Juvenile Period Estimates for Fire-Sensitive Plants in Southwest Australia

Modeled juvenile period data for serotinous obligate-seeder plant taxa across south-west Australia delineates population decline risk under specific fire intervals. The dataset, authored by Carl Gosper for the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, provides spatial projections for two key metrics under recent climatic conditions centered on 1990.

Use Cases

• Assess fire interval risk by analyzing the 'JP - recent' metric against local precipitation and temperature variables.
• Model population recovery timelines using the 'JP 2× - recent' feature to inform conservation management strategies.
• Spatially project juvenile period estimates across Mediterranean agro-climatic classes using environmental productivity measures like gross primary productivity.

Strengths

• Data is derived from models featuring three specific environmental variables: mean annual precipitation, annual mean minimum temperature, and gross primary productivity.
• Provides two distinct juvenile period metrics ('JP - recent' and 'JP 2× - recent') for risk analysis.
• Spatially projected to classic and drier Mediterranean agro-climatic class areas within a defined geography (south-west Australia).

Limitations

• Data is modeled rather than directly observed, introducing potential estimation error.
• Temporal coverage is limited to a recent 30-year period centered on 1990, which may not reflect future climate conditions.
• The dataset focuses exclusively on serotinous obligate-seeder taxa, limiting applicability to other plant functional types.

Provenance

Source

Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA).

Collection Method

Collated from several studies, with juvenile period estimated via linear models based on environmental productivity measures.

Time Range

Modeled for recent conditions (30-year period centered on 1990).

Freshness

Last updated March 2026.

Geography

South-west Australia, specifically classic and drier Mediterranean agro-climatic class areas.