Structure and dynamics of grazed woodlands in North-eastern Australia

<p dir="ltr">Data from 75 permanent belt transect sites were utilised for an analysis of the</p><p dir="ltr">floristics and temporal dynamics of the woody vegetation of the grazed woodlands</p><p dir="ltr">of Queensland, Australia. Woody species abundance, composition and structure</p><p dir="ltr">were described based on over 42, 000 individual recorded plants and.Detrended</p><p dir="ltr">Correspondence Analysis was used to divide the transects into seven community</p><p dir="ltr">types based on floristic similarity. The time between first and last recording varied</p><p dir="ltr">between sites, with 17 years between initial and final recording for the oldest site</p><p dir="ltr">and three years or less for the 39 remaining sites were recorded. Between first and</p><p dir="ltr">last recording events mortality was 2.6% of initial woody plant density per year</p><p dir="ltr">while recruitment was 6.796, resulting in an overall increase in woody plant</p><p dir="ltr">numbers of 17% of initial density. The woodlands experienced a decrease in basal</p><p dir="ltr">area of 0.7% of initial basal area per year despite the increase in density, reflecting</p><p dir="ltr">that many the majority of recruits were small plants with minimal basal area.</p><p dir="ltr">Despite fluctuation in basal area and density, species composition remained largely</p><p dir="ltr">unchanged over time. Size class distributions remained unchanged over time and</p><p dir="ltr">followed a reverse-J pattern for most woodland types. Ordination analysis revealed</p><p dir="ltr">that a range of environmental factors including temperature, geographic location,</p><p dir="ltr">soil type and topography were important in influencing the distribution of</p><p dir="ltr">community types. Linear models revealed that that dynamics patterns within the</p><p dir="ltr">woodlands were poorly correlated with those environmental factors utilised.</p>