Tropical Topics A n i n t e r p r e t i v e n e w s l e t t e r f o r t h e t o u r i s m i n d u s t r y
Fire Vol 1 No. 15 September 1993 Rainforest invasion Notes from the Recently one of our rangers discovered a dragon on the Cape Tribulation headland. It was not a fire-breathing monster but nonetheless it gave him quite a Editor shock because it was a species, the two-lined dragon (Diporiphora bilineata), It is the fire season again. The which is common in dry areas, particularly around Mt Carbine and Mt Molloy, subject raises considerable but not at Cape Tribulation! Found in a patch of heathland, this little reptile is controversy usually because fire is probably a relict left over from a time when, due to Aboriginal burning, the area seen simply as a destructive force. had more sclerophyll woodland. Well within living memory goats grazed on It is superficially difficult to Cape Tribulation. Areas north of Emmagen Creek are marked on an 1890 distinguish between wildfire and survey map as ‘magnificently grassed flat’. deliberate burning but the effects are very different. It has been estimated that rainforest, in very different reactions to fire. some areas, is expanding at the rate of Rainforest (although it does not At the time of European settlement 1.25m per year. This sounds like good normally burn) cannot survive the environment had been news until we look at some of the repeated fires, whereas sclerophyll influenced by Aboriginal burning habitats it is taking over. Wet plants can tolerate and even require it. practices. Since these have largely sclerophyll forest has similar In a marginal area, therefore, fires will ceased in the Wet Tropics, some requirements to rainforest, particularly kill young rainforest species allowing natural vegetation (outside those with regard to rainfall. It is generally sclerophyll species to remain. areas totally transformed by found on the western margins of European farming practices) has rainforest and in isolated pockets such The Wet Tropics is a diverse area. been changing. At the moment as hill tops but cannot exist on drier While its rainforests are its most hazard-reduction burning is taking areas where dry sclerophyll forest celebrated feature they are by no place to minimise the impact of takes over. Unlike rainforest, however, means the only vegetation wildfires but managers of the Wet trees of the wet sclerophyll, such as communities. Once an area has been Tropics are faced with an important flooded gum (Eucalyptus grandis), taken over by rainforest, however, the decision. Current objectives are to need open well-lit conditions to change is irreversible because it does maintain existing habitat diversity. germinate and develop. Where not burn easily. Therefore, it seems Should they reintroduce the fire rainforest species are moving in and that fire is necessary, in certain regimes of the Aborigines to forming a dense cover, shady circumstances, to limit rainforest in the maintain existing vegetation and to conditions mean that eucalypt Wet Tropics so that diversity can be recover previous environmental seedlings cannot establish maintained. diversity - thus leaving options for themselves. An area where invasion is the future open - or should they in progress is typified allow nature to take its course at the by a canopy of tall risk of permanently reducing eucalypts with an diversity in the area? understorey of rainforest - but no This Tropical Topics presents eucalypt saplings. different approaches to fire So why is this management and focuses on flora happening? and fauna, outside the rainforest, which stands to gain from It is likely that the deliberate, positive use of fire. rainforest margin has, in the past, been controlled by disturbance, primarily fire. Wet sclerophyll and rainforest have Managing fire Aboriginal burning practices Present burning practices The first fire managers in Australia were the dry season to reduce the likelihood Prescribed burning the Aborigines. Early accounts refer of later life-threatening wildfires and This refers to fire deliberately used by a frequently to their skillful use and sometimes fire breaks were created to control of burning. They used it in protect the rainforest or sacred sites. land manager to achieve a specified goal. numerous ways. Fire was an early form There are two main aims. The goal of hazard reduction fires is to pre-empt of stock management, used to promote Employing a sound appreciation of its new growth which would attract animals behaviour, the Aborigines skillfully wildfires by burning off fuel loads (such for hunting or to drive game into an as dead plant matter) under controlled manipulated fire by timing it according conditions at the most appropriate times ambush. Undergrowth was burnt to to vegetation and weather conditions provide easier passage — in some areas and by using their knowledge of for the vegetation involved. Cool, calm (notably Iron Range) corridors of days when soils and fuels are moist create landscape features which would act as slow-moving fires with low flames. These sclerophyll forest mark old Aboriginal natural breaks. The early inhabitants of tracks through the rainforest. Smaller Australia may not have had ploughs cause little damage to trees and give fires were used to fell dead trees for animals a chance to escape. The goal of but in their hands fire was a useful and ecological fires is to manipulate the firewood by burning their bases, to appropriate tool. ‘Firestick farming’ flush out small mammals and reptiles enabled them to lead what has been vegetation structure. These may be of from undergrowth or holes and to clear higher intensity to achieve maximum effect termed an ‘affluent’ hunter gatherers’ on unwanted plants (such as rainforest in areas before digging for edible roots. lifestyle. Small controlled fires were set early in wet sclerophyll), debris, etc.
Three fire sites Different sites have different requirements. Below are three examples in the Cairns area.
Cairns Hillslopes Eubenangee Swamp Captain Cook Highway north of (fire exclusion) (ecological fires) Cairns (hazard-reduction fires) The rainforests of these hillslopes have Apart from reducing fuel loads, fire in Severe wildfires along the grassy coastal suffered badly since European settlement. melaleuca swamps (M) prevents invasion hills are almost an annual event due largely In the past fires frequently escaped from by non-native plants such as pond apple to arsonists. On the steep slopes these the cane fields or from along the Kuranda bush (Annona glabra). These areas are fires have tended to be of high intensity, railway line when vegetation was burnt off burnt every six to nine years but it has to difficult to control and a threat to buildings to protect the tracks. Although rainforest be done while about 5cm of surface water as well as a pocket of rare lowland does not burn easily it cannot withstand remains. Fire in dry times could result in a rainforest. A plan is being implemented to repeated high intensity fires. Increasingly very destructive burning in the peat layer. control the situation with a series of hazard large tongues of fire-induced grassland, Two areas are burnt in different years. reduction fires. These are lit soon after the composed mainly of tall, highly- wet season when they can be controlled inflammable non-native species such as The grasslands (G) begin to decline after using natural barriers such as rocky gullies guinea and molasses grass, carried fires or greener vegetation. progressively further up the hillsides into G N parts of the Barron Gorge National Park. G G The area has been divided up into zones to be burnt at different times. The aim is to The hillslopes of Cairns are a top tourist produce a mosaic of burnt and unburnt asset so local government is keen to R areas which reduces the chances of promote revegetation. In the Redlynch M subsequent wildfires sweeping through area a 3-5m wide bulldozed buffer strip the whole area. has been constructed 20-200m uphill from and parallel to the railway line and M Since 1991, a community group, Treeforce, the area between is burnt annually to R has been hard at work planting trees on the provide a fuel-free strip. Then, 10m hillslopes above Aeroglen. A small forest above this firebreak, a dense strip of now grows where the first plantings took native trees has been planted. For place and the establishment of an irrigation several years community volunteers took system*, along with fire breaks, is helping part in annual planting days. Fast- more recently planted areas to survive the growing pioneer species were used and about three years without fire. Moderate wildfire season. the result is a dense strip of vegetation to high intensity fires stimulate the revival which not only resists the spread of fire of a number of species that have For more information on Treeforce, call (07) but also shades out the grass. It also ‘disappeared’. Ideally these areas are 4053 7314 or (07) 4054 3304. attracts birds and other animals which do burnt every three years but at times when their bit by spreading the seeds to other adjacent areas are still wet so the fire will degraded areas. These plantings have not spread. Areas are burnt in different become substantially ‘fire-safe’ within six years. years and the scheme has been successful * Funded by DoE,Cairns City Council, in its aim of excluding fire from those Rainforest (R) is not burnt at all but Reef Casino Benefit Trust Fund and Port hillslopes. protected from fire. Authority. Fire on islands Prescribed burning is carried out on many of the national park islands.
Prescribed burning is applied in the Flinders Island Fire is one method of Group for purposes of maintaining ecosystem diversity, controlling Cenchrus Cape for protection of cultural sites and for protection of park echinatus a central York infrastructure. Three broad vegetation groups have been American weed with identified in order to determine the burn cycle; regular unpleasant burrs which has travelled to burns (once every three years or less), infrequent burns Lizard Island. (once every five years) and fire exclusion areas.
On Lizard Island patches are burnt on a 3-4 year cycle. The aim of this is to protect park infrastructure, the resort and the research station from wildfire and also to maintain the grassland vegetation by preventing the incursion of woody species. The application of fire is important for weed control around the lease boundaries with the national park. A long-term vegetation monitoring study aims Flinders Group to measure responses to fire within plots in various vegetation communities. This information is assessed in comparison with species diversity in fire exclusion areas.
Lizard Is. Burning on the northern and eastern seaward sides of Fitzroy Island, around the Cooktown lighthouse, has the dual purpose of regenerating the heath and woodland and reducing the chances of accidental fires which could pose a danger to walkers. Cape The rest of the island is covered with rainforest or sclerophyll forest with an Tribulation understorey of rainforest which is unlikely to burn. For details call the ranger on (07) 4046 6695. Hinchinbrook Island Low Is. is home to 30 different Fitzroy Is. vegetation types, many of which Cairns have been heavily disturbed on the mainland. For the last hundred years or so, On Magnetic Island 22 vegetation types have been identified and since Aboriginal burning ceased, these mapped and a complex fire management plan designed. Some types, habitats have been losing their species such as rainforest and mangroves are to be protected while others diversity. Burning is now being carried out such as grass and eucalypt areas are burnt every three to Hinchinbrook five years. As on other islands, fires are intended to protect on the island to help reverse that process. Is. One of the local plants which has evolved both property and vegetation by reducing the fuel with fire is the blue banksia (Banksia load; a wildfire some years ago saw flames twice plagiocarpa). This rare and threatened plant Magnetic the height of the trees whereas flames from a is found only on Hinchinbrook and the Is. ‘cool’ reduction burn are only about one adjacent mainland. Townsville metre high. The aim is also to maintain biological diversity; the These ecological fires also function as hazard- Bowen reintroduction of fire has seen the reappearance of reduction fires. Although there is a year-round ‘no fire’ Whitsundays policy for campers, accidental fires could pose a danger to species which had walkers. Less than 5 percent of the island is burnt in any one year. apparently Occasionally this entails short-term closure of sections of the disappeared from the Thorsborne Trail. Once lit a fire can burn for up to a week, so permits for habitat, presumably peak climbing are also restricted at this time for the sake of safety. For through the germination of buried seeds. details call the ranger in charge at Dungeness on (07) 4777 8356. For details call (07) 4778 5378.
In the Whitsundays fire is again used to protect resorts and walking trails from accidental wildfires and to maintain biological diversity, particularly of grassland containing the last remnants of native species. It has been discovered that hot and cool fires encourage different grass species.
Fire has also been used in the elimination of populations of wild goats on Lindeman and South Molle Islands. The animals were removed easily after being attracted to fresh post-fire vegetation. Growth of lantana which the goats had been feeding on then increased sharply and was in turn brought under control The blue banksia is benefiting from by fire. For details call (07) 4946 7022. burning on Hinchinbrook Island. Beyond the rainforests Bordering on rainforest, with very similar requirements, wet sclerophyll woodland — also known as tall open forest — is characterised by trees such as flooded gum (Eucalyptus grandis), red stringybark (Eucalyptus resinifera), bloodwood (Eucalyptus intermedia) and turpentine (Syncarpia gomulifera).
Two rare mammal species in the Wet Tropics are associated with wet sclerophyll forests.
The fluffy glider The northern bettong Although it had been The northern bettong (Bettongia tropica) reported from the is a relative of the brush-tailed bettong Cairns area in the which was once widespread over much of 1930s and Mt southern Australia but is now confined to Spurgeon in 1954, a few small pockets. Both are now the presence of the endangered species. fluffy glider in the Wet Tropics, some 600km from The northern bettong is a delicately built the nearest known population, rat-kangaroo, pale grey above with was in doubt until it was cream on the belly and a short black rediscovered on the Atherton brush on the tip of its tail. The main Tableland in 1977. population in the Wet Tropics is on the Lamb Range. (It has been recorded One of Australia’s largest gliders, it from the Windsor is grey-brown above with a dark Tableland and stripe running down its back and dark the Carbine stripes on its legs. Its belly is white Tableland, turning cream or yellow in older animals — but is hence its other common name, yellow-bellied glider. It possibly has a short conical muzzle and large pointed naked ears which absent from are quite unlike the rounded hairy ones of the greater glider. Its tail these areas is long and bushy, with a fluffy base. now.) Although the northern An important food source for fluffy gliders is the sugary sap of stringybark bettong has been trees, which they obtain by gouging the bark. The trees continue to ooze for seen within rainforest quite some time so, besides providing for themselves, these gliders also margins and adjacent inadvertently produce food for other animals. Feathertail and sugar gliders dry sclerophyll forests it tends to be as well as common brushtail possums have been observed lapping at the found mainly in wet sclerophyll areas stringybark sap scars. Daytime brings lorikeets and honeyeaters while similar to those inhabited by the fluffy nightfall sees the arrival of large moths. glider.
During the day fluffy gliders rest in dens in tree holes. Since the Studies on the closely related Tasmanian northern population seems to den largely (possibly even exclusively) bettong indicate that this animal benefits in living flooded gum trees and since they have not been observed to from fire because it stimulates the fruiting tap the sap of any trees other than the stringybarks it would seem of underground fungi, its main source of that these animals — currently classed as vulnerable — are highly food. The best population numbers of the dependent on wet sclerophyll patches. Clearly it is important to northern bettong are found at Lamb conserve this habitat. Range, an area which is burned every two years or so. Living with fire
Fire stimulates production of flowers and One particular skipper butterfly, large numbers of starchy seeds in cycads. Neohesperilla senta, lays its eggs on new Many species can only grow where there grass produced after fire. The larvae can is enough light and benefitted from Many eucalypts possess epicormic buds only eat young shoots — then the new Aboriginal burning. Groves, used in the which are hidden under, and protected by, adults must find more recently burned past for food, can be seen at Cedar Bay the bark. After the leaves are removed by patches for further generations. The and at Jourama Falls. fire (or insects) the plant uses energy lifecycle of this butterfly clearly depends stored in the stem and roots to produce on patch burning which allows the new Fire also splits seed capsules of clumps of shoots — which give the trees adults to move on as the grass becomes fire-adapted plants such as acacias, a strange fuzzy look. too tough. banksias and eucalypts. Cassowary mosaics Fires and forests Rainforest and sclerophyll forests have very different reactions to fire. Sclerophyll forest burns easily because Rainforest does not burn easily because • it is dry, at certain times of year • the high mineral and moisture • the grassy understorey carries fire composition and low oil content of the leaves makes them relatively • there are flammable oils in leaves and inflammable twigs • leaves break down quickly so there • leaves do not break down quickly is not much dry leaf litter for fuel and, combined with fallen bark strips and branches, provide abundant • lack of light on the forest floor flammable fuel suppresses grasses which would carry fire • open crowns encourage updraughts Fires in rainforest are usually a result of Cape Tribulation was known by the local severe drought combined with Sclerophyll forest survives fire because Aborigines as Kurangee, ‘The place of disturbance such as cyclones or many cassowaries’. Now the area • thick bark protects the trunk logging. Fire may also burn the supports only a few cassowaries, largely a • in many species swellings under the margins of rainforests on steep slopes with adjacent grassland. reflection of the change in vegetation from ground (lignotubers) or buds under fire-maintained sclerophyll forest to the bark (epicormic buds) will shoot if the tree is badly damaged Rainforest suffers from fire because rainforest. This may seem like a • thin bark of the trees offers no contradiction — the cassowary is known • seeds may need fire for dispersal or protection as a rainforest inhabitant. However, for germination • fire in the leaf litter destroys roots although cassowaries do spend much of • a nutrient-rich ash bed and sterilised close to the surface their time feeding on rainforest fruits, at soil, free of disease, fungi and seed- certain periods in the year this supply thieving ants, is ideal for growing However, some rainforest species, such dries up. Then the birds need to move out seedlings as the narrow-leaved lilly pilly (Acmena smithii) will coppice from the base as in search of alternative food in nearby eucalypts do and may be able to survive sclerophyll forests or swamplands. To some fire. preserve only rainforest is not necessarily in the interest of this endangered bird which depends on a mosaic of vegetation Wet sclerophyll forest and fire types. The relationship between fire and wet sclerophyll is not yet fully understood. There seems to be a paradox involved. Studies of the flooded gum (Eucalyptus grandis) show that fire is needed to establish new generations. It clears away the undergrowth to provide the correct light conditions and produces an ash bed which promotes germination. On the other hand the young trees do not have barks thick enough to The border between two habitats is withstand fire. Flooded gums also lack lignotubers so cannot sprout from the base after termed the ‘ecotone’. Attracting they have been burnt. creatures from both communities, this zone often has a greater variety of animals than either of the overlapping It would seem that while fire is necessary for the production of new generations of this habitats. The areas between wet type of forest, frequent fires would destroy the saplings. Intervals of 40 years, however, sclerophyll forests and rainforests are may allow a rainforest understorey to establish to the extent that the forest will not burn. therefore likely to be species-rich. Natural drought cycles of 20 years or so may create conditions for the rainforest to be burnt back but research is required to determine the necessary regime.
Grass trees (Xanthorrhoea) flower prolifically after being burnt, providing, in turn, nectar for birds and insects. Other plants, including certain ground orchids also flower after fire. This is probably because extra nutrients are provided by the ash but may also enhance the chances Fire brings times of plenty for many birds of pollination with a large show of visible Many animals, notably kangaroos and of prey and scavenging animals such as flowers. Of course if seeds are produced wallabies, enjoy the fresh shoots of grass this monitor lizard which feed on animals quickly they will drop on the nutrient-rich (known as ‘pick’) which spring up after burnt or exposed by fires. ash bed. fire. Questions & Answers Facts and stats Q Why are licensed pig hunters not inside their external skeleton, at the allowed in national parks to base of each leg. These gills are soft on fire eradicate wild pigs? respiratory organs which need to be ‘floated’ in water to function - i.e., to A We will never totally eradicate take oxygen from water and give off Fire is a chemical reaction pigs - by any means. There will only carbon dioxide. When the crab is in during which hydrocarbon fuel be a reduction of numbers in areas of air it utilises reserves of water inside combines with oxygen to form concentrated management. its body, but time is limited and it can carbon dioxide (Co2) and water Investigations have shown that eventually dry out. Intertidal crabs, vapour. Complex organic substances shooting and dog hunting move a therefore, don’t sit in full sunlight (plants) are reduced to simpler pig population from one location to during low tide but find a crevice or inorganic compounds such as ash and another but do not significantly pool to shelter in. Mud flat species charcoal (carbon). Fire releases, in lower it. In addition, there is concern retreat from time to time to dip in the the form of heat, large amounts of that hunting dogs which are not reserves of water at the bottom of energy, which have been stored under their owner’s total control may their burrows. through photosynthesis. In a dry chase cassowaries, wallabies, etc. forest each kilo of burning fuel Even scent left behind can be Q When is it appropriate to feed releases about 18 000 kilojoules of enough to disturb wildlife. Pig animals and with what? energy. A 100 watt electric light bulb hunting also raises concerns about takes 50 hours to use this much public safety and about public A Basically, it is not appropriate energy. perception of appropriate uses for except in the case of catastrophic national parks. Accreditation of pig events (such as after a cyclone) Burning of sugar cane fields hunters is a potential problem and when we are looking at species or began in the 1930s to cut down there is the danger of creating a population survival. Much of our on the incidence of the bureaucracy around their control human food is as unsuitable for wild potentially fatal Weil’s disease. The where energy invested does not animals as a diet of grass would be organism causing this is present in merit the return. for us and can cause illness or rat’s urine and was picked up by cane nutrition deficiencies. Turtles fed cutters during harvesting. The first However, the problem is not being bread can become unbalanced in the mechanical harvesters, introduced in ignored. Work on pig traps, which water, causing them to drown while the 1960s, were designed to deal with was initiated by the Consultative fish can develop unhealthy livers. burnt cane. A reduction of world sugar Committee for Cassowary Feeding of native animals can also prices in the early 1980s encouraged Conservation (C4), is being create an imbalance in populations. farmers to adopt the newly developed supported by the Wet Tropics This is in danger of happening at and more economical green harvesting Management Authority. Traps are Hypipamee Crater where the bolder machinery. potentially a positive, coppery brushtail possums are environmentally friendly, option. increasing in numbers due to illegal It is now thought that smoke, feeding at the carpark and may rather than heat, is Q How do crabs breathe, both under displace other shyer possum responsible for germination in water and on land? species. It also makes the animals some Australian plant seeds. vulnerable to cars, dogs and humans Researchers subjected the seeds of 94 A Crabs breathe with gills located with less than affectionate attitudes Western Australian plants which towards them. normally have low germination rates to cold smoke and to water through Q What snakes are we likely to see which smoke had been passed. in the Cairns area? Germination rates increased significantly. It is thought that A An excellent brochure on exactly ammonia in the smoke may be this subject, and what to do if you important. encounter one (leave it alone and don’t panic) is available from DEH Control over the lighting of offices. fires comes under the Queensland Fire Service Act of 1990. The lighting of a fire bigger than two metres in any Tourist talk direction requires a permit from your ENGLISH GERMAN JAPANESE local Fire Warden. fire Feuer kaji Rainforest has a canopy which accidental unbeabsichtigt goo zen no is over 70 percent closed (that controlled kontrolliert shihai sare ta is, if you look up, 70-100 percent of the sky is obscured burn verbrennen moyasu by branches). Wet sclerophyll forest rainforest Regenwald nettai u rin is 30-70 percent closed. invade eindringen osou grass Gras kusa Of the 400 or so eucalypt species of Australia only 12-15 adapted angepaßt tekiou shita lack lignotubers which enable diversity Verschiedenheit tashu tayo sei the trees to sprout from the regeneration Regeneration sai sei ground (coppice) after fire or other destruction of the upper part. Nature notes A diary of natural events creates a pleasing journal which grows richer with the passage of time. Watching for the recurrence of an event after noting it in a previous year, and trying to understand what could have caused changes in timing, is intriguing.
These notes are from the author's own notebook, or were offered by researchers and fellow naturalists. Readers will, inevitably, note variations between their observations and those appearing here. If you do not keep a nature diary perhaps this will inspire you to begin one.
Fragrant boxwood (below) is one of the most sweetly scented flowers to perfume the spring. This tree (Xanthophyllum fragrans) is classified as rare because it occurs only as scattered individuals in the Mossman to Cape Tribulation coastal rainforests. The creamy-yellow petals, 5-6cm long, have distinctive purple flecking on the inner surfaces. Leaves of this boxwood and its relative McIntyre's boxwood (see May/June issue) are often One yellowish green - hence the name of the Xanthophyllum. Most leaves in common both boxwoods show a pair of small insect- ‘glands’ near the stem end, catching which may secrete Fig-parrots, so noticeable birds of our sugar. when they streak across the rainforests, sky emitting high pitched cheeps, will the pale- be rearing nestlings about now. Their yellow robin, eggs are laid in holes in dead, may be raising a sometimes perilously shaky, trees. The brood about now. presence of nestlings is easily This small quiet bird detected should a parent bird visit, for makes a neat cup nest decorated with the occupants immediately begin a lichen and moss. Last year one pair of shrill commotion. Unlike many larger nestlings was successfully raised parrots, fig parrots feed very quietly, although the nest was located well chiefly on the kernels of many tiny within the view of a sizeable Boyd’s seeds, including those of figs, dragon which was undoubtedly aware buttonwood (Glochidion) and of the youngsters’ progress from egg- ironwood (Rhodomyrtus trineura). pipping to fledgling. Feeding birds are usually discovered Acknowledgments to due to the faint noise of seeds being Bennett Walker, husked or the patter of discarded Mossman. portions of fruit.
Masses of white blossom usually appear Another lovely on the crowns and delightfully of milky pine scented spring Lesley Williams of trees this month or blossom is that Down Under Dive next. The small strongly of white cedar, has contributed this scented flowers are common across observation: A couple followed by unusually much of the Wet of weeks ago (July) we narrow elongated capsules, Tropics. Inspection were visited by a minke sometimes more than 30cm of the sprays of whale which slowly long, which split to release mauve blossom show circled the boat while anchored at windblown seeds. Milky that each flower is quite intricately Saxon Reef. It did this three times, the pine (Alstonia scholaris) is shaped and coloured, suggestive of a third time surfacing to wink and then an efficient pioneer but is tiny orchid. White cedar (Melia spit water at us before disappearing believed to live for as much as 300 azedarach) grows as a rainforest back into the sea. Recently, while at years, during which time it can become pioneer in disturbed sites in relatively Norman Reef, we spotted humpback a very handsome tree. The foliage is an good soil, as a tree on vegetated sand whales about 100-150m off the rear of important food for Lumholtz tree- dunes and in many a garden from the the boat slowly moving in a southerly kangaroo. coast to Mt Isa. direction. Bookshelf Fire and the Australian Biota Australian Rainforests A.M. Gill, R.H. Groves and I.R. Bush Regeneration Noble (eds) Recovering Australian Landscapes Paul Adam Australian Academy of Science Robin A. Buchanan Oxford Monographs on (1981) TAFE Student Learning Publications Biogeography No. 6 (1991) Oxford University Press (1992) A comprehensive look at the subject, this book is divided up into Although dealing with general While of general interest to readers sections on Fire History, Physical techniques and strategies for concerned with rainforest, Chapter 4 Phenomenon of Fire, Responses of recovering degraded landscapes, this on Rainforest Boundaries and the the Australian Biota, Responses of attractive and readable book Problem of Mixed Forests and Selected Ecosystems and The Role necessarily considers the role of fire in Chapter 5 on Regeneration and of Fire in Ecosystem Management. the equation. Types of fires are Response to Disturbance take fire Since the book deals with the whole analysed at the end of Chapter 5 into account. of Australia not all of the (Regeneration Techniques) and information is relevant to the Wet Chapter 6, Regeneration of Plant Tropics but there is plenty of Communities, considers the effect of interest. fire on everything from mangrove swamps and sand-dunes to Fire Management rainforests, including a section on wet Brochure produced by Department sclerophyll forests. Unfortunately of Environment much of the information is more Available at DoE offices relevant to southern parts of Australian then to northern regions. One of the few publications relevant to the Far North this brochure looks Trees and Natural Resources at the historical and ecological role December 1992 of fire as well as fire management in Fire: An Ecological Catalyst national parks. Kevin Tolhurst
Fire Management Strategies Nature Australia Vol. 25 No. 7 Brochure produced by the Wet Summer 1996/97 page10 Tropics Management Authority and Smoking or non-smoking? the Rural Fire Division of the Queensland Fire Service A short article describing research Available at DoE offices which showed that it is smoke, rather than heat, which appears to stimulates This looks at fire management in germination in some Australian plants. different vegetation types in the World Heritage Area and the relevant legislation.
This newsletter was produced by the Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage (now The Environmental Protection Agency) with funding from the Wet Tropics Management Authority.
For further information contact... Opinions expressed in Tropical Topics are not necessarily those of Stella Martin Wet Tropics Management Agency the Department of Environment and The Editor Heritage (EPA). (For general infomation on the Wet Tropical Topics Tropics World Heritage Area only.) Environmental Protection Agency PO Box 2050 While all efforts have been made to PO Box 2066 CAIRNS QLD 4870 verify facts, the Department of CAIRNS QLD 4870 Ph: (07) 4052 0555 Environment and Heritage (EPA) Fax: (07) 4031 1364 takes no responsibility for the Ph: (07) 4046 6674 Website: www.wettropics.gov.au accuracy of information supplied in Fax: (07) 4046 6751 Tropical Topics . e-mail: [email protected]