THE effect of fire on plant diversity in the Grampians (Gariwerd) will be the focus of the upcoming Society for Growing Australian Plants (SGAP) meeting, with a special guest presenter set to address the crowd.

Held in the Bandicoot Room at the Hamilton Institute of Rural Learning (HIRL), the meeting will start at 7.30pm next Wednesday, December 14.

The evening’s presenter will be University of Melbourne School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences PhD student, Ella Plumanns Pouton, who is set to discuss her work in the Grampians (Gariwerd) region.

Ms Plumanns Pouton’s work investigates how fire influences plant populations both above and below ground, and includes field work and glasshouse studies that aim to answer the following questions:

How does fire frequency influence species abundance, their reproductive maturity, and overall species richness?

How does this change according to fire severity?

How do the soil and canopy seedbanks change?

Possessing a passion for finding ways to look after ecosystems, Ms Plumanns Pouton will explain to attendees what the results of her research means for protecting plant diversity now and into the future.

During the engaging presentation, Ms Plumanns Pouton will also present preliminary findings on what kind of fire patterns support plant diversity and discuss how this knowledge can be used to protect heathland ecosystems.

The presentation is open to all members of the public with no RSVP required.