Michael Doherty ‘Vegetation Types, Vegetation Dynamics and Fire Ecology on Black Mountain’

Michael, a plant ecologist, will focus on the long-term ecological monitoring which is an essential component of sound fire management practice on Black Mountain.  Given the proximity of Black Mountain to Canberra’s academic institutions and an engaged and interested community, the mountain remains a fertile ground for ongoing botanical and ecological research.

Abstract
Black Mountain Nature Reserve and adjacent protected areas contain floristically and structurally diverse examples of dry sclerophyll forest and grassy woodland communities typical of those found on the southern tablelands.  Although the primary environmental drivers of climate, geology and landform have organised plant distribution on Black Mountain over long periods of time, short-term changes in structure and composition are driven by local disturbances resulting from fire, drought, storms, windthrow, dieback and thinning and clearing.  Early research on the ecological effects of fire on vascular plant species in dry sclerophyll forest undertaken in and around Black Mountain in the 1970s has informed subsequent fire management both on Black Mountain and in other dry sclerophyll forest communities on the NSW tablelands more generally.  However, despite a very sound understanding of the effects of fire on plant species and their short-term responses, the long-term dynamics associated with different fire regimes is an ongoing research area, particularly with a recent refocus on planned burns for fuel management on Black Mountain.  Long term ecological monitoring is an essential component of sound fire management practice, so given the proximity of Black Mountain to Canberra’s academic institutions and an engaged and interested community, the mountain remains a fertile ground for ongoing botanical and ecological research.

Biography
Michael Doherty:  Michael is a plant ecologist based in Canberra.  Born in southern Sydney, he spent much of his formative years botanising and bushwalking in the sandstone country of the Sydney Basin, and graduated with an honours degree in science from the University of Sydney in 1986.  For the next 30 years he undertook research and consulting in plant conservation and management both in Australia and overseas.  Michael has worked at the National Herbarium of NSW and NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, and spent the last 25 years of his ‘official’ career with CSIRO in Canberra.  He left CSIRO in 2016 to pursue a career as a gentleman naturalist and occasional botanical consultant.  Michael has a strong interest in vegetation disturbance dynamics and in particular, fire ecology.