Research Student Scholarship Program

Dr Samantha Lloydwww.fireandbiodiversity.org.au

• Established in 1998, the SEQFBC is 17 years old!

• Non government and not-for-profit.

SEQ Fire & Biodiversity Consortium

• Aim: Translate science into practice for improved fire management and biodiversity conservation in SEQ.

Thank you to our Sponsors

• We have three priority areas:

1. Education & engagement.

2. Applied research.

3. Representation & response.

SEQ Fire & Biodiversity Consortium

Scholarship Program• Aims to provide financial assistance & support.

• Honours, Masters & PhD students.

• Research in fire ecology &/or fire management in the SEQ Bioregion.

• Annual (financial year) & worth $3000.

• Launched ~ October & closes mid-December.

• Thanks to Fireland Consultancy.

Scholarship Program• Judged on merit by panel three SEQFBC SC members.

• Students complete an application form, project information & budget.

• Announce the winner at Autumn Forum & promote via newsletter, website, ESA etc.

• Students contribute:

• Newsletter article;

• Presentation;

• RWG meeting

• Summary report.

Diana Virkki - 2012/2013• PhD project at Griffith University.

• Fire management guidelines primarily built on plant responses with limited information on fauna.

• Assess how reptiles & small mammals respond to spatio-temporal fire mosaics across the landscape of SEQ eucalypt forest.

• Made use of long-term research plots at Bauple SF.

• Undertook reptile & small mammal surveys & BioCondition vegetation & habitat surveys.

• Completed 2014.

Diana Virkki -

2012/2013• Reptile abundance &

species richness was best explained by total number of fires & fire type (planned, wildfire or top disposal).

• Correlations of reptile parameters were much stronger with fire variables than vegetation.

Ross Waldron - 2013/2014

• Honours project at University of the Sunshine Coast.

• Comparing impacts of wildfire & prescribed burning on woody understorey composition & the reaction of eucalypt regeneration in dry open forest.

• Made use long-term research plots at Bauple SF.

• Awarded 1st Class Honours.

Ross Waldron - 2013/2014

• Single wildfire, after period of fire exclusion, can substantially change vegetation structure of forest, but have less impact on species composition 7 years post-fire.

Brett Parker - 2013/2014• Honours project at University of the Sunshine

Coast.

• Remote sensing techniques to identify & quantify spatial patterns of fire severity over 23 years in SEQ heath & woodland.

• Assess the accuracy of Landsat & WorldView-2 imagery to map burnt area & burn severity in burn scars less than 2ha.

• Feed this back into fire regimes.

• Mooloolah River National Park over 23years.

• Awarded 1st Class Honours.

Brett Parker - 2013/2014• Remote sensing of

Melaleuca & Eucalypt woodlands were well correlated with field measurements (fire severity).

• Increasing time-since-fire was followed by large fires (>40% burnt).

• Burnt area interval was < ecological thresholds in 75% of heath.

Martyn Eliott - 2014/2015• Honours project at University of the Sunshine

Coast.

• Hypothesis: The composition of cerambycid beetles is affected by fire regime through changes in habitat.

• Identify link between fire affected habitat/forest health & beetle composition = bioindicator.

• Making use long-term research plots at Bauple SF.

• Field work Feb - May.

• Results to come…

• Burnt annually (1952)

• Burnt every three years (1973)

• Unburnt area (1946)

• Wildfire area (2006)

Martyn Eliott

Manager: Dr Samantha Lloyd

Coordinator: Craig Welden

Phone: 0438 008 668

Email: Sam: slloyd@seqcatchments.com.auCraig: cwelden@seqcatchments.com.au

Website: www.fireandbiodiversity.org.au

Contact Details

Christmas Bells (Blandfordia grandiflora) flowering post burn, 2006 (D.Metters).

Questions