern Australia. We found that across KNP as a whole, the population size structures of these species do not exhibit recruitment bottlenecks. However, individual stands had multimodal size-class distributions and mixtures of tree species consistent with episodic and individualistic recruitment of co-occurring tree species. Using information theory and multimodel inference, we examined the relative importance of fire frequency, stand basal area and elevation difference between a site and permanent water in explaining variations in the proportion of sapling to adult stems in four dominant tree species. This showed that the proportion of the tree population made up of saplings was negatively related to both fire frequencies and stand basal area. Overall, fire frequency has density-dependent effects in the regulation of the transition of saplings to trees in this Australian savanna, due to interactions with stem size, regeneration strategies, growth rates and tree–tree competition. Although stable at the regional scale, the spatiotemporal variability of fire can result in structural and floristic diversity of savanna tree populations.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Andersen AN, Cook GD, Corbett LK, Douglas MM, Eager RW, Russell-Smith J, Setterfield SA, Williams RJ, Woinarski JCZ (2005) Fire frequency and biodiversity conservation in Australian tropical savannas: implications from the Kapalga fire experiment. Austral Ecol 30:155–167

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bond WJ, Midgley JJ (2001) Ecology of sprouting in woody plants: the persistence niche. Trends Ecol Evol 16:45–51

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bowman DMJS (1986) Stand characteristics, understorey associates and environmental correlates of Eucalyptus tetrodonta F.Muell. forests on Gunn Point, Northern Australia. Vegetatio 65:105–113

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowman DMJS, Panton WJ (1993) Differences in the stand structure of Eucalyptus tetrodonta forests between Elcho Island and Gunn Point, Northern Australia. Aust J Bot 41:211–215

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowman DMJS, Panton WJ (1994) Fire and cyclone damage to woody vegetation on the north coast of the Northern Territory, Australia. Aust Geogr 25:32–35

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowman DMJS, Wilson BA, Hooper RJ (1988) Response of Eucalyptus forest and woodland to four fire regimes at Munmalary, Northern Territory, Australia. Aust J Ecol 76:215–232

    Google Scholar 

  • Burnham KP, Andersen DR (2002) Model selection and multi-model inference. Springer, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Enquist BJ, Niklas KJ (2001) Invariant scaling relations across tree-dominated communities. Nature 410:655–660

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fensham RJ (1992) The establishment of eucalypt seedlings in tropical savanna forest. North Territ Nat 13:30–36

    Google Scholar 

  • Fensham RJ, Bowman DMJS (1992) Stand structure and the influence of overwood on regeneration in tropical eucalypt forest on Melville Island. Aust J Bot 40:335–352

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fox ID, Neldner VJ, Wilson GW, Bannink PJ (2001) The vegetation of the Australian tropical savannas. Environment Protection Agency, Brisbane

    Google Scholar 

  • Frost PGH, Medina E, Menaut JC, Solbrig O, Swift M, Walker BH (1986) Responses of savannas to stress and disturbance. Biol Int (Special Issue) 10:1–82

    Google Scholar 

  • Gardner TA (2006) Tree–grass coexistence in the Brazilian cerrado: demographic consequences of environmental instability. J Biogeogr 33:448–463

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gignoux J, Clobert J, Menaut JC (1997) Alternative fire resistance strategies in savanna trees. Oecologia 110:576–583

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hanan NP, Sea WB, Dangelmayr G, Govender N (2008) Do fires in savannas consume woody biomass? A comment on approaches to modelling savanna dynamics. Am Nat 171:851–856

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Higgins SI, Bond WJ, Trollope WSW (2000) Fire, resprouting and variability: a recipe for grass-tree coexistence in savanna. J Ecol 88:213–229

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoffmann WA (1998) Post-burn reproduction of woody plants in a neotropical savanna: the relative importance of sexual and vegetative reproduction. J Appl Ecol 35:422–433

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoffmann WA, Solbrig OT (2003) The role of topkill in the differential response of savanna woody species to fire. For Ecol Manag 180:273–286

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • House JI et al (2003) Conundrums in mixed woody-herbaceous plant systems. J Biogeogr 30:1763–1777

    Google Scholar 

  • Lacey CJ, Whelan PI (1976) Observations on the ecological significance of vegetative reproduction in the Katherine-Darwin Region of the Northern Territory. Aust For 39:131–139

    Google Scholar 

  • Lehmann CER, Prior LD, Williams RJ, Bowman DMJS (2008) Spatio-temporal trends in savanna tree cover is driven by landscape disturbance. J Appl Ecol 45:1304–1311

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lonsdale WM, Braithwaite RW (1991) Assessing the effects of fire on vegetation in tropical savannas. Aust J Ecol 16:363–374

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McKenzie N, Jacquier D, Isbell R, Brown K (2004) Australian soils and landscapes. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Grady AP, Chen X, Eamus D, Hutley LB (2000) Composition, leaf area index and standing biomass of eucalypt open forests near Darwin in the Northern Territory, Australia. Aust J Bot 48:629–638

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prior LD, Eamus D (1999) Seasonal changes in leaf water characteristics of Eucalyptus tetrodonta and Terminalia ferdinandiana saplings in a northern Australian savanna. Aust J Bot 47:587–599

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prior LD, Brook BW, Williams RJ, Werner PA, Bradshaw CJA, Bowman DMJS (2006) Environmental and allometric drivers of tree growth rates in a north Australian savanna. For Ecol Manag 234:164–180

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prior LD, Murphy BP, Russell-Smith J (2009) Environmental and demographic correlates of tree recruitment and mortality in north Australian savannas. For Ecol Manag 257:66–74

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rubin BD, Manion PD, Faber-Langendoen D (2006) Diameter distributions and structural sustainability in forests. For Ecol Manag 222:427–438

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Russell-Smith J, Ryan PG, Durieu R (1997) A LANDSAT MSS-derived fire history of Kakadu National park, monsoonal northern Australia, 1980–94: seasonal extent, frequency and patchiness. J Appl Ecol 34:748–766

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Russell-Smith J, Whitehead PJ, Cook GD, Hoare JL (2003) Response of eucalyptus-dominated savanna to frequent fires: lessons from Munmarlary, 1973–1996. Ecol Monogr 73:349–375

    Google Scholar 

  • Sankaran M, Ratnam J, Hanan NP (2004) Tree-grass coexistence in savannas revisited—insights from an examination of assumptions and mechanisms invoked in existing models. Ecol Lett 7:480–490

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sarmiento G (1984) The ecology of neotropical savannas. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Scholes RJ, Archer SR (1997) Tree-grass interactions in savannas. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 28:517–544

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Setterfield SA (1997) The impact of experimental fire regimes on seed production in two tropical eucalypt species in northern Australia. Aust J Ecol 22:279–287

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Setterfield SA (2002) Seedling establishment in an Australian tropical savanna: effects of seed supply, soil disturbance and fire. J Appl Ecol 39:949–959

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vigilante T, Bowman D (2004) Effects of fire history on the structure and floristic composition of woody vegetation around Kalumburu, North Kimberley, Australia: a landscape-scale natural experiment. Aust J Bot 52:381–404

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Warner RR, Chesson PL (1985) Coexistence mediated by recruitment fluctuations: a field guide to the storage effect. Am Nat 125:769–787

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Werner PA (1986) Population dynamics and productivity of selected forest trees in Kakadu National Park. Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service, Canberra

  • Werner PA (2005) Impact of feral water buffalo and fire on growth and survival of mature savanna trees: An experimental field study in Kakadu National Park, northern Australia. Austral Ecol 30:625–647

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Werner PA, Cowie ID, Cusack JS (2006) Juvenile tree growth and demography in response to feral water buffalo in savannas of northern Australia: an experimental field study in Kakadu National Park. Aust J Bot 54:283–296

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams RJ, Cook GD, Gill AM, Moore PHR (1999) Fire regime, fire intensity and tree survival in a tropical savanna in northern Australia. Aust J Ecol 24:50–59

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams RJ, Griffiths AD, Allan GE (2002) Fire regimes and biodiversity in the savannas of northern Australia. In: Bradstock RA, Williams JE, Gill AM (eds) Flammable Australia: the fire regimes, biodiversity of a continent. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

  • Wilson BA, Bowman DMJS (1994) Factors influencing tree growth in tropical savanna: studies of an abrupt Eucalyptus boundary at Yapilika, Melville Island, northern Australia. J Trop Ecol 10:103–120

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woinarski JCZ, Risler J, Kean L (2004) Response of vegetation and vertebrate fauna to 23 years of fire exclusion in a tropical eucalyptus open forest, Northern Territory, Australia. Austral Ecol 29:156–176

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by an ARC Discovery grant (No. 0343000) and an ARC Linkage Grant (No. LP0346929) in conjunction with Kakadu National Park, that provided an APAI scholarship for C.E.R.L. Comments from two reviewers and Patricia Werner improved this manuscript. The study described here complies with the current laws of the country in which they were performed.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School for Environmental Research, Institute for Advanced Studies, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT, 0909, Australia

    Caroline E. R. Lehmann, Lynda D. Prior & David M. J. S. Bowman

  2. School of Plant Science, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, 7001, Australia

    David M. J. S. Bowman

Authors
  1. Caroline E. R. Lehmann
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Lynda D. Prior
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. David M. J. S. Bowman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Caroline E. R. Lehmann.

Additional information

Communicated by Peter Clarke.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Lehmann, C.E.R., Prior, L.D. & Bowman, D.M.J.S. Fire controls population structure in four dominant tree species in a tropical savanna. Oecologia 161, 505–515 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-009-1395-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-009-1395-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation