Post-fire recruitment and mortality in a population of the mallee Eucalyptus incrassata in semi-arid south-eastern Australia

Study of the population dynamics of yellow mallee based upon the life-stage approach revealed that the populations are not static under present conditions. Successful establishment of seedlings is rare and is restricted to recently-burnt stands. Seedling recruitment of mallee eucalypts is uncommon, even following fire. This phenomenon may result from the infrequent coincidence of fire and years favourable for germination and establishment. Recruitment events are thus widely spaced in time, imparting a steady-state appearance to mallee populations. -from Authors