Fire-patterned vegetation and the development of organic soils in the lowland vegetation mosaics of south-west Tasmania

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dc.contributor.authorWood, SWen_AU
dc.contributor.authorHua, Qen_AU
dc.contributor.authorBowman, DMJSen_AU
dc.date.accessioned2011-10-11T02:58:41Zen_AU
dc.date.available2011-10-11T02:58:41Zen_AU
dc.date.issued2011-03-28en_AU
dc.date.statistics2011-10-11en_AU
dc.description.abstractTwo contrasting ecological models have been proposed for the forest-moorland vegetation mosaics of southwest Tasmania that stress different interactions between fire, soils, vegetation and the physical environment to produce either stable or dynamic vegetation patterns. We investigated aspects of these models by sampling organic soil profiles across vegetation mosaics to determine variation in soil depth, organic carbon (C) content, nutrient capital, stable C isotope composition (delta(13)C) and (14)C radiocarbon age in two contrasting landscape settings. (14)C basal ages of organic soils ranged from recent (<400 calibrated (cal.) years BP) to mid Holocene (similar to 7200 cal. years BP), with a tendency for older soils to be from poorly drained moorlands and younger soils from the forest. The long-term net rate of C accumulation ranged from 2.7 to 19.2 gCm(-2) year(-1), which is low compared with northern hemisphere peatland systems. We found that delta(13)C in organic soil profiles cannot be used to infer Holocene vegetation boundary dynamics in these systems. We found a systematic decrease of phosphorus from rainforest through eucalypt to moorland, but estimated that phosphorus capital in moorland soils was still sufficient for the development of forest vegetation. Our results suggest that the characteristics of organic soils across the landscape are the result of interactions between not only vegetation and fire frequency, but also other factors such as drainage and topography. © 2011, CSIRO Publishingen_AU
dc.identifier.citationWood, S.W., Hua, Q., Bowman, D.M.J.S. (2011). Fire-patterned vegetation and the development of organic soils in the lowland vegetation mosaics of south-west Tasmania. Australian Journal of Botany, 59(2), 126-136. doi:10.1071/BT10309en_AU
dc.identifier.govdoc3684en_AU
dc.identifier.issn0067-1924en_AU
dc.identifier.issue2en_AU
dc.identifier.journaltitleAustralian Journal of Botanyen_AU
dc.identifier.pagination126-136en_AU
dc.identifier.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1071/BT10309en_AU
dc.identifier.urihttp://apo.ansto.gov.au/dspace/handle/10238/3813en_AU
dc.identifier.volume59en_AU
dc.language.isoenen_AU
dc.publisherCSIRO Publishingen_AU
dc.subjectFiresen_AU
dc.subjectPlantsen_AU
dc.subjectSoilsen_AU
dc.subjectIsotope ratioen_AU
dc.subjectCarbon 14en_AU
dc.subjectWetlandsen_AU
dc.titleFire-patterned vegetation and the development of organic soils in the lowland vegetation mosaics of south-west Tasmaniaen_AU
dc.typeJournal Articleen_AU
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