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Research and Projects
Diana Virkki is the recipient of the first SEQFBC Student Research Grant Applied Fire Ecology ResearchSouth East Queensland has a number of unique ecosystems, ranging from moist subtropical rainforest to heathland and dry open grassy woodlands. It is also the fastest growing region in Australia, with over 2.7 million people impacting on native vegetation and ecosystems. Therefore, the SEQFBC is ideally placed to undertake fire ecology research initiatives, especially those concerned with recommended fire management practices and other mitigation efforts, and translate these results into practical information for land managers and land owners. See research projects below, completed in recent years and click on the links to learn more about some of these projects. SEQFBC's Research Student ScholarshipNEW - SEQFBC Research Student Scholarship Program for 2019/2020 NOW OPEN The SEQFBC are pleased to announce the SEQFBC Research Student Scholarship Program for the 2019/2020 financial year. The Scholarship Program aims to provide financial assistance and research support to an Honours, Masters or PhD student undertaking applied research into fire ecology and/or fire management (e.g. integrated fire and weed or fire and soil management) in the SEQ bioregion. The Scholarship Program will favour applied research that contributes to our understanding of fire ecology or best practice fire management. The scholarship/s are valued between $1000 and $3000. Applications will be judged on merit by a panel of three people from the SEQFBC partners. Applicants are to provide the following information for assessment:
The successful student must agree to provide the following to the SEQFBC over the course of their research:
Application form:
Interested students are encouraged to contact Dr Sam Lloyd, /Manager of the SEQFBC via email: Samantha.L@hlw.org.au or mobile: 0438 008 668. SEQFBC Research Student Scholarship Program for 2016 Griffith University and The University of Queensland Students Lighting the Way for Cutting Edge Fire Research South East Queensland Fire and Biodiversity Consortium’s Research Student Scholarship 2015For the second year running, a student from the University of the Sunshine Coast has been awarded the South East Queensland Fire and Biodiversity Consortium’s Research Student Scholarship to undertake ground breaking fire research. Successful recipient, Martyn Eliott, from the Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering, from the University of Sunshine Coast will undertake his Honours research into whether cerambycid beetles could be a useful bioindicator of environmental change associated with differing fire regimes. Specifically, Martyn hopes to establish a link between fire affected habitat, forest health and the composition of cerambycid beetles. 2013/2014
On November 7 2013, at the SEQFBC Spring Forum, the recipients of the 2013/ 2014 SEQFBC Research Scholarship Program were announced. Applications were judged on merit by three members of the SEQFBC Steering Committee. The scholarship assessment team noted that two applications were of particularly high standard and therefore proposed that two scholarships be awarded for 13/14, rather than just one. Honours student, Ross Waldron, began his research in January 2014 and is being supervised by Associate Professor Dr Neil Tindale of the USC and Dr Valerie Debuse, research scientist with the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF). The project is entitled "Comparing impacts of wildfire and prescribed burning on woody understory composition in a dry open forest" and will make use of the valuable long term date set associated with the DAFF long term experimental sites in Bauple State Forest. The second student, Brett Parker, also began his Honours research in 2014 and is being supervised by Sanjeev Srivastava of the USC and Dr Tom Lewis, research scientist with DAFF. Bretts project is entitled "Remotely sensed burnt analysis and validation: A procedure to effectively map spatiotemporal patchiness and severity of fire to guide appropriate ecological management, and will use remote sensing techniques, geographical information systems and field validation methods to map the patchiness of fuel load and the extent and severity of fire on the Sunshine Coast. Brett coauthored the following paper recently: 2012/2013
At the Winter Forum on Wednesday June 6, SEQFBC launched the first SEQFBC Student Research Grant. The grant was awarded to Griffith University PhD student, Diana Virkki, for her project on the "responses of small vertebrates to repeated management burns and heterogeneous fire regimes at the patch and local scales in dry eucalypt forests of southeast Queensland". Fire plays an important ecological role in many Australian ecosystems, and while there is some information on the responses of vegetation to fire, very little is known about the impact of fire on fauna, especially in SEQ. Moreover, inappropriate fire regimes can greatly affect faunal biodiversity and be particularly detrimental to species that are heavily reliant on habitat features such as shrub cover and ground litter, which can be considerably altered by fires. Whilst fire mosaics are often recommended as management strategies, the appropriate mosaic for maintaining biodiversity, for both flora and fauna, has not been well established. Diana aims to address some of these issues in her PhD research. “This research project is an important step towards determining appropriate and ecologically sustainable fire management regimes. My hope is that it will allow land managers to better conserve species diversity, whilst still fulfilling their land management objectives. We are grateful to SEQFBC for their generous support of this project and look forward to sharing the results” Diana said of her project. Research Project HistorySEQFBC has through links with Griffith University assisted and supervised research students with projects, and sponsors have provided assistance by the way of sites for study and assistance with resourcing. Listed below are research projects completed by students from Griffith University under the supervision of former SEQFBC Coordinator Cuong Tran: Lantana management and its impacts on reptile assemblages and habitat quality within a wet- sclerophyll forest in south-east Queensland.Completed by Diana Virkki as part of BSc Honours program in 2009 through Griffith University.This study investigated the effects of Lantana camara on reptile assemblages and two integrated approaches to manage and control lantana by (i) herbicide spraying and manually clearing and (ii) herbicide spraying followed by prescribed burning in a densely infested wet-sclerophyll forest, located within the Australian Wildlife Conservancy’s Curramore Sanctuary. The key findings from this research showed that sites treated with herbicide followed by burning contained more diverse habitat structures compared to manually cleared sites, and supported a greater diversity of reptiles. Lantana excluded habitat specialists due to changed habitat characteristics such as an open upper canopy structure. No species occurred only in untreated lantana habitats, however, these sites supported relatively high abundances of rare species, particularly challenger skinks Saproscincus rosei. The ecological effects caused by lantana management, and the use of lantana as habitat by a number of species, highlights the importance of implementing staggered patch mosaic lantana management strategies, especially at the landscape scale. The use of herbicide followed by prescribed burning was an ideal approach to manage lantana due to the increased heterogeneity and regrowth of native vegetation which supported more diverse reptile communities. Our results are widely applicable and highlight the need to consider faunal communities in land management programs. Management and maintenance of fire regimes across private conservation lands.Authors; Lucy Halliday, Guy Castley, James Fitzsimons, Cuong Tran and Jan Warnken.This study used a combination of social science research and geographic information system methodology to investigate issues surrounding the management and maintenance of fire regimes on private conservation lands. It was identified that private conservation landholders directed far less effort towards fire management than other conservation management actions, despite clearly acknowledging the risk and associated responsibilities of fire management on their lands. Nonetheless, landholders did undertake actions to reduce fuel hazards and prepare for wildfire events on their land. Despite the established role and benefits of fire to many ecosystems in the region, landholder attitudes towards, and understanding of, the ecological role of fire was generally poor. For more information please follow this link: http://www.publish.csiro.au/?paper=WF10148 The corresponding author: Email: l.halliday@hotmail.com The characteristics and accumulation of surface fine fuel in the eucalypt forests and woodlands of Redland ShireQueensland. Completed by Jan Gilroy as part of fulfillment for the Degree of Bachelor of Science (Honours) in 2005 through Griffith University.Land managers in southeast Queensland rely upon fuel growth models and hazard assessment guides developed in other regions of Australia and the reliability of these guides had not been thoroughly tested. This study examined the surface fuel component of forested landscapes (Eucalyptus racemosa and E. major/Corymbia citriodora overstoreys) in Redland Shire Council of southeast Queensland. Findings from this research found that a highly significant underestimation in both the minimum and maximum fine fuels as determined by the Overall Fuel Hazard Guide, in both E. racemosa open woodlands and E. major/C. citriodora open forest. Whilst the Overall Fuel Hazard Guide provides a good indicator of contributors to the overall fuel load, caution should be used due to the consistent underestimation of the actual surface fuel loads. For more information please read the research paper attached below. One key function of the SEQFBC is to participate in research projects that benefit supporting organisations and members. Outlined below are some significant projects that have been undertaken by the SEQFBC in recent years:
The Australian Wildlife Conservancy: Curramore SanctuaryAt Curramore, the project aimed to document the impacts of lantana infestations on floristic diversity, composition and vegetation structure, particularly in wet sclerophyll and rainforest communities. The practical outcomes of this research have determined the best method/s of controlling lantana for promoting the recovery of healthy vegetation and provide a greater understanding of the role of fire in sub-tropical ecosystems. For more information about Curramore Sanctuary please click here.
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