The ages and fecundity of some arid-zone plants in Western Australia
Since 1960, 22 species of individually marked, arid-zone perennial plants in the Murchison District and Gibson Desert of Western Australia have been monitored for flowering, fecundity, and survival. The age to which individual species survive was determined in terms of half-life, i.e. the time elaps...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
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CSIRO Publishing
2013
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/14932 |
| _version_ | 1848748755627540480 |
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| author | Davies, Stephen Kenny, S. |
| author_facet | Davies, Stephen Kenny, S. |
| author_sort | Davies, Stephen |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Since 1960, 22 species of individually marked, arid-zone perennial plants in the Murchison District and Gibson Desert of Western Australia have been monitored for flowering, fecundity, and survival. The age to which individual species survive was determined in terms of half-life, i.e. the time elapsed for half of the marked sample to die. The estimates ranged from 6.5 to 535 years. Phenology was recorded by observing whether the plants carried buds, flowers, fruits, or any combination of these, or were sterile. Fecundity of each species was measured by recording each year the percentage of the sample trees that carried fruit, by collecting seeds in trays placed beneath the plants and by counting the pods produced by some species. Fecundity was related to seasonal rainfall, most species responding positively to summer rainfall. The concept of mast years, as utilised in the northern hemisphere, was applied to recorded fecundities and some evidence was found that, after a year of high fecundity, the plants responded less vigorously to conditions of high rainfall than they did in the previous year of high rainfall. This suggests that, in years when fecundity is high, it diminishes the resources available within the plants to respond to heavy rainfall the following year or reduces the soil nutrients available to them. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T07:10:05Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-14932 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T07:10:05Z |
| publishDate | 2013 |
| publisher | CSIRO Publishing |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-149322017-09-13T15:01:02Z The ages and fecundity of some arid-zone plants in Western Australia Davies, Stephen Kenny, S. rainfall trees deserts climate shrubs rehabilitation Since 1960, 22 species of individually marked, arid-zone perennial plants in the Murchison District and Gibson Desert of Western Australia have been monitored for flowering, fecundity, and survival. The age to which individual species survive was determined in terms of half-life, i.e. the time elapsed for half of the marked sample to die. The estimates ranged from 6.5 to 535 years. Phenology was recorded by observing whether the plants carried buds, flowers, fruits, or any combination of these, or were sterile. Fecundity of each species was measured by recording each year the percentage of the sample trees that carried fruit, by collecting seeds in trays placed beneath the plants and by counting the pods produced by some species. Fecundity was related to seasonal rainfall, most species responding positively to summer rainfall. The concept of mast years, as utilised in the northern hemisphere, was applied to recorded fecundities and some evidence was found that, after a year of high fecundity, the plants responded less vigorously to conditions of high rainfall than they did in the previous year of high rainfall. This suggests that, in years when fecundity is high, it diminishes the resources available within the plants to respond to heavy rainfall the following year or reduces the soil nutrients available to them. 2013 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/14932 10.1071/RJ12112 CSIRO Publishing restricted |
| spellingShingle | rainfall trees deserts climate shrubs rehabilitation Davies, Stephen Kenny, S. The ages and fecundity of some arid-zone plants in Western Australia |
| title | The ages and fecundity of some arid-zone plants in Western Australia |
| title_full | The ages and fecundity of some arid-zone plants in Western Australia |
| title_fullStr | The ages and fecundity of some arid-zone plants in Western Australia |
| title_full_unstemmed | The ages and fecundity of some arid-zone plants in Western Australia |
| title_short | The ages and fecundity of some arid-zone plants in Western Australia |
| title_sort | ages and fecundity of some arid-zone plants in western australia |
| topic | rainfall trees deserts climate shrubs rehabilitation |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/14932 |