Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/19540
Title: Vegetation resilience to mega-drought along a typical floodplain gradient of the southern Murray-Darling Basin, Australia
Contributor(s): Capon, Samantha (author); Reid, Michael  (author)orcid 
Publication Date: 2016
DOI: 10.1111/jvs.12426
Handle Link: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/19540
Abstract: 'Questions': How diverse and resilient is vegetation following a decade of extreme drought along a typical floodplain gradient of semi-arid south-eastern Australia? How do mechanisms of resilience (i.e. persistence and soil seed banks) vary between major plant groups and spatially with respect to habitat type and position along a flood frequency gradient? 'Location': Southern Murray-Darling Basin, Australia. 'Methods': We surveyed understorey vegetation and conducted germination trials to examine responses to re-wetting from soil seed banks of seven major habitat types along a typical floodplain gradient of the southern Murray-Darling Basin. We assessed abundance, species richness, functional diversity and composition, including exotic species, within and between extant and germinating assemblages. 'Results': Understorey vegetation was surprisingly diverse, although low in cover, following a decade of extreme drought, with considerable numbers of plant species (61) and functional plant groups represented. Historically drier habitats, towards floodplain margins, had higher species richness and cover overall and for exotic species. Plant assemblages exhibited high heterogeneity between habitats. Soil seed banks were very dissimilar from extant vegetation, comprising mainly amphibious and damp taxa as well as some terrestrial herbs, mostly annuals. Seed banks were most abundant and diverse in intermediate floodplain habitats, and their composition was very distinct between habitat types. 'Conclusions': Semi-arid floodplain vegetation is likely to be highly resilient to prolonged drought. Plants persisting under dry conditions do not appear to rely on local soil seed banks for regeneration and may either tolerate drying in situ or arrive from neighbouring ecosystems. Soil seed banks allow understorey vegetation to respond to re-wetting, especially in intermediate floodplain habitats. Lake bed assemblages and aquatic/amphibious species lacking soil seed banks appear most vulnerable to drought. Vegetation resilience is promoted by landscape heterogeneity.
Publication Type: Journal Article
Source of Publication: Journal of Vegetation Science, 27(5), p. 926-937
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Place of Publication: United Kingdom
ISSN: 1654-1103
1100-9233
Fields of Research (FoR) 2008: 050104 Landscape Ecology
060202 Community Ecology (excl. Invasive Species Ecology)
Fields of Research (FoR) 2020: 410206 Landscape ecology
310302 Community ecology (excl. invasive species ecology)
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2008: 960505 Ecosystem Assessment and Management of Forest and Woodlands Environments
960506 Ecosystem Assessment and Management of Fresh, Ground and Surface Water Environments
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2020: 180301 Assessment and management of freshwater ecosystems
180501 Assessment and management of benthic marine ecosystems
180502 Assessment and management of pelagic marine ecosystems
Peer Reviewed: Yes
HERDC Category Description: C1 Refereed Article in a Scholarly Journal
Appears in Collections:Journal Article

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