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    Why the integration of demographic and site-based studies of disturbance is essential for the conservation of jarrah forest fauna

    135069_18474_BOOKCHAPTER-CONSFORFAUNAgwjetal2004.pdf (11.72Mb)
    Access Status
    Open access
    Authors
    Wardell-Johnson, Grant
    Calver, M.
    Saunders, D.
    Conroy, S.
    Jones, B.
    Date
    2004
    Type
    Book Chapter
    
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Citation
    Wardell-Johnson, Grant and Calver, Michael and Saunders, Denis and Conroy, Simon and Jones, Barbara. 2004. Why the integration of demographic and site-based studies of disturbance is essential for the conservation of jarrah forest fauna, in D Lunney (ed), Conservation of Australia's Forest Fauna. pp. 394-417. Mosman: Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales.
    Source Title
    Conservation of Australia's Forest Fauna
    ISBN
    095860858X
    Faculty
    Faculty of Science and Engineering
    School of Agriculture and Environment
    Department of Environmental Biology
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/41483
    Collection
    • Curtin Research Publications
    Abstract

    We review recent studies of the impacts of disturbance on the fauna of the jarrah forest, southwestern Australia. In particular, we examine five case studies that provide alternative approaches to researching disturbance impacts. Assessing site-based studies of patterns of fire regimes lead us to argue that point measures of frequency are inadequate to understand scale and pattern across landscapes. Rather, extrapolating from site-based data to draw conclusions on landscape-scale changes may obscure fine-scale heterogeneity in disturbance, which is critical to the conservation of biodiversity. We review species-based studies and conclude that assessments of demographic trends are more effective than surveys in determining impacts, and providing early warning of declines because they highlight threatening processes. Furthermore, risk analysis, when critical aspects of the biology of participating species are weakly known, may lead to misclassification of species and poor decisions on conservation priorities. The review of recent impact studies of logging on jarrah forest fauna demonstrates that logging interacts with predation by foxes to threaten arboreal mammals. Hence, measures to protect threatened vertebrates benefit many species. However, while concentrating on proximate causes of fauna decline produces immediate conservation gains, long-term conservation requires an understanding of both proximate and ultimate causes and their interaction. We urge the acquisition of reliable, site-based demographic data that allows predictive modelling for species, and hence testing of alternative hypotheses regarding impact, distribution and decline. We also seek the integration of data and approaches to enable landscape-scale patterns to be discerned and interpreted for effective conservation planning.

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