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Alpine communities in Tasmania
Australian alpine vegetation is categorised as the area beyond the maximum altitude for tree growth (tree line). In Tasmania, much like mainland Australia, the tree line occurs close to the summit, and appears to be formed as a result of impeded drainage and ice-baring wind, rather than caused by a temperature decline with altitude. This results in a small area of alpine habitat compared with similarly alpine areas, and as such, alpine communities found in Tasmania constitute less than 2% if the state (approximately 1270km2) Kirkpatrick J. B., Dickinson K. J. M. (1984) The Impact of Fire on Tasmanian Alpine Vegetation and Soils. Australian Journal of Botany. Volume 32, pp. 613–629. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/BT9840613 . The majority of this land is contained within National Parks and State reserves, thus protected against degradation from commercial uses11. Kirkpatrick, J. B. (1983), Treeless plant communities of the Tasmanian high country. Proceedings of the Ecological Society of Australia, Volume 12, pp. 61-77. ISSN 0070-8348. Due to maritime influences there is little snow lie, resulting in very little of the grassland-herbland component of alpine communities common to the Australian alps. Tasmanian alpine vegetation predominantly consists of woody vegetation, micro shrubs, bolster vegetation and an extant conifer element and is considered unique in its heterogeneity in composition and arrangement. There is a succession of altitudinal restriction evident in Eucalyptus coccifera and E. vernicosa which appear at altitudes up to 1200m in a restricted growth form. Rainforest elements may also be evident in alpine communities as an understory to the shrub form Eucalypts and Conifers. Alpine community elements are regulated by fire disturbance. In relativity undisturbed sites Nothofagus gunnii and N. cunninghamii may occur up to 1400m, as well as conifer forest elements in reduced forms. In drier areas, which tend to be more fire prone, there is a dominance of families Proteaceae and Epacridaceae. Wet elements of alpine vegetation are categorised as sedgeland, bolster moore or bog and occur as a mosaic reliant on fire frequency where flow of waterlogged sediment cause a high water table Kirkpatrick. The alpine area dominated by wet communities is greatly increased by the minimally defined watercourses caused by morphologically similar bolster plants impeding drainage.

Fire and regeneration
Productivity of woody plants in alpine conditions is very low with coniferous shrubs recording stem increase of 1 cm per 100 years. This results in shrubs and trees of 1-2 metres in height potentially being the outcome of 500 years of growth, making elements of alpine Tasmania extremely slow to regenerate after disturbance. Fire in alpine vegetation occur at times of high drought stress and extreme fire danger weather, which often results in high intensity burns Williams R. J., Wahren C.-H., Bradstock R. A. and  Müller W. J. (2006), Alpine grazing reduces blazing: A landscape test of a widely held hypothesis. Austral Ecology, Volume 31, Number 8, pp. 925-936(12) . In the event of a fire, fire sensitive gymnosperms and Nothofagus gunnii are eliminated as shrub dominant sites convert to herb dominance, although bolster plants in deeper soil substrate survive Kirkpatrick J. B., Dickinson K. J. M. (1984) The Impact of Fire on Tasmanian Alpine Vegetation and Soils. Australian Journal of Botany. Volume 32, pp. 613–629. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/BT9840613. Heathland, when burnt is rapidly colonised by grassland species and has little seedling regeneration Wahren, C.-H. A., Papst, W. A. and Williams, R. J. (2001), Early post-fire regeneration in subalpine heathland and grassland in the Victorian Alpine National Park, south-eastern Australia. Austral Ecology, Volume 26, pp. 670–679. doi: 10.1046/j.1442-9993.2001.01151.x. Fire events create extensive bare ground, which is slow in recolonization due to frost heave on seedling roots and the effects of needle ice. Regeneration in alpine grassland is estimated to take 3-5 years in grassland though this is replaced by sedges, Astelia bogs and bolster, due to the rapid growth achieved after initial establishment. Within 10 to 50 years woody heath progressively invades and establishes,and approximately 10 years in heathland, while complete regeneration and restoration of biodiversity in sphagnum bogs may take many decades. Similarly, coniferous heath and deciduous heath are extremely fire sensitive, and while they may establish seedlings and juveniles within 50 years of burning, reaching reproductive maturity does not occur for approximately 100 years, provided there is an absence of fire. This is particularly evident in species such as Atherotaxis selaginoides and A. cupressoides which seed production is episodic and occurs only when plants are approximatly 2 metres tall Cullen, P.J. 1987, 'Regeneration patterns in populations of Athrotaxis selaginoides D.Don. from Tasmania', Journal of Biogeography, vol. 14, pp. 39-51. As such seed regeneration is rare, with plants more likely to regenerate from remnant stem tissue in sheltered sites.

Soil nutrient availability after fire
Recently burned alpine areas are lower in nitrogen availability as well as organic nutrient availability, resulting in poorer quality soils for regenerating vegetation . Fire also destroys the peat and humus elements of soil, thereby initiating a secondary depletion of soil nutrients . However no difference exists in levels of phosphorus, potassium, calcium or sodium or in pHs between recently burned and recently unburned plots.

Climate change and fire
Alpine vegetation is particularly fire sensitive (Hughes 2003).In australia there has been an increase in average maximum and minimum temperatures by 0.6°C and 1.2°C respectively  Hennessy, K., B. Fitzharris, B.C. Bates, N. Harvey, S.M. Howden, L. Hughes, J. Salinger and R. Warrick 2007, 'Australia and New Zealand. Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II, in Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, eds. M.L. Parry, O.F. Canziani, J.P. Palutikof, P.J. van der Linden and C.E. Hanson, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. , and as climate change increases in accordance with hight, this has a dramatic effect on alpine communities. Habitat division and loss pose significant threats to alpine communities as pockets of remnant alpine vegetation are created Slatyer, R. (2010). Climate models have predicted changes in rainfall, wind speed, humidity and temperature, all likely to impact both on communities and on fire schedulesHennessy K., Lucas C., Nicholls N., Bathols J., Suppiah R. & Ricketts J. (2005) Climate change impacts on fire-weather in south-east Australia. CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, Aspendale, Victoria Benson, M., Diaz, H. F. and Bradley, R. S. (1997), Climatic change at high elevation sites: An overview. Climatic Change, Volume 36, pp. 233-251(19). Even a small reduction in rainfall induces drought conditions in alpine Tasmania and as such allows alpine regions to be vulnerable to fire11. Kirkpatrick, J. B. (1983), Treeless plant communities of the Tasmanian high country. Proceedings of the Ecological Society of Australia, Volume 12, pp. 61-77. ISSN 0070-8348 . A reduction in snow fall and cover in alpine Tasmania has an effect on the composition and distribution of flora, with an increase of lower land flora, to the detriment of some alpine species Slatyer, R. (2010), Climate change impacts on Australia’s alpine ecosystems. The ANU Undergraduate Research Journal, Volume 2, pp. 81-99 . Climate change is predicted to increase both the frequency and intensity of wildfire, to the severe detriment of fire sensitive species.