This project seeks to determine the drivers of decadal-scale boundary dynamics of the forest-scrub-moorland vegetation mosaic in the Southwest Tasmanian World Heritage Area using repeat aerial photography and spatial measures of landscape attributes.
Drawing upon methods recently developed in the savannah-rainforest systems of the monsoon tropics of Australia this study will combine a 'top down' approach based on digitised sequences of aerial photography with a 'bottom up' approach based on stratified field surveys to investigate the rate, magnitude and direction of forest-scrub-moorland boundary shifts.
This information is of an appropriate spatio-temporal resolution to test the applicability of the various models of vegetation dynamics proposed for the southwest Tasmania. Are particular vegetation communities expanding or contracting according to Jackson's (1968) model of ecological drift? Or are vegetation patterns in a state of inertia according to Mount's (1964, 1979, 1982) model of stable fire cycles?
The relationship between observed boundary dynamics and spatial estimates of environmental variables (i.e. wetness index, slope, aspect, elevation, topographic fire protection) will be investigated to explore the role of the fire-vegetation-soil fertility feedbacks proposed by these models.
| Supervisors | David Bowman |
|---|---|
| Members | Sam Wood |
| UTAS Collaborators | David Wilson |
| Funding Source | Holsworth Wildlife Research Fund |
|---|