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Seasonal Herbaceous Wetlands Conceptual Model - pre-colonisation,…
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What changed?
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Increased herbivory
Cows, sheep - large selective herbivores
repeated grazing affects perennial plant root energy stores, seed set?, plant-plant interactions
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Deeper soil disturbance - was never a part of the ecoystem - compaction and mechanical disturbance from machinery, from large ungulates. Or repeateed heavy grazing that disruputs root energy stores
Many plants evolved below-ground refuge approaches to surviving mostly aboveground disturbance. Some may need AG disturbance to complete lifecycle (e.g. inter-tussock gaps to recruit from seed), something to remove overgrowth (example = Xero in kangaroo camps)
Energy in thee plants is primarily stored underground, having evolved with aboveground disturbance.
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SHW plants did not evolve with deeper soil disturbance. This impacts underground refuge strategies (roots, seeds, propagules) resulting in species disappearing
We need to understand what exists as seeds/ propagules. This lets us understand what is absent from the ecosystem diversity pool.
Vegetation sampling shows us whole plants, but species that spend the majority of their time as seed/propagule are hidden (e.g. cardamine spp. )
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We need to understand belowground diversity - Seed. Storage effect. Need to understand what isn't present in diversity pool
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Germination, recruitment niches
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Disturbances are all impacted by landscape scale changes post colonisation. "Reference sites" also affected. E.g. less fire and small herbivory from large roaming kangaroo mobs, landscape scale fire, managed cool burns. Also maybe less flooding due to widespread drainage
We know competition is an important driver in this system, is it possible facilitation is too? To more of a degree than we realise?
Species that can't tolerate disturbance e.g. flooding, can tolerate if other plants in communtiy provide the microsites e.g. CalLac on tussock mounds. Or, Microseris protected by poalab