@article{ref1,
title="Relationship between fire-return interval and mulga (Acacia aneura) regeneration in the Gibson Desert and Gascoyne-Murchison regions of Western Australia",
journal="International journal of wildland fire",
year="2014",
author="Ward, Bruce G. and Bragg, Thomas B. and Hayes, Barbara A.",
volume="23",
number="3",
pages="394-402",
abstract="A study of 26 burnt mulga (Acacia aneura) stands was conducted from 2003 to 2012 in the Gibson Desert and eastern Gascoyne-Murchison region of Western Australia to assess the effect of fire interval on seedling regeneration. Tree-ring analysis and Landsat satellite imagery identified mulga stands with fire intervals ranging from 3 to 52 years. <br><br>RESULTS show fire-return intervals less than 20 years produce 2-3-year-old seedling regeneration lower than 50% of the original adult stand population (average juvenile-to-adult ratio = 0.49). In total, 6 of the 26 stands sampled had reburnt within 3 to 10 years of the previous burn, a consequence of increased plant growth associated with higher rainfall. For all fires, summer fires were larger and more frequent (24 of 35 fires recorded, median fire size = 150 km2) than spring fires (median fire size = 91 km2). This study emphasises the important role of fire in maintaining the diversity and vigour of the mulga-Triodia ecosystem but indicates a minimum fire-return interval of 26 years to maintain mulga populations.<p />",
language="en",
issn="1049-8001",
doi="10.1071/WF13007",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/WF13007"
}