LP160101716 Movement ecology of granivores: informing fire management of savannas

Granivorous finches have declined in abundance across north Australia. This is due, in part, to larger and more frequent fires, which have potentially homogenized grass diversity over large areas. Sorghum grasses now dominate the landscape, while coverage by perennial grasses is patchy. This project examines the hypothesis that an increasingly nomadic lifestyle, associated with tracking grass seed availability over larger spatial scales than before, has caused recent declines of granivorous finches. Using new technologies to assess movements of small vertebrates, the project aims to evaluate how fire affects rangeland functioning, particularly grass diversity, to improve fire management of tropical savannas in northern Australia.