Great Western Woodlands Vegetation Structure Across Time Since Fire Chronosequence Data 

This data contains vegetation cover, ground cover, tree density and stand basal area data across a multi-century time-since-fire sequence derived from growth ring-size relationships in fire-sensitive Eucalyptus salubris woodlands. 

We at TERN acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians throughout Australia, New Zealand and all nations. We honour their profound connections to land, water, biodiversity and culture and pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging. 

Recurrent fire is a dominant disturbance in Mediterranean-climate landscapes. In infrequently-burnt communities, vegetation structure, habitat features and fuel availability can change over time-scales much longer than can be measured using contemporary remote-sensing approaches, creating challenges for conservation and fire management. The Great Western Woodlands (GWW) region of south-western Australia supports the world’s largest remaining area of Mediterranean-climate woodland, which in mosaic with mallee, shrublands and salt lakes cover an area of 160 000 km2. Eucalyptus woodlands in this region are typically fire-sensitive, and fire return intervals recorded over recent decades have been much shorter than the long-term average. This has led to considerable conservation concern regarding the loss of mature woodlands, and has highlighted a need to better understand how plant communities change with time since fire. 

Data not provided.