I use applied plant population and community ecology research to develop knowledge and support management in restoration ecology, threatened species conservation and land (fire) management.

For instance, I am interested in how spatial interactions among individual plants determine ecological processes (and vice versa), how plant traits interact with fire regime elements to drive ecosystem change, and how plant demography and community ecology can be used to define targets for success in restoration.

Research themes

• Restoration ecology – community ecology, restoration targets and monitoring
• Fire ecology – plant traits, fire regimes, management
• Rare plant conservation – population ecology, distribution modelling, dispersal
• Ecosystem management – urban ecology, weeds, ecosystem change, spatial interactions

Major projects

• Assessing impacts of varying fire and weed management approaches on native species diversity, weed cover and fuel loads in an urban Banksia woodland.
• Ecologically tolerable fire regimes for key Banksia woodland plant species.
• Fire intensity, seasonal variation and seeds traits may influence seed fates in Banksia woodlands.
• Synergies among fire and weed management in urban biodiversity and fire management.
• Optimising fire regimes for fire risk and conservation outcomes in Banksia woodlands in the Perth area.
• A framework for developing risk-based completion criteria in Western Australia.

Visit the Ecosystem Ecology section to learn more about the current and past projects.

Selected publications

Saatkamp A, Cochrane A, Commander L, Guja LK, Jimenez‐Alfaro B, Larson J, Nicotra A, Poschlod P, Silveira FA, … Miller BP… (2018) A research agenda for seed‐trait functional ecology. New Phytologist. doi:10.1111/nph.15502.

Ruthrof KX, Breshears DD, Fontaine JB, Froend RH, Matusick G, Kala J, Miller BP, Mitchell PJ, Wilson SK, van Keulen M, Enright NJ, Law DJ, Wernberg T and Hardy GESt (2018) Subcontinental heat wave triggers terrestrial and marine, multi-taxa responses. Scientific Reports 8: 13094.

Miller BP and Murphy BP (2017) Fire in Australian Vegetation. In Keith D (ed) Australian Vegetation (3 ed). Cambridge Univ. Press. pp 113-134.

Miller BP, Sinclair EA, Menz MHM, Elliott CP, Bunn E, Commander LE, Dalziell E, David E, Davis B, Erickson TE, Golos P, Krauss SL, Lewandrowski W, Mayence CE, Merino-Martín L, Merritt DJ, Nevill P, Phillips RD, Ritchie AL, Ruoss S and Stevens JC (2017) A framework for the practical science necessary to restore sustainable, resilient and biodiverse ecosystems. Restoration Ecology 25: 605–617.

Enright NJ, Fontaine JB, Lamont BB, Miller BP and Westcott VC (2014) Resistance and resilience to changing climate and fire regime depend on plant functional traits. Journal of Ecology 102: 1572-1581.