@article {BF-3749, title = {A critical review of the science underpinning fire management in the high altitude ecosystems of south-eastern Australia}, journal = {Forest Ecology and Management}, year = {2013}, month = {1/2013}, abstract = {We reviewed the scope and quality of published literature relevant to management of the risk of fire and accompanying risks to ecological values, in the vegetation types (mostly forests and woodlands, but including grasslands and herbfields) of the High Country (>750m asl) of south-eastern Australia. Our analysis of quality suggests the published science has improved markedly over the past 60years. That said, there is insufficient data on any subject for a formal meta-analysis. Much of the work published in the past may not pass peer-review today and there are few on-going, long-term studies of the effects of management of a standard that might meet this test. Given the limited number of recent studies of higher quality, this raises the question as to an acceptable standard of evidence for policy making for future management of native ecosystems. With the exception of grassland, feldmark and herbfield types, available data shows that all High Country vegetation types produce fuel loads >10tha-1 in less than 10years after fire, notwithstanding the different fire risk associated with each fuel type (e.g. grasses vs woody shrubs vs forest litter), suggesting that fuel management will continue to be an issue for land managers. The varied and inconsistent history of past land management makes the interpretation of short-term studies difficult. Highlights of past research include the detailed studies of Costin and co-workers that were exemplary for their time in their use of replicated treatments, adequate controls and significant periods of study (4+ year). Recent studies of effects of fire on water yield and quality that are based on well-replicated studies, again over substantial periods of time, are helping fill knowledge gaps. Many other ecological topics of interest to land managers remain poorly understood, including: long-term vegetation and fuel dynamics, nutrient balance, weed invasions and further aspects of hydrology. If high altitude catchments are to be managed effectively, we must improve our understanding the dynamics of fuel loads, vegetation, nutrients and water supply through collection of long-term quantitative data. }, issn = {03781127}, doi = {10.1016/j.foreco.2012.10.042}, author = {Adams, Mark A. and Cunningham, Shaun C. and Taranto, MT} } @article {BF-2926, title = {Ecosystem Respiration in a Seasonally Snow-Covered Subalpine Grassland}, journal = {Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research}, volume = {43}, year = {2011}, month = {02/2011}, pages = {137 - 146}, abstract = {Ecosystem respiration is important because it is the small imbalances between CO2 uptake via photosynthesis and CO2 release by ecosystem respiration that determine the effect of the biosphere on atmospheric CO2. For subalpine grasslands with mild winters we do not know the size of under-snow respiration relative to the total annual ecosystem respiration. This study determines the contribution of respiration through snow to total annual respiration, and models annual ecosystem respiration based on relationships with soil temperature and water content. Measurements were made monthly for two years in an unmanaged subalpine grassland in the Snowy Mountains of Australia. The vegetation is sparse (aboveground mass  =  355{\textendash}605 g m-2, belowground mass  =  570{\textendash}1010 g m-2) and dominated by native perennial C3 grasses and sedges. Ecosystem respiration was positively related to temperature, and there was some evidence that ecosystem respiration was more temperature sensitive at temperatures between 0 and 2 {\textdegree}C than at warmer temperatures. Annual ecosystem respiration was 12.1 Mg C ha-1 yr-1 in 2007/2008 and 10.5 Mg C ha-1 yr-1 in 2008/2009. Maximum daily rates of ecosystem respiration of 7 {\textmu}mol CO2 m-2 s-1 occurred during summer, while minimum rates occurred under snow cover and were 0.2 to 0.9 {\textmu}mol CO2 m-2 s-1. The duration of permanent snow cover was 60{\textendash}68 days (equivalent to 16{\textendash}18\% of the year) and ecosystem respiration under snow was 4.1 to 4.3\% of annual ecosystem respiration, which is smaller than the 10{\textendash}50\% commonly reported from studies in areas with longer snow-covered periods.}, doi = {10.1657/1938-4246-43.1.137}, author = {Warren, Charles R. and Taranto, MT} } @article {BF-2925, title = {Temporal variation in pools of amino acids, inorganic and microbial N in a temperate grassland soil}, journal = {Soil Biology and Biochemistry}, volume = {42}, year = {2010}, month = {2/2010}, pages = {353 - 359}, abstract = {Plants can take up intact amino acids, even in competition with soil microbes, yet we lack detailed information on which amino acids dominate the soil and whether amino acid composition varies seasonally. This study tested the hypotheses that 1) the pool of amino acid N is generally larger than inorganic N; 2) temporal changes in the concentration of amino acid N is related to changes in the size of the microbial N pool; and 3) amino acid N is dominated by simple, neutral amino acids during warm months, whereas during cold months the amino acid N is dominated by more complex aromatic and basic amino acids. Approximately every month for two years we collected soil from a temperate, sub-alpine grassland in the Snowy Mountains of Australia. We quantified exchangeable pools of amino acids, nitrate and ammonium in 1 M KCl extracts. Microbial N was quantified by chloroform fumigation. Averaged across the 21 monthly samples, nitrate was 13\% of the quantified pool of soluble non-protein N, ammonium was 34\% and amino acid N was 53\%. These data are consistent with our hypothesis that the pool of amino acid N is larger than inorganic N. There was substantial variation between months in concentrations of amino acids and inorganic N, but no clear temporal pattern. Microbial N did not vary between months, and thus changes in amino acid N were unrelated to microbial N. Principal components analysis indicated multivariate groupings of the different pools of N that were broadly indicative of function and/or biosynthetic relationships. Thus PCA identified a grouping of aromatic amino acids (Phe and Try) with amino acids derived from oxaloacetate (Asp, Ala, Val, Leu, Ile), and a second group comprising microbial N, nitrate and glycine. The pool of exchangeable amino acid N was dominated by Arg (26\% of amino N) Val (20\%) Gln (18\%), Try (8\%) and Asn (8\%). Contrary to our hypothesis, the composition of the amino acid pool did not vary in a consistent way between months, and there was no evidence simple amino acids were relatively more abundant in warm months and complex amino acids in cool months.}, doi = {10.1016/j.soilbio.2009.11.017}, author = {Warren, Charles R. and Taranto, MT} } @article {BF-1184, title = {A laser point-quadrat sampling frame for vegetation survey}, year = {2007}, url = {http://www.steverox.info/LaserPointQuadrat/LaserPointQuadrat.htm}, author = {Roxburgh, Stephen and Taranto, MT} }