Burning questions: fire and the Eneabba sandplain shrublands

摘要

Fire is a common occurrence for the Eneabba sandplain shrubland plant community but how does the timing of fires across the landscape relate to biodiversity conservation? The Eneabba sandplain shrublands are located 270 kilometres north of Perth, nestled between limestone shrublands running along the coastline and lateritic shrublands further inland. The soils are white sands with extremely low nutrients and it is amazing to think any plants can survive there at all. Yet out of these difficult foundations arise some of the most diverse, endemic-rich shrublands in the south-west of Western Australia. Here are banksias, hakeas, feather-flowers, sundews, orchids and more—and many species are found nowhere else. Fire is an important regenerative agentin this community, providing ongoing opportunities for species to coexist.