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How does the quantity of course, woody debris influence fauna return to restored bauxite mines?
Conference paper   Open access

How does the quantity of course, woody debris influence fauna return to restored bauxite mines?

A. Grigg, M. Craig, R.J. Hobbs, M.J. Garkaklis, C. Grant, P.A. Fleming and G.E.St.J. Hardy
11th International Mediterranean Ecosystems (MEDECOS) Conference (2007) (Perth, Western Australia, 02/09/2007–05/09/2007)
2007
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Abstract

The value to fauna of dead fallen wood or coarse woody debris (CWD) in Australian forest ecosystems is well established. Reptiles use logs for shelter, to lay eggs and as basking sites, while mammals may use logs for shelter or for nesting (Bell 2004, Grove and Meggs 2003, Lindenmayer et al. 2002). Mac Nally (2006) has also demonstrated the reliance on CWD of certain bird species. Consideration of CWD is therefore important for forest restoration. However, there is only limited information to guide decisions on the quality, condition or configuration of CWD in practical habitat reconstruction activities (Mac Nally et al. 2001). The aim of this study is to determine the response of selected faunal groups to varying quantities of CWD, routinely returned as piles of logs (Brennan et al. 2005), in the restoration of a jarrah forest ecosystem following bauxite mining in the south-west Western Australia. In particular, do increasing densities of log piles in mines sites simply provide more habitat, or do the shorter distances between log pile habitats resulting from higher densitities facilitate animal movement (Lindenmayer et al. 2002) and therefore the rate of recolonisation.

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