Fire, plant species richness and plants of significance to Australian desert Aboriginal people

Abstract

A survey was undertaken in the Great Sandy Desert, Western Australia, to document changes in total plant species richness and the richness of plants of significance to Aboriginal people, with time since fire. Species richness was highest in the early post-fire seral stages, then declined with time as ‘fire ephemerals’ completed their life cycle. Culturally significant plants, which comprised ~42% of all plants recorded, were found in all seral stages but were most abundant in the early stages post fire. A fine-scale mosaic of seral stages created by frequent patch burning provides a higher variety of plant resources per unit area, increasing harvesting efficiency of culturally important plants.