2134/5620
Craig L. Strong
Craig L.
Strong
Joanna Bullard
Joanna
Bullard
Chloe Dubois
Chloe
Dubois
Grant H. McTainsh
Grant H.
McTainsh
Matthew Baddock
Matthew
Baddock
Impact of wildfire on interdune ecology and sediments: an example from the Simpson Desert, Australia
Loughborough University
2009
Fire
Wind erosion
Cyanobacteria
Dust
Biogeomorphology
Vegetation
Earth Sciences not elsewhere classified
2009-12-08 11:39:52
Journal contribution
https://repository.lboro.ac.uk/articles/journal_contribution/Impact_of_wildfire_on_interdune_ecology_and_sediments_an_example_from_the_Simpson_Desert_Australia/9484112
The stability of many sand dunes and their interdunes is dependent on vegetation and surface crust cover. When this cover is removed, the sand can be activated and fine sediments deflated making the dunefields into sources of dust. This paper reports the impact of devegetation by wildfire on an interdune in the Simpson Desert, Australia. The fire occurred in 2001 and six years after the event pronounced differences between a pair of burnt and unburnt sites was clearly discernible. The variables examined included vegetation assemblage, cyanobacteria abundance and sediment aggregation, particle-size distribution and colour; but whether they apply to all such situations is uncertain. Rate of recovery has been slow and the differences are likely to have been sustained by a combination of negative feedback processes and climate.