Effects of Time Since Fire on Heath Floristics at Wilson's Promontory, Southern Australia

Abstract

Five stands of heath vegetation were located which were similar in all respects except that their age since last being burnt ranged from 1 to 21 years. There were no major floristic differences associated with age since fire. Species richness declined from about 60 species from 1 to 10 years since fire down to 49 species at 21 years. The essentially self-replacing nature of the vegetation after fire is due to the high incidence of rootstock regeneration.