Dr Alan York

Position	Senior Research Fellow
Address	Department of Forest and Ecosystem Science Melbourne School of Land and Environment University of Melbourne Water Street, Creswick, Victoria 3363 Australia
Email	alan.york@unimelb.edu.au
Phone	+61 3 5321 4270

[Photo: Alan York]

Forests and Fire Ecology Group

DFES Staff Index

Research Interests
Conservation of insects and other invertebrates Impacts of forest management (particularly fire) on biodiversity Role of invertebrates and fungi in nutrient cycling and ecosystem health back to top
Research Projects
Leader of the Bushfire Research and Development Group within the School. This research group is comprised of 12 scientists and support staff, primarily based at the Creswick campus, with research conducted at field sites in Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania. Work conducted within this Group is focused in two major areas: contractual research and training for the Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment ( Technical Transfer and Development , Biodiversity Studies and Fire Management Issues ), and via the Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre. Through the Bushfire CRC we have links with research groups in Tasmania (Forestry Tasmania), Western Australia (Department of Conservation and Land Management), Australian Capital Territory (CSIRO Entomology), New South Wales(Forests NSW) and the Northern Territory (CSIRO). Project Leader for Bushfire CRC Project B3.1 - Effects of Fire on Ecosystem Processes and Biodiversity . This project deals with the effects of fire on the maintenance of biodiversity and associated ecosystem processes at a range of scales ranging from small local communities to large landscapes. This research aims to understand the interaction between fire, vegetation, invertebrates and soil organisms in carbon and nutrient cycling, and how this contributes to biodiversity conservation and ecosystem function. This assists in determining the ecological sustainability of current fire management practices. The project is ably supported by two Post-doctoral Research Fellows, Dr Karl Brennan and Dr Fiona Christie . PhD supervision: Julian DiStefano (current) PhD. candidate, University of Melbourne. "Interactions Between Native Forest Timber Harvesting, Fire and Swamp Wallabies (Wallabia bicolor): Implications for Wallaby Populations and Forest Regeneration". Past projects and consultancies: 2002: Senior Research Scientist. Sydney Catchment Authority, Penrith, NSW. One-year secondment to advise and assist the Authority on issues concerning fire management and research within catchments. 1999-2001: Research Fellow, Department of Biological Science, University of Wollongong. Chief Investigator of a three year $192,000 ARC and Industry (Forests NSW) funded project entitled Sustainability of Fuel-Reduction Burning Regimes in Commercial Blackbutt Forests. This project investigated the effect of altered fire regimes in blackbutt ( Eucalyptus pilularis ) forests and addressed whether frequent burning is a sustainable long-term management strategy with regard to the conservation of biodiversity. 1996-1998: Chief Investigator of a Commonwealth funded research project entitled: Impacts of Grazing & Burning on Forest Biodiversity . This is a three-year project funded by the Resource and Conservation Assessment Council as part of the Federal Government program to develop a Comprehensive, Adequate and Representative forest reserve system. The project is supported by $175,000 Commonwealth grant and independent funding from the Key Centre for Biodiversity & Bioresources. The research investigated the effects of two common land management practices (grazing and fire) on two important components of forest biodiversity; specifically the terrestrial invertebrates and vascular plants. back to top
Publications
Di Stefano J, York A, Swan M, Greenfield A, Coulson G (2009) Habitat selection by the swamp wallaby (Wallabia bicolor) in relation to diel period, food and shelter. Austral Ecology 34 (2):143-155 Di Stefano J, Anson JA, York A, Greenfield A, Coulson G, Berman A, Bladen M (2007) Interactions between timber harvesting and swamp wallabies (Wallabia bicolor): Space use, density and browsing impact. Forest Ecology and Management 253: 128-137. doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2007.07.010 York, A. and Tarnawski, J. (2004) Impacts of grazing and burning on terrestrial invertebrate assemblages in dry eucalypt forests of north-eastern New South Wales: Implications for biodiversity conservation. Pp. 845-859 in D. Lunney (ed.) Conservation of Australia's Forest Fauna . 2 nd Edition. Royal Zoological Society of NSW, Mosman 2088. York, A. (2003) Invertebrates and fire: think small, think big. The need to incorporate a major component of our biodiversity into adaptive management. Pp. 87-92 in Bushfires: Managing the Risk. Proceedings of a Conference on Ecologically Sustainable Bushfire Management . Nature Conservation Council of NSW Inc., Sydney. Harris, R., York, A. and Beattie, A.J. (2003) Impacts of grazing and burning on spider assemblages in dry eucalypt forests of north-eastern New South Wales, Australia. Austral Ecology 28: 526-538. York, A. (2001) Pyrophilic or pyrophobic? The response of beetle communities to an altered fire regime. Pp. In Proceedings of the Australasian Bushfire Conference , Christchurch, New Zealand. York, A. (2000) Long-term effects of frequent low-intensity burning on ant communities in coastal blackbutt forests of southeastern Australia. Austral Ecology 25: 83-98. York, A. (2000) Changing fire regimes: implications for biodiversity conservation. Pp. 80-84 in Red Trucks: Green Futures . Nature Conservation Council of NSW Inc. Andrew, N., Rodgerson, L. and York, A. (2000) Frequent fuel reduction burning: the role of logs and associated leaf litter in the conservation of ant biodiversity. Austral Ecology 25: 99-107. Oliver, I. MacNally, R. and York, A. (2000) Identifying performance indicators of the effects of forest management on ground-active arthropod biodiversity using hierachical partitioning and partial canonical correspondence analysis. Forest Ecology and Management 139: 21-40. back to top
Student Supervision

Current Students Anne Miehs (PhD) Tom Duff (PhD) Potential Student Projects (Honours/PhD) The role of retained logs in conserving biodiversity in fire-prone environments : Logs (coarse woody debris) on the forest floor play an important role for biodiversity conservation in managed forests. They provide unique habitats for many unusual and specialist organisms (invertebrates and fungi) and, in association with the litter that accumulates around them, provide a refuge for many animals (both vertebrate and invertebrate) and plants (both vascular and non-vascular) during fires. This project seeks to explore the role played by logs in forests that experience frequent low-intensity fires through fuel-reduction prescriptions. It will utilise the long-term research trial at Wombat State Forest and test preliminary findings in a range of managed forests across the Victorian landscape. Findings will provide managers with guidelines by which they can better understand the role played by retained logs, particularly in regard to biodiversity conservation and ecologically sustainable forest management. Patterns of invertebrate biodiversity in response to the patchiness of low-intensity prescribed burning: Low intensity fires are patchy at small scales, but within-perimeter spatial pattern of fire intensity is not well documented and the relationship between fire processes, plant and animal communities and physical environmental patterns at small scales are poorly understood. Small scale patchiness in fire intensity and other fire characteristics has important implications for the response of vegetation to a fire, and this response has important implications for invertebrate communities that utilise these habitat elements. This project will investigate the extent to which unburnt patches and patches of varying fire intensity within a fire perimeter act as small scale refuges and how connectivity and isolation at this scale affects recolonisation and recovery. Fieldwork involve investigations in two established experiments and associated operational burning, in contrasting forest environments (Eden in south-east NSW and Wauchope in north-eastern NSW). It will be conducted in conjunction with a parallel project investigating vegetation responses to patchy fires. The results of the project will be used in combination with information from other projects to improve prediction of the impacts of fire management scenarios on invertebrate biodiversity. back to top
Teaching

Current Students

Anne Miehs (PhD)
Tom Duff (PhD)

Potential Student Projects (Honours/PhD)

The role of retained logs in conserving biodiversity in fire-prone environments : Logs (coarse woody debris) on the forest floor play an important role for biodiversity conservation in managed forests. They provide unique habitats for many unusual and specialist organisms (invertebrates and fungi) and, in association with the litter that accumulates around them, provide a refuge for many animals (both vertebrate and invertebrate) and plants (both vascular and non-vascular) during fires. This project seeks to explore the role played by logs in forests that experience frequent low-intensity fires through fuel-reduction prescriptions. It will utilise the long-term research trial at Wombat State Forest and test preliminary findings in a range of managed forests across the Victorian landscape. Findings will provide managers with guidelines by which they can better understand the role played by retained logs, particularly in regard to biodiversity conservation and ecologically sustainable forest management.

Patterns of invertebrate biodiversity in response to the patchiness of low-intensity prescribed burning: Low intensity fires are patchy at small scales, but within-perimeter spatial pattern of fire intensity is not well documented and the relationship between fire processes, plant and animal communities and physical environmental patterns at small scales are poorly understood. Small scale patchiness in fire intensity and other fire characteristics has important implications for the response of vegetation to a fire, and this response has important implications for invertebrate communities that utilise these habitat elements. This project will investigate the extent to which unburnt patches and patches of varying fire intensity within a fire perimeter act as small scale refuges and how connectivity and isolation at this scale affects recolonisation and recovery. Fieldwork involve investigations in two established experiments and associated operational burning, in contrasting forest environments (Eden in south-east NSW and Wauchope in north-eastern NSW). It will be conducted in conjunction with a parallel project investigating vegetation responses to patchy fires. The results of the project will be used in combination with information from other projects to improve prediction of the impacts of fire management scenarios on invertebrate biodiversity.