Savanna Fire Regime Effects on Biomass and Woody Cover, 1993-2013

Twenty years of understorey herbaceous biomass, ground cover, and overstorey woody cover data from a tropical savanna fire experiment in northern Australia. The Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network's Data Discovery platform hosts measurements from BOTANAL assessments and digital analysis of oblique aerial imagery. Fire regimes tested varying frequency and season of burning compared to unburnt controls.

Use Cases

• Calibrate models of herbaceous growth in response to long-term fire based on BOTANAL biomass data.
• Model woody cover change over time based on canopy cover derived from aerial imagery and bitterlich gauge measurements.
• Assess climate change impacts on carbon sequestration based on biomass and woody cover responses to fire.
• Analyze the effect of fire frequency and season on pasture composition in grazed tropical grasslands.

Strengths

• Long-term data spanning a twenty-year period from 1993 to 2013.
• Multi-method data collection includes BOTANAL ground surveys and digital analysis of aerial imagery from 1995 and 2013.
• Tests multiple fire regime variables including frequency (2, 4, 6 years) and season (June vs. October).

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to data_gov_au, being from a specific site in northern Australia.

Provenance

Source

Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network's Data Discovery

Collection Method

BOTANAL ground surveys, digital analysis of oblique aerial imagery, and bitterlich gauge measurements on transects.

Time Range

1993-2013

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-13 11:27:43.452641; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Grassland and open woodland in the tropical savannas of northern Australia.