The effect of fire on ant assemblages in the Gibson Desert Nature Reserve, Western Australia

The invertebrates of the arid interior of Western Australia have been little studied. As part of a project investigating the effect of wild fire on vegetation in the Gibson Desert, ant species were also collected and analysed. A total of 71 ant species was identified from six replicated 250 m² plots in an area within the Gibson Desert Nature Reserve. The six sites were established in recently burnt and long unburnt areas of three main vegetation types: Triodia basedowii grassland, Triodia shinzii grassland, and Acacia aneura woodland. Twenty-nine ant species occurred exclusively in recently burnt sites, 16 species were exclusive to the long unburnt sites and the remaining 26 occurred in both site types. Functional group analyses revealed a predominance of Subordinate Camponotini and Opportunists at the long unburnt sites whereas Dominant Dolichoderinae and Generalist Myrmicinae were more common in the recently burnt sites. Ant species distribution demonstrated only a slight difference between recently burnt and long unburnt sites (P=0.1), although vegetation structure was significantly different in terms of both burn and vegetation type (P<0.05). While there are no definite trends for the impact of fire on ants in this study, the findings provide further insight into the effect of fire on invertebrates and suggest that a burning mosaic be considered as part of a management program for arid ecosystems.     

Spinifex-textured komatiites in the south border of the Carajas ridge,Selva Greenstone belt,Carajás Province,Brazil

Spinifex-textured komatiites in the Selva greenstone belt are the first unequivocal examples of komatiites in the Transition Subdomain of the Carajás Mineral Province. Outcrops of spinifex-textured komatiites, located ∼1.5 km to the south of the Carajás ridge, were discovered during regional exploration for Ni–Cu–(PGE) sulfide deposits by VALE. They are associated with a 3.8 km long unit consisting of variable types of ultramafic rocks (talc schist, serpentinite and spinifex-textured komatiite). This ultramafic unit follows the steep dipping NW–SE trending Selva greenstone belt composed mainly by quartz-chlorite schists (interpreted as metasediments) and chlorite-actinolite schists (interpreted as metabasalts). Greenschist facies metamorphic parageneses characterize all rock types in the Selva greenstone belt.The komatiitic rocks in the Selva belt comprise a sequence of flows consisting of an upper spinifex-textured layer and a lower olivine cumulate layer. Although the spinifex and cumulus textures are well preserved in the field, the primary mineralogy of the komatiites has been completely replaced by greenschist facies metamorphic minerals. Platy olivine spinifex texture, consisting of an array of roughly parallel olivine plates, and random spinifex texture, consisting of randomly oriented olivine plates, are the most common primary volcanic textures in komatiites in the Selva greenstone belt. Platy and random spinifex texture is defined by former plates of olivine replaced by serpentine with minor actinolite, chlorite and magnetite, alternating with former matrix replaced by abundant actinolite and minor chlorite, talc, serpentine, and magnetite. The domains between olivine plates in both platy and random spinifex-textured rocks contain irregular arrays of fine-grained parallel crystals, representing primary fine-grained “quench” clinopyroxene crystals replaced by actinolite.Spinifex-textured komatiites have MgO contents bracket between 22.8 and 26.9 wt.%, and cumulate textured komatiites have MgO contents up to 40.6 wt.%. When plotted vs MgO contents, most major and minor elements fall on well-defined linear trends indicating control by olivine fractionation or accumulation. Komatiites from the Selva and Seringa (located in the Rio Maria Domain) belts are Al-undepleted with Al₂O₃/TiO₂ ratios close to 20. Results for CaO, Na₂O, and REE suggest that these elements were mobile and their abundances have been modified during metasomatic alteration. REE contents in some samples are very high (up to 40 times primitive mantle values) and REE patterns vary from flat (La/Yb_MN ∼ 1) to highly enriched in LREE (La/Yb_MN up to ∼ 10). The REE mobility may be related to hydrothermal alteration associated to Cu–Au mineralization in the region.The identification of spinifex-textured komatiites close to the Carajás Basin suggests the continuation of 3.0–2.9 Ga greenstone belts of the Rio Maria Domain within the Transition Subdomain, and enlarges the area with potential to host komatiite-associated Ni–Cu–PGE deposits.     

Biogeochemical sampling for mineral exploration in arid terrains: Tanami Gold Province,Australia

Vegetation sampling is an effective mineral exploration technique in areas of transported cover in the Tanami Gold Province where other techniques have been of limited success. This research tests the ability of plants to show signatures of mineralisation as well as the optimum scale of sampling for first-pass mineral exploration surveys. The semi-arid Tanami Gold Province in northern Australia encompasses nearly 160,000 km² and is a highly prospective yet under-explored region due to transported cover masking mineralisation. Various dominant plant species were sampled along transects across four sites of Au mineralisation in the Tanami (Larranganni, Hyperion, Coyote and Titania). Snappy gum (Eucalyptus brevifolia) gave a geobotanical (plant distribution) and lithological (S and Zn) signature of an underlying geological structure known to host Au mineralisation at the Coyote Prospect. Soft spinifex (Triodia pungens) provided an Au, As, ± Zn, ± S, and ± Ce expression of buried Au mineralisation at Coyote and Titania. At the Hyperion prospect, mineralisation is located at the contact between granite and dolerite, and biogeochemical signatures from snappy gum and dogwood (Acacia coriacea) show elevated ± Au, Ce, S and Zn that corresponded to the contact. Biogeochemistry is able to determine the location of mineralisation at each site, except at Hyperion where the sample density was too low. It is able to identify underlying substrate differences, however, background knowledge relating to regolith, geology, hydrology and geophysics are important in aiding the interpretation of the elemental data. It was found that having too few samples (at Hyperion) there was insufficient useful information for mineral exploration. Grid coverage of an area (at Titania) provided information on mineralisation and groundwater dispersion plumes; however, in this case a single transect over the same area would have been sufficient for a first-pass mineral exploration survey.     

Floristic uniformity across abrupt boundaries between Triodia hummock grassland and Acacia shrubland on an Australian desert sandplain

The tension between pyrophytic hummock grasslands and fire-sensitive mulga shrubland is a major ecological theme in central Australia. On a sandplain on the edge of the Tanami Desert, grassland and shrubland are juxtaposed with abrupt boundaries that cut across a subtle environmental gradient. We compare woody plant diversity among vegetation types and explore correlates of the distribution of woody plant species. Alpha diversity in grassland and shrubland was almost identical, but plot-level species richness was greater in grassland. Gamma (landscape) diversity was scarcely greater than alpha diversity. Few long-lived plants, and not even the dominant hummock grass and shrub, were exclusively associated with one vegetation type, but most common species were aligned with elements - soil texture, fire frequency and the extent of physical soil crusting - that characterise the environmental gradient between vegetation types. Most species were resprouters and there was no tendency for obligate seeders or facultative resprouters to be associated with the less fire-prone shrubland. Our data are consistent with the suggestion that hummock grasslands and mulga shrubland are alternative stable states maintained by fire-soil feedback loops and possibly also by competitive exclusion of pyrophytic species by Acacia aneura.