Australian Rainforests: Islands of Green in a Land of FireWhy do Australian rainforests occur as islands within the vast tracts of Eucalyptus? Why is fire a critical ecological factor in every Australian landscape? What were the consequences of the use of fire by the Ice Age colonists? In this original and challenging book, David Bowman critically examines all hypotheses that have been advanced to answer these questions. He demonstrates that fire is the most critical factor in controlling the distribution of rainforest throughout Australia. Furthermore, while Aboriginal people used fire to skillfully manage and preserve habitats, he concludes that they did not significantly influence the evolution of Australia's unique flora and fauna. This volume, the first comprehensive overview of the diverse literature on this topic, solves the puzzle of the archipelago of rainforest habitats in Australia. It is essential reading for all ecologists, foresters, conservation biologists, and others interested in the biogeography and ecology of Australian rainforests. |
Contents
Preface page ix | 1 |
What is Australian rainforest? | 25 |
The sclerophyll problem | 48 |
The edaphic theory I The control of rainforest by soil phosphorus | 68 |
The edaphic theory II Soil types drainage and fertility | 84 |
The climate theory I Water stress | 99 |
The climate theory II Light and temperature | 134 |
The fire theory I Field evidence | 156 |
The fire theory III Fire frequency succession and ecological drift | 196 |
The fire theory IV Aboriginal landscape burning | 218 |
The fire theory V Aridity and the evolution of flammable forests | 250 |
The fire theory VI Fire management and rainforest conservation | 279 |
Summary | 285 |
| 289 | |
| 327 | |
The fire theory II Fire nutrient cycling and topography | 185 |
Other editions - View all
Australian Rainforests: Islands of Green in a Land of Fire D. M. J. S. Bowman No preview available - 2008 |
Common terms and phrases
Aboriginal Aboriginal burning Aboriginal landscape burning Acacia Adapted Allosyncarpia ternata Araucaria Araucaria cunninghamii Ashton Atherosperma Atherton Tablelands Australian Journal Australian rainforest Australian vegetation Beadle Bowman canopy Ceratopetalum Ceratopetalum apetalum climate colonisation David Bowman distribution of rainforest dominated dry season ecotone environments Eucalyptus forest Eucalyptus pilularis Eucalyptus regnans Eucalyptus savanna Eucalyptus species evidence Fensham Figure fire-free intervals flammable foliage grassland growth Henderson and Wilkins Holocene Journal of Botany Kershaw leaf monsoon forest monsoon tropics non-rainforest species non-rainforest vegetation northern Australia Northern Territory Nothofagus cunninghamii Nothofagus moorei nutrient Panton phosphorus phosphorus concentrations plants Pleistocene pollen Queensland rainfall rainfor rainforest and non-rainforest rainforest boundaries rainforest species rainforest tree species rainforest vegetation regeneration Russell-Smith savanna sclerophyll sclerophyll forest sedgeland seedlings slope soil fertility South Wales Specht subtropical rainforest suggested surface soil Table Tasmania taxa temperate rainforest temperature Toona australis tropical rainforest understorey variation vegetation types vine forest Webb western Tasmania
Popular passages
Page 291 - Beadle, NCW ( 1954). Soil phosphate and the delimitation of plant communities in eastern Australia. Ecology 35, 370-375. Beadle, NCW ( 1962a).
Page 315 - IM, 1937. The Ecology of the Central Coastal Area of New South Wales.
Page 291 - Baur, GN (1957). Nature and distribution of rain-forests in New South Wales. Australian Journal of Botany 5, 190-233.
Page 306 - Water balance of an Australian subtropical rainforest at altitude: the ecological and physiological significance of intercepted cloud and fog.
Page 295 - BRAITHWAITE, RW, DUDZINSKI, ML, RIDPATH, MG AND PARKER, BS, 1984. The impact of water buffalo on the monsoon forest ecosystem in Kakadu National Park.
Page 295 - Simulation of the effect of spatial and temporal variation in fire regimes on the population viability of a Banksia species. Conservation Biology 10, 776-784.
Page 295 - BROUGH, P., McLucKiE, J., AND PETRIE, AHK, 1924. — An Ecological Study of the Flora of Mouat Wilson.