Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-r5zm4 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-23T11:45:26.724Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Factors influencing tree growth in tropical savanna: studies of an abrupt Eucalyptus boundary at Yapilika, Melville Island, northern Australia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

B. A. Wilson  and
D. M. J. S. Bowman
B. A. Wilson
Affiliation:
Conservation Commission of the Northern Territory, PO Box 496, Palmerston, NT, Australia
D. M. J. S. Bowman
Affiliation:
Conservation Commission of the Northern Territory, PO Box 496, Palmerston, NT, Australia
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Most of the land surface of Melville Island, Australia's second largest island, is covered in Eucalyptus savanna. One exception is an area at Yapilika where a large tract of savanna is dominated by Acacia shrubs. An ordination analysis of 122 quadrats revealed that the boundary of Eucalyptus dominance did not correspond to a major change in floristic composition. Detailed transect studies at one site on the boundary showed that Eucalyptus trees were abruptly replaced by a band of Grevillea trees which gradually gave way to Acacia shrub dominance. There was a gradual change in the floristic composition of the savanna across the boundary. The distributional limit of Eucalyptus was found to be independent of any hydrological discontinuity. There was a slight decrease (<2.5 m) in altitude from Eucalyptus to Acacia savanna. The Acacia savanna soils were sandier and their surface soil had significantly lower concentrations of Ca and Mg and significantly greater concentration of Al compared with the Eucalyptus savanna soils. Eucalyptus seedlings planted in the three savanna communities were not found to be under drought stress (pre-dawn leaf xylem potentials of > – 0.9 MPa) during the dry season. Over a 12 month period Eucalyptus tetrodonta and E. miniata seedling growth was not significantly different on the Acacia or Eucalyptus savanna, although this result may be due to the counteracting effects of greater soil fertility and tree competition in the Eucalyptus savanna and lower soil fertility in the treeless, and hence competition-free, Acacia savanna. This hypothesis is supported by the significantly greater growth of Eucalyptus seedlings on fertilized Acacia savanna soils. The limited production, dispersal and establishment of Eucalyptus seeds and the greater frequency of fires in the Acacia savanna probably explains the abrupt limit to Eucalyptus dominance along the edaphic gradient.

Keywords

boundaryEucalyptushydrologyAustralianutrientssoilstropical savanna
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 10 , Issue 1 , February 1994 , pp. 103 - 120
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

LITERATURE CITED

Blackburn, W. H. & Tueller, P. T. 1970. Pinyon and Juniper invasion in black sagebush communities in east central Nevada. Ecology 51:841–848.Google Scholar
Blasco, F. 1983. The transition from open-forest to savanna in continental southeast Asia. In Bouliere, F. (ed.). Ecosystems of the world 13: tropical savannas. Elsevier Science Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Bowman, D. M. J. S. 1986. Stand characteristics, understorey associates and environmental correlates of Eucalyptus tetrodonta F. Muell. forests on Gunn Point, Northern Australia. Vegetatio 65:105–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowman, D. M. J. S. & McDonough, L. 1991. Tree species distribution across a seasonally flooded elevation gradient in the Australian monsoon tropics. Journal of Biogeography 18:203–212.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowman, D. M. J. S. & Minchin, P. R. 1987. Environmental relationships of woody vegetation patterns in the Australian monsoon tropics. Australian Journal of Botany 35:151–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowman, D. M. J. S., Wilson, B. A. & Hooper, R. J. 1988. Response of Eucalyptus forest and woodland to four fire regimes at Munmalarly, Northern Territory, Australia. Journal of Ecology 70:57–67.Google Scholar
Bromfield, S. M. 1987. Simple tests for the assessment of A1 + Mg levels in acid soils. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 27:399–404.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clayton, W. D. 1958. Secondary vegetation and the transition to savanna near Ibadan, Nigeria. Journal of Ecology 46:217–238.Google Scholar
Coventry, R. J. & Fett, D. E. R. 1979. A pipette and sieve method of particle size analysis and some observations on its efficacy. CSIRO Australian Division Soil Report No. 38.Google Scholar
Cremer, K. W. 1977. Distance of seed dispersal in eucalypts estimated from seed weights. Australian Forestry Research 7:225–228.Google Scholar
Csiro. 1982. Notes on soil techniques No. 4. CSIRO Division of Soils, Canberra.Google Scholar
Fensham, R. J. 1990. Interactive effects of fire frequency and site factors in tropical Eucalyptus forests near Darwin, northern Australia. Australian Journal of Ecology 15:255–256.Google Scholar
Fensham, R. J. & Bowman, D. M. J. S. 1992. Stand structure and the influence of overwood on regeneration in tropical Eucalyptus forests on Melville Island. Australian Journal of Botany 40:335–352.Google Scholar
Furley, P. A. & Ratter, J. A. 1988. Soil resources and plant communities of the central Brazilian cerrado and their development. Journal of Biogeography 15:97–108.Google Scholar
Gillison, A. N. 1983. Tropical savannas of Australia and the Southwest pacific. Pp. 183–243 in Bouliere, F. (ed.) Ecosystems of the world 13: tropical savannas. Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company, Amsterdam.Google Scholar
Goldstein, G. & Sarmiento, G. 1987. Water relations of trees and grasses and their consequence for the structure of savanna vegetation. Pp. 13–38 in Walker, B. H. (ed.). Determinants of tropical savannas. Presentations made by savanna researchers at a workshop in Harare, Zimbabwe, December 1985. International Union of Biological Sciences, Monograph No. 3.Google Scholar
Harrington, G. N., Wilson, A. D. & Young, M. D. 1984. Management of Australia's rangelands. CSIRO, Canberra.Google Scholar
Heanes, D. L. 1984. Determination of total C in soils by improved chromic acid digestion and spectrophotometric procedure. Communications in Soil Science Plant Analysis 15(10):1191–1213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hobbs, E. R. 1986. Characterising the boundary between California annual and coastal sage scrub with differential profiles. Vegetatio 65:115–126.Google Scholar
Hughs, R. J. 1976. Bathurst Island and Melville Island, Northern Territory. SC/52–15 and SC/52–16, 1:250 000 Geological Series. AGPS Canberra 18 pp. + maps.Google Scholar
Isbell, R. F., Jones, R. K. & Gillman, G. P. 1976. Plant nutrition studies on some yellow and red earth soils in northern Cape York Peninsula 1. Soils and their nutrient status. Australian Journal of Experimental Agricultural and Animal Husbandry 16:532–541.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, R. W. & Tothill, J. C. 1985. Definition and broad geographic outline of savanna lands. Pp. 1–13 in Tothill, J. C. & Mott, J. J. (eds). Ecology and management of the World's Savannas. The Australian Academy of Science, Canberra.Google Scholar
Juo, A. S. R., Ayanlaja, S. A. & Oeunwale, J. A. 1976. An evaluation of cation exchange capacity measurements for soils in the tropics. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis 7:751–761.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kellman, M. 1979. Soil enrichment by neotropical savanna trees. Journal of Ecology 67:565–577.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kellman, M. 1984. Synergistic relationships between fire and low soil fertility in neotropical savannas: a hypothesis. Biotropica 16:158–160.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Knoop, W. T. & Walker, B. H. 1985. Interactions of woody and herbaceous vegetation in a southern African savanna. Journal of Ecology 73:235–253.Google Scholar
Lacey, C. J. & Whelan, P. I. 1976. Observations on the ecological significance of vegetative reproduction in the Katherine-Darwin region of the Northern Territory. Australian Journal of Botany 39:131–139.Google Scholar
Lindsey, W. L. & Norvell, W. A. 1969. DTPA extractable Cu, Fe, Mn, Na and Zn in soils. Proceedings of the Soil Science Society America 33:62.Google Scholar
McDonald, R. C. & Isbell, R. F. 1984. Soil profile. Pp. 83–126 in McDonald, R. C., Isbell, R. F., Speight, S. G., Walker, J. & Hopkins, M. S. (eds). Australian soil and land survey field handbook, Inkata Press, Melbourne.Google Scholar
McIntyre, D. S. 1974. Water retention and moisture characteristics. Pp. 43–63 in Loveday, J. (ed.). Methods for analysis of irrigated soils. Commonwealth Bureau of Soils, Technical Communication 54, Commonwealth Agricultural Bureau.Google Scholar
McQueen, D. R. 1981. Ecological profiles technique applied to modified indigenous grasslands, Central Otago, New Zealand. Proceedings Ecology Society of Australia 11:131–142.Google Scholar
Medina, E. 1982. Physiological ecology of neotropical savanna plants. Pp. 308–335 in Huntley, B. J. & Walker, B. H. (eds). Ecology of tropical savannas. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Minchin, P. R. 1990. DECODA: Data-base for Ecological COmmunity DAta. Version 2.0, February 1990. ANUTECH, Canberra.Google Scholar
Sarmiento, G. 1984. The ecology of neotropical savannas. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sarmiento, G., Goldstein, G. & Meinzer, F. 1985. Adaptive strategies of woody species in neotropical savannas. Biological Review 60:315–355.Google Scholar
Seymour, J. 1981. The dunes of Cooloola. Ecos 30:3–11.Google Scholar
Taylor, J. A. & Tulloch, D. 1985. Rainfall in the wet-dry tropics: Extreme events at Darwin and similarities between years during the period 1870–1983 inclusive. Australian Journal of Ecology 10:281–296.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tisdale, S. L. & Nelson, W. L. 1975. Soil fertility and fertilisers (3rd edition). Macmillan Publishing Company, New York.Google Scholar
Walker, B. H. 1987. A general model of savanna structure and function. Pp. 1–12 in Walker, B. H. (ed.). Determinants of tropical savannas. Presentations made by savanna researchers at a workshop in Harare, Zimbabwe, December 1985. International Union of Biological Sciences, Monograph No. 3.Google Scholar
Walker, B. H., Ludwig, D., Holling, C. S. & Peterman, R. M. 1981. Stability of semi-arid grazing systems. Journal of Ecology 69:473–498.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walker, B. H. & Noy-Meir, . 1982. Aspects of stability and resilience of savanna ecosystems. Pp. 577–590 in Huntley, B. J. & Walker, B. H. (eds). Ecology of tropical savannas. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.Google Scholar
Walter, H. 1971. Natural savannas. In Burnett, J. H. (ed.). Ecology of tropical and subtropical vegetation. Oliver Boyd, Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Weltzin, J. F. & Coughenour, M. B. 1990. Savanna tree influence on understorey vegetation and soil nutrients in northwestern Kenya. Journal of Vegetation Science 1(3):325–332.Google Scholar
Wilson, B. A. 1991. The open-forest-‘treeless’ plains boundary on Melville Island, Northern Territory. MSc thesis, University of Tasmania.Google Scholar
Wilson, B. A. & Bowman, D. M. J. S. 1987. Fire, storm, flood and drought: the vegetation ecology of Howards Peninsula, Northern Territory, Australia. Australian Journal of Ecology 12:165–174.Google Scholar
Wilson, B. A., Brocklehurst, P. S., Clark, M. J. & Dickinson, K. J. M. 1990. Vegetation survey of the Northern Territory. Conservation Commission of the Northern Territory, Technical Report No. 49.Google Scholar