Valerie Densmore

Australia's fire history has contributed to the evolution of some highly flammable plant genera, like the woody legumes.  This Phd research was designed to address whether woody legumes and fire together constitute a feed-forward loop by first investigating how fire patterns affect woody legume distribution and persistence.  Additional experiments examined how woody legumes alter soil nutrient levels and water use that may both affect distribution of legumes and other particularly flammable species.  Altogether, this project sought to increase understanding of how fire and woody legumes interact to modify the structure and future fire hazard of plant communities.