Piers Barrow presents ‘The role of fire in the ecology of Leichhardt’s grassshopper (Petasida ephippigera)’, on Friday 4 July from 1-2pm.
Leichhardt's grasshopper (Petasida ephippigera) lives only on a few species of sandstone heath shrubs within the genus Pityrodia and is endemic to the sandstone escarpment and plateau country of the Top End of the Northern Territory.
There is some evidence that the distribution of the grasshoppers is in decline and it has been suggested that adverse fire regimes are responsible.
The general aims of Piers’ study were to investigate the ecology of both the grasshoppers and their food plants, and to model the effects of fire regimes on grasshopper populations. The results indicate that contemporary fire regimes are likely to be detrimental to populations of Leichhardt's grasshopper.
Piers Barrow is a PhD student with CDU's School for Environmental Research.
This seminar takes place in Blue 1.01 (Building 22.01), Casuarina campus, Charles Darwin University.