Succession and management - Ecological Applications: Toward a Sustainable World - page 230

Fig. 8.12 (a) Tree
species richness in
different tree size
classes (Dbh is diameter
at breast height) in
three categories of
benzoin garden (G1,
most intensely
managed; G2, interme-
diate; G3, least
intensively managed)
and in secondary forest
(SF; 30 - 40 years after
abandonment of
benzoin gardens) and in
primary (undisturbed)
forest (PF). (b)
Percentage of individual
trees in three succes-
sional categories. (c)
Percentage of individual
trees in various utility
categories. Each data
point is based on three
replicate 1-ha plots
(standard errors
shown). (After Garcia-
Fernandez, 2003.)

(a)

60

Dbh 2-5 cm
Dbh 5-10 cm
Dbh >10 cm
All trees

50

40

30

20

10

0

G1 G2 G3 SF PF

(b)

100

Early successional
Mid-successional
Climax

80

60

40

20

0

G1 G2 G3 SF PF

(c)

100

No known use
Subsistence use
Local market
International market

80

60

40

20

0

G1 G2 G3 SF PF

collaborators. Fire-sensitive vegetation in decline elsewhere, such as Callitris intra-
tropica woodlands and shrub-dominated heathlands, remained well represented in
the study area. The ecologists were surprised to note that the Dukaladjarranj area
compares favorably with the Kakadu National Park, a conservation area with high
vertebrate and plant diversity. Dukaladjarranj contains several rare species, a number
of others that have declined in unmanaged areas and, furthermore, exotic plant and
animal invaders are rare.
The aboriginal regime, with its many small, low intensity fi res, contrasts dramati-
cally with the typical modern pattern of intensive, uncontrolled fi res near the end
of the dry season. These blaze across vast areas, sometimes more than 1 million
hectares, of western and central Arnhem Land that are unoccupied and unmanaged,