Journal articles on the topic 'Fire ecology Australia'
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1
Russell-Smith, Jeremy, Cameron P. Yates, Peter J. Whitehead, Richard Smith, Ron Craig, Grant E. Allan, Richard Thackway, et al. "Bushfires 'down under': patterns and implications of contemporary Australian landscape burning." International Journal of Wildland Fire 16, no. 4 (2007): 361. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf07018.
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Australia is among the most fire-prone of continents. While national fire management policy is focused on irregular and comparatively smaller fires in densely settled southern Australia, this comprehensive assessment of continental-scale fire patterning (1997–2005) derived from ~1 km2 Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) imagery shows that fire activity occurs predominantly in the savanna landscapes of monsoonal northern Australia. Statistical models that relate the distribution of large fires to a variety of biophysical variables show that, at the continental scale, rainfall seasonality substantially explains fire patterning. Modelling results, together with data concerning seasonal lightning incidence, implicate the importance of anthropogenic ignition sources, especially in the northern wet–dry tropics and arid Australia, for a substantial component of recurrent fire extent. Contemporary patterns differ markedly from those under Aboriginal occupancy, are causing significant impacts on biodiversity, and, under current patterns of human population distribution, land use, national policy and climate change scenarios, are likely to prevail, if not intensify, for decades to come. Implications of greenhouse gas emissions from savanna burning, especially seasonal emissions of CO2, are poorly understood and contribute to important underestimation of the significance of savanna emissions both in Australian and probably in international greenhouse gas inventories. A significant challenge for Australia is to address annual fire extent in fire-prone Australian savannas.
2
Hill, Robert S., and Gregory J. Jordan. "Deep history of wildfire in Australia." Australian Journal of Botany 64, no. 8 (2016): 557. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/bt16169.
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Australian plant species vary markedly in their fire responses, and the evolutionary histories of the diverse range of traits that lead to fire tolerance and fire dependence almost certainly involves both exaptation and traits that evolved directly in response to fire. The hypothesis that very long-term nutrient poverty in Australian soils led to intense fires explains many of the unusual responses to fire by Australian species, as does near global distribution of evidence for fire during the Cretaceous, possibly driven by high atmospheric oxygen concentration. Recent descriptions of leaf fragments from a Late Cretaceous locality in central Australia have provided the first fossil evidence for ancient and possibly ancestral fire ecology in modern fire-dependent Australian clades, as suggested by some phylogenetic studies. The drying of the Australian climate in the Neogene allowed the rise to dominance of taxa that had their origin in the Late Cretaceous, but had not been prominent in the rainforest-dominated Paleogene. The Neogene climatic evolution meant that fire became an important feature of that environment and fire frequency and intensity began to grow to high levels, and many fire adaptations evolved. However, many plant species were already in place to take advantage of this new fire regime, and even though the original drivers for fire may have changed (possibly from high atmospheric oxygen concentrations, to long, hot, dry periods at different times in different parts of the continent), the adaptations that these species had for fire tolerance meant they could become prominent over much of the Australian continent by the time human colonisation began.
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Williams, Richard J., Carl-Henrik Wahren, Arn D. Tolsma, Glenn M. Sanecki, Warwick A. Papst, Bronwyn A. Myers, Keith L. McDougall, Dean A. Heinze, and Ken Green. "Large fires in Australian alpine landscapes: their part in the historical fire regime and their impacts on alpine biodiversity." International Journal of Wildland Fire 17, no. 6 (2008): 793. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf07154.
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The fires of summer 2003 in south-eastern Australia burnt tens of thousands of hectares of treeless alpine landscape. Here, we examine the environmental impact of these fires, using data from the Bogong High Plains area of Victoria, and the Snowy Mountains region of New South Wales. Historical and biophysical evidence suggests that in Australian alpine environments, extensive fires occur only in periods of extended regional drought, and when severe local fire weather coincides with multiple ignitions in the surrounding montane forests. Dendrochronological evidence indicates that large fires have occurred approximately every 50–100 years over the past 400 years. Post-fire monitoring of vegetation in grasslands and heathlands indicates that most alpine species regenerate rapidly after fire, with >90% of species present 1 year after fire. Some keystone species in some plant communities, however, had not regenerated after 3 years. The responses of alpine fauna to the 2003 fires were variable. The core habitat (closed heathland) of several vulnerable small mammals was extensively burnt. Some mammals experienced substantial falls in populations, others experienced substantial increases. Unburnt patches of vegetation are critical to faunal recovery from fire. There was, however, no evidence of local extinction. We conclude that infrequent extensive fires are a feature of alpine Australia. For both the flora and fauna, there is no quantitative evidence that the 2003 fires were an ecological disaster, and we conclude that the flora and fauna of alpine Australia are highly resilient to infrequent, large, intense fires.
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Yates, Cameron P., Andrew C. Edwards, and Jeremy Russell-Smith. "Big fires and their ecological impacts in Australian savannas: size and frequency matters." International Journal of Wildland Fire 17, no. 6 (2008): 768. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf07150.
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Savannas are the most fire-prone of the earth’s major biomes. The availability of various broad-scale satellite-derived fire mapping and regional datasets provides a framework with which to examine the seasonality, extent and implications of large fires with particular reference to biodiversity values in the tropical savannas of northern Australia. We document the significance of savanna fires in the fire-prone ‘Top End’ region of the Northern Territory, Australia, using 9 years (1997–2005) of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR)-, Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM)- and Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM+)-derived fire mapping. Fire (patch) sizes from both AVHRR- and Landsat-scale mapping increased through the calendar year associated with progressive curing of grass and litter fuels. Fire frequency data at both satellite sensor scales indicate that regional fire regimes in higher rainfall regions are dominated by large (>1000 km2) fires occurring typically at short (~2–3 years) fire return intervals. In discussion, we consider the ecological implications of these patch size distributions on regional fire-sensitive biota. Collectively, assembled data illustrate that many northern Australian savanna flora, fauna and habitats embedded within the savanna matrix are vulnerable to extensive and frequent fires, especially longer-lived obligate seeder plant taxa and relatively immobile vertebrate fauna with small home ranges.
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Edwards, G. P., G. E. Allan, C. Brock, A. Duguid, K. Gabrys, and P. Vaarzon-Morel. "Fire and its management in central Australia." Rangeland Journal 30, no. 1 (2008): 109. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/rj07037.
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Over the last 130 years, patterns of land use in central Australia have altered dramatically, and so too have fire regimes and fire management objectives. Although Aboriginal people still have tenure over large parts of the landscape, their lifestyles have changed. Most Aboriginal people now live in towns and settlements and, although fire management is still culturally important, the opportunities for getting out on country to burn are constrained. Large parts of the landscape are now used for pastoral production. Under this land use the management objective is often one of fire exclusion. The other large-scale land use is for conservation. Here, fire management has a greater focus on conserving biodiversity using various burning strategies. In this paper we explore contemporary fire regimes in central Australia. Widespread fire events are found to be associated with two or more consecutive years of above-average rainfall. Although most of the fires linked with these high rainfall periods occur during the warmer months, in recent times these fires have exhibited increased activity during the cooler months. There has been a concomitant increase in the number and size of these fires and in the number of fires associated with roads. We also explored current fire management issues on Aboriginal, pastoral and conservation lands. Current fire management goals are not being wholly met on any of these land tenures in central Australia and social conflict sometimes emerges as a result. There are overlaps in management aims, issues and the under-achievement of desired outcomes across the land tenures which lead us to five key recommendations for improving fire management outcomes in central Australia. We finish with some comments on associated opportunities for livelihood enhancement based on the management of fire.
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Murphy, Brett P., and Jeremy Russell-Smith. "Fire severity in a northern Australian savanna landscape: the importance of time since previous fire." International Journal of Wildland Fire 19, no. 1 (2010): 46. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf08202.
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Using a detailed fire history collected over a 10-year period throughout a savanna landscape in northern Australia, we have addressed the question of whether fire severity, inferred from a semiquantitative fire severity index, increases with time since previous fire. There was a clear trend of fires becoming much more severe with increasing time since previous fire. Between 1 and 5 years following a fire, the probability of a subsequent fire being classified as ‘severe’ increased from 3 to 8% for early dry-season fires, and from 21 to 43% for late dry-season fires. It was clear that the strong increase in fire severity was not confined to the first 2–3 years following the previous fire, as previously suspected. These findings highlight the difficulty of reducing both fire frequency and severity in northern Australian savanna landscapes, as they imply that a negative feedback process exists between the two; that is, reducing fire frequency is likely to increase the severity of fires that do occur.
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Collins, L., R. A. Bradstock, and T. D. Penman. "Can precipitation influence landscape controls on wildfire severity? A case study within temperate eucalypt forests of south-eastern Australia." International Journal of Wildland Fire 23, no. 1 (2014): 9. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf12184.
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The environmental, economic and social impacts of wildfires depend on spatial patterns of fire severity. An understanding as to how drivers of fire severity vary across broad vegetation communities exists. However, examination of variation within communities in response to gradients of moisture has received little attention so far. This study examined whether relationships between environmental variables (i.e. fire weather, topography and fuel age) and fire severity were modified by increasing mean annual precipitation. Understorey fires were more likely to occur in young fuels (i.e. <5 years since fire) in drier sites, although this effect diminished as precipitation increased. The probability of occurrence of understorey fires under non-extreme weather and on steep slopes was reduced in wetter areas. Relationships between crown fire and weather, topography and fuel age were largely unaltered by the precipitation gradient, with only a marginally significant interaction occurring between weather and mean annual precipitation. Greater fine fuel accumulation associated with increased precipitation presumably reduced fuel limitations imposed by environmental factors (i.e. fire weather, slope, fuel age), altering their relative control on the probability of understorey fire. The probability of crown fires is predominantly driven by fire weather and is consequently less sensitive to precipitation gradients. Consideration of precipitation gradients will be necessary when identifying controls of fire severity and devising effective fire management strategies.
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Kirkpatrick, Jamie B., and Kerry L. Bridle. "Natural and cultural histories of fire differ between Tasmanian and mainland Australian alpine vegetation." Australian Journal of Botany 61, no. 6 (2013): 465. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/bt13128.
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We ask how and why mainland Australia and Tasmania differ in the natural and cultural history of alpine fire. Indigenous people seem unlikely to have extensively burned the alpine landscape in either of mainland Australia or Tasmania, whereas anthropogenic fire increased markedly after the European invasion. In Tasmania, where lightning ignition is uncommon, alpine fires have been rare post-1980, whereas mainland alpine vegetation has been extensively burned. The current distributions of the eight Australian alpine plant species that have no mechanisms for recovery from fire suggest that climate and natural fire barriers have been important in their survival. Mainland Australian pre-fire vegetation cover is typically attained in less than a decade, whereas in Tasmania, half a century or more after fire, bare ground persists at high levels, and continues to decrease only where mammalian herbivores are excluded. These differences appear to be ultimately related to the climatic contrast between the maritime mountains of Tasmania and the continental mainland mountains, through the effects of continentality on snow cover, which, in turn affect marsupial herbivore grazing, exposure of soil and vegetation to extreme microclimatic conditions and the degree of shrub dominance.
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Dowdy, Andrew J., and Graham A. Mills. "Characteristics of lightning-attributed wildland fires in south-east Australia." International Journal of Wildland Fire 21, no. 5 (2012): 521. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf10145.
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Wildland fires attributed to lightning ignitions in Victoria, Australia, are examined systematically through the use of lightning occurrence data. Lightning stroke data were obtained by a network of ground-based lightning detection sensors over a 9-year period. Characteristics of these fires are examined including the temporal variability in the average chance of fire occurrence per lightning stroke and the time period from lightning ignition of a fire until the fire grows large enough to be first observed, as well as distributions of fire duration and total area burnt. It is found that the time of day that lightning occurs does not have a significant influence on the chance of fire per lightning stroke, in contrast to the time of year, for which a significant annual variation occurs. Regional variability is examined by discussing the results for Victoria, Australia, in relation to results of studies from other parts of the world.
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Penman, T. D., and B. A. Cirulis. "Cost effectiveness of fire management strategies in southern Australia." International Journal of Wildland Fire 29, no. 5 (2020): 427. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf18128.
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Fire-management agencies invest significant resources to reduce the impacts of future fires. There has been increasing public scrutiny over how agencies allocate fire-management budgets and, in response, agencies are looking to use quantitative risk-based approaches to make decisions about expenditure in a more transparent manner. Advances in fire-simulation software and computing capacity of fire-agency staff have meant that fire simulators have been increasingly used for quantitative fire-risk analysis. Here we analyse the cost trade-offs of future fire management in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and surrounding areas by combining fire simulation with Bayesian Decision Networks. We compare potential future-management approaches considering prescribed burning, suppression and fire exclusion. These data combined costs of treatment and impacts on assets to undertake a quantitative risk analysis. The proposed approach for fuel treatment in ACT and New South Wales (NSW) provided the greatest reduction in risk and the most cost-effective approach to managing fuels in this landscape. Past management decisions have reduced risk in the landscape and the legacy of these treatments will last for at least 3 years. However, an absence of burning will result in an increased risk from fire in this landscape.
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Lowe, Katrin, J. Guy Castley, and Jean-Marc Hero. "Acid frogs can stand the heat: amphibian resilience to wildfire in coastal wetlands of eastern Australia." International Journal of Wildland Fire 22, no. 7 (2013): 947. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf12128.
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Fire has varying effects on species ecology. Knowledge of amphibian responses to fire is particularly limited, with variable responses reported amongst studies. Variability is attributed to differences in fire regimes, sampling methodologies, historical exposure to fire and species traits. Acid frogs, a group of amphibians restricted to acidic coastal heath wetlands of eastern Australia, occupy a discrete ecological niche that is exposed to regular and intense fires. Visual encounter surveys conducted monthly over 2 years revealed different short- and long-term responses to fire in three threatened acid frog species (Litoria olongburensis, Litoria freycineti and Crinia tinnula). Fires altered the thermal properties of habitats by increasing substrate temperature and widening daily temperature ranges. Acid frog populations did not suffer adversely from moderate intensity fires as suitable refuges, including standing water, were available. All species were present shortly after fire with subsequent successful reproduction occurring once wetlands were sufficiently inundated. Time since fire was a strong predictor of landscape scale differences in average relative abundance of acid frogs, yet the relationships varied among species. This highlights the importance of assessing community-wide responses to fire at the landscape scale. The dynamic and adaptive responses observed within acid frog populations demonstrate substantial resilience to fire processes in these fire prone environments.
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Turner, D., B. Ostendorf, and M. Lewis. "An introduction to patterns of fire in arid and semi-arid Australia, 1998 - 2004." Rangeland Journal 30, no. 1 (2008): 95. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/rj07039.
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Fire is a crucial element in shaping our world, whether of natural or anthropogenic origin. These fires can have both positive and negative consequences and impacts on our natural environment, society and its economics, not to mention global climate. Previous analyses of fire regimes in arid and semi-arid Australia have been of limited spatial or temporal extent. This lack of knowledge has hampered attempts at effective fire management. Satellite imagery allows the continuous detection, monitoring and mapping of fires. Active fires can be detected as fire hotspots, and burned areas mapped as patches from the change of surface reflectance properties in successive images. Data from NOAA’s advanced very high resolution radiometer (AVHRR) were used to assess the distribution, seasonality, frequency, number and extent of fire hotspots (FHS) and fire affected areas (FAA) across the entire arid and semi-arid country of Australia from 1998 to 2004. Utilising both of these fire datasets is important, as they complement each other and provide a more robust analysis of fire patterns. Between 1998 and 2004 almost 27% of arid and semi-arid Australia burnt at least once. The main trends in fire distribution follow latitudinal rainfall gradients. Regression analysis also shows a strong relationship with the pattern of antecedent rainfall. The seasonality of fire events varies between climate zones in accordance with the varying distribution of precipitation and temperature, which influence fuel accumulation and curing. For the first time we have a picture of fire patterns across the entire arid and semi-arid regions of the country. This includes several high fire years in certain areas following above-average rainfall. This analysis highlights similarities and differences between regions, giving policy makers and managers a basis from which to make more informed decisions in the present, and with which to compare future regimes.
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Russell-Smith, Jeremy, Cameron Yates, Andrew Edwards, Grant E. Allan, Garry D. Cook, Peter Cooke, Ron Craig, Belinda Heath, and Richard Smith. "Contemporary fire regimes of northern Australia, 1997 - 2001: change since Aboriginal occupancy, challenges for sustainable management." International Journal of Wildland Fire 12, no. 4 (2003): 283. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf03015.
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Considerable research has been undertaken over the past two decades to apply remote sensing to the study of fire regimes across the savannas of northern Australia. This work has focused on two spatial scales of imagery resolution: coarse-resolution NOAA-AVHRR imagery for savanna-wide assessments both of the daily distribution of fires ('hot spots'), and cumulative mapping of burnt areas ('fire-scars') over the annual cycle; and fine-resolution Landsat imagery for undertaking detailed assessments of regional fire regimes. Importantly, substantial effort has been given to the validation of fire mapping products at both scales of resolution. At the savanna-wide scale, fire mapping activities have established that: (1) contrary to recent perception, from a national perspective the great majority of burning in any one year typically occurs in the tropical savannas; (2) the distribution of burning across the savannas is very uneven, occurring mostly in sparsely settled, higher rainfall, northern coastal and subcoastal regions (north-west Kimberley, Top End of the Northern Territory, around the Gulf of Carpentaria) across a variety of major land uses (pastoral, conservation, indigenous); whereas (3) limited burning is undertaken in regions with productive soils supporting more intensive pastoral management, particularly in Queensland; and (4) on a seasonal basis, most burning occurs in the latter half of the dry season, typically as uncontrolled wildfire. Decadal fine-resolution fire histories have also been assembled from multi-scene Landsat imagery for a number of fire-prone large properties (e.g. Kakadu and Nitmiluk National Parks) and local regions (e.g. Sturt Plateau and Victoria River District, Northern Territory). These studies have facilitated more refined description of various fire regime parameters (fire extent, seasonality, frequency, interval, patchiness) and, as dealt with elsewhere in this special issue, associated ecological assessments. This paper focuses firstly on the patterning of contemporary fire regimes across the savanna landscapes of northern Australia, and then addresses the implications of these data for our understanding of changes in fire regime since Aboriginal occupancy, and implications of contemporary patterns on biodiversity and emerging greenhouse issues.
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King, Karen J., Ross A. Bradstock, Geoffrey J. Cary, Joanne Chapman, and Jon B. Marsden-Smedley. "The relative importance of fine-scale fuel mosaics on reducing fire risk in south-west Tasmania, Australia." International Journal of Wildland Fire 17, no. 3 (2008): 421. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf07052.
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In many landscapes, an important fire management objective is to reduce the negative impacts from unplanned fires on people, property and ecological values. In Australia, there exists an inherent assumption that high spatial variability in fire ages and hence fuel loads will have negative effects on both the incidence and spread of subsequent fires, and will enhance ecological values. A recent study using the process-based computer simulation model FIRESCAPE-SWTAS predicted several relationships between prescribed burn treatment levels and spatial patterning and management objectives in south-west Tasmania, Australia. The present study extended this investigation to additionally explore the effects of prescribed burning treatment unit size on unplanned fire incidence and area burned both in the general landscape and specifically in fire-intolerant vegetation. Simulation results suggest that treatment level had the greatest influence on modifying fire effects, whereas treatment unit size had the least effect. The model predicted that all three parameters interacted to determine the mean annual area burnt by unplanned fires. In fire-intolerant vegetation, treatment unit size did not influence the incidence of unplanned fires and the area burnt by unplanned fires in these communities. Where significant differences were evident, fire risk was reduced by higher treatment levels, deterministic spatial patterns of burning units, and smaller burning unit sizes.
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Storey, Michael, Owen Price, and Elizabeth Tasker. "The role of weather, past fire and topography in crown fire occurrence in eastern Australia." International Journal of Wildland Fire 25, no. 10 (2016): 1048. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf15171.
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We analysed the influence of weather, time since fire (TSF) and topography on the occurrence of crown fire, as mapped from satellite imagery, in 23 of the largest wildfires in dry sclerophyll forests in eastern Australia from 2002 to 2013. Fires were analysed both individually and as groups. Fire weather was the most important predictor of crown consumption. TSF (a surrogate for fuel accumulation) had complex nonlinear effects that varied among fires. Crown fire likelihood was low up to 4 years post-fire, peaked at ~10 years post-fire and then declined. There was no clear indication that recent burning became more or less effective as fire weather became more severe. Steeper slope reduced crown fire likelihood, contrary to the assumptions of common fire behaviour equations. More exposed areas (ridges and plains) had higher crown fire likelihood. Our results suggest prescribed burning to maintain an average of 10 years’ TSF may actually increase crown fire likelihood, but burning much more frequently can be effective for risk reduction. Our results also suggest the effects of weather, TSF and slope are not adequately represented in the underlying equations of most fire behaviour models, potentially leading to poor prediction of fire spread and risk.
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Lamont, Byron B., Roy Wittkuhn, and Dylan Korczynskyj. "Ecology and ecophysiology of grasstrees." Australian Journal of Botany 52, no. 5 (2004): 561. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/bt03127.
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‘Xanthorrhoea…is in habit one of the most remarkable genera of Terra Australis, and gives a peculiar character to the vegetation of that part of the country where it abounds’ Robert Brown (1814). Grasstrees (arborescent Xanthorrhoea, Dasypogon, Kingia), with their crown of long narrow leaves and blackened leafbase-covered trunk (caudex), are a characteristic growth form in the Australian flora. Xanthorrhoea is the most widespread genus, with 28 species that are prominent from heathlands to sclerophyll forests. While leaf production for X. preissii reaches a peak in spring–summer, growth never stops even in the cool winter or dry autumn seasons. Summer rain, accompanied by a rapid rise in leaf water potential, may be sufficient to stimulate leaf production, whereas root growth is confined to the usual wet season. Grasstrees are highly flammable yet rarely succumb to fire: while retained dead leaves may reach >1000°C during fire, the temperature 100 mm above the stem apex remains <60°C and the roots are insulated completely. Immediately following fire, leaf production from the intact apical meristem is up to six times greater than that at unburnt sites. For X. preissii, pre-fire biomass is restored within 40 weeks; the mass of live leaves remains uniform from thereon, whereas the mass of dead leaves increases steadily. Leaves usually survive for >2 years. In X. preissii, the post-fire growth flush corresponds to a reduction in starch storage by desmium in the caudex. Minerals, especially P, are remobilised from the caudex to the crown following a spring fire, but accumulate there following an autumn fire. At least 80% of P is withdrawn from senescing leaves, while >95% K and Na are leached from dead leaves. Most stored N and S are volatilised by fire, with 1–85% of all minerals returned as ash. Despite monthly clipping for 16 months, X. preissii plants recover, although starch reserves are depleted by 90%, indicating considerable resilience to herbivory. Analysis of colour band patterns in the leafbases of X. preissii shows that elongation of the caudex may vary more than 5–50 mm per annum, with 10–20 mm being typical. Exceptionally tall plants (>3 m) may reach an age of 250 years, with a record at 450 years (6 m). Fires, recorded as black bands on the leafbases, in south-western Australia have been decreasing in frequency but increasing in variability since 1750–1850. Some grasstrees have survived a mean fire interval of 3–4 years over the last two centuries. In more recent times, some grasstrees have not been burnt for >50 years. The band-analysis technique has been used to show a downward trend in plant δ13C of 2–5.5‰ from 1935 to the present. Grasstrees are most likely to flower in the first spring after fire. A single inflorescence is initiated from the apical meristem, elongating at up to 100 mm day–1 and reaching a length up to 3 m, with one recorded at 5.5 m. This rapid rate of elongation is achieved through leaf (and inflorescence) photosynthesis and desmium starch mobilisation. The developing spike and seeds are vulnerable to a moth larva. Leaf production recommences from axillary buds and the trade-off with reproduction is equivalent to 240 leaves in X. preissii. Flowering and seed production are affected by time of fire. Grasstrees are mainly insect-pollinated. Up to 8000 seeds per spike are produced, although pre-dispersal granivory is common. Seeds are released in autumn and persist in the soil for <2 years. Most fresh seeds germinate in the laboratory but germination is inhibited by light. At any time, seedlings and juveniles may account for most plants in the population, although there may be up to an 80% reduction within 1 year of seedling emergence, often due to kangaroo herbivory. In the absence of fire, mortality of adults may be 4% per annum. Although few grasstree species are considered rare or threatened, their conservation requirements, especially in regard to a suitable fire regime, remain unknown. Grasstrees are particularly susceptible to the exotic root pathogen, Phytophthora cinnamomi, although recruitment among some species has been observed 20–30 years after pathogen invasion. Much remains to be known about the biology of this icon of the Australian bush.
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Coughlan, Michael R., and Aaron M. Petty. "Linking humans and fire: a proposal for a transdisciplinary fire ecology." International Journal of Wildland Fire 21, no. 5 (2012): 477. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf11048.
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Human activity currently plays a significant role in determining the frequency, extent and intensity of landscape fires worldwide. Yet the historical and ecological relationships between humans, fire and the environment remain ill-defined if not poorly understood and an integrative approach linking the social and physical aspects of fire remains largely unexplored. We propose that human fire use is ubiquitous and evidence that historical fire patterns do not differ from non-anthropogenic fire regimes is not evidence that humans did not practice fire management. Through literature review and the presentation of two case studies from the south-eastern USA and tropical Australia, we discuss how the study of fire ecology can benefit from paying attention to the role of humans in three thematic areas: (1) human agency and decision processes; (2) knowledge and practice of landscape fire and (3) socioecological dynamics inherent in the history of social systems of production and distribution. Agency, knowledge of fire ecology and social systems of production and distribution provide analytical links between human populations and the ecological landscape. Consequently, ignitions ultimately result from human behaviours, and where fire use is practised, ignitions result from decision process concerning a combination of ecological knowledge and belief and the rationale of livelihood strategies as constrained by social and ecological parameters. The legacy of human land use further influences fuel continuity and hence fire spread.
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Fernandes, Reviewed by Paulo M. "Fire Country: How Indigenous Fire Management Could Help Save Australia." International Journal of Wildland Fire 29, no. 11 (2020): 1052. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wfv29n11_br.
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Cook, Garry D., Adam C. Liedloff, C. P. (Mick) Meyer, Anna E. Richards, and Steven G. Bray. "Standing dead trees contribute significantly to carbon budgets in Australian savannas." International Journal of Wildland Fire 29, no. 3 (2020): 215. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf19092.
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Previous estimates of greenhouse gas emissions from Australian savanna fires have incorporated on-ground dead wood but ignored standing dead trees. However, research from eucalypt woodlands in southern Queensland has shown that the two pools of dead wood burn at similar rates. New field data from semiarid savannas across northern Australia confirmed that standing dead trees comprise about four times the mass of on-ground dead wood. Further, the proportion of total woody biomass comprising dead wood increases with decreasing fire frequency and a decreasing proportion of late dry season (August to December) fires. This gives scope for increasing the carbon stock in the dead wood pool with a reduced fire frequency. Following a previously published approach to quantify total dead wood loads in savannas, new and previously collected data on tree stand structures were used across the whole savanna zone to quantify dead wood loads in equilibrium with historic fire regimes. New parameters are presented for calculating dead wood dynamics including dead trees in Australia’s savannas.
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Price, Owen F., Andrew C. Edwards, and Jeremy Russell-Smith. "Efficacy of permanent firebreaks and aerial prescribed burning in western Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia." International Journal of Wildland Fire 16, no. 3 (2007): 295. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf06039.
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We investigated the efficacy of firebreaks in the prevention of wildfires in the Arnhem Land Plateau, a vast, rugged and sparsely populated region with high biodiversity value and frequent wildfires. A total of 623 events where a fire met a permanent firebreak (cliffs, stream order, tracks and roads) in different fire seasons were compiled. Cliffs were more effective than streams at stopping fires, which were more effective than roads. Larger streams were more effective than small ones. The largest streams stop 75% of early dry season fires, but there are no firebreak types with more than 50% likelihood of stopping a late dry season fire. Geographic Information System (GIS) surfaces of the relative density of the three firebreak features in the landscape were randomly sampled and compared with the total number of fires and late dry season fires using generalised linear modelling. Several of the density variables were weakly but significantly related to fire frequency, and it appears that late dry season fires are influenced by features at a larger scale (16-km radius) than total fires (4 km). The Aerial Prescribed Burning program for 2004 was studied to identify how effective it was at stopping subsequent wildfires by dividing ignition lines into 137 5-km sections. Only 20% of sections achieved a 100% burn and where gaps occurred, a subsequent fire was 88% likely to penetrate the line. Firebreaks are not certain instruments for fire management in this area.
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Storey, Michael A., Owen F. Price, Jason J. Sharples, and Ross A. Bradstock. "Drivers of long-distance spotting during wildfires in south-eastern Australia." International Journal of Wildland Fire 29, no. 6 (2020): 459. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf19124.
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We analysed the influence of wildfire area, topography, fuel, surface weather and upper-level weather conditions on long-distance spotting during wildfires. The analysis was based on a large dataset of 338 observations, from aircraft-acquired optical line scans, of spotting wildfires in south-east Australia between 2002 and 2018. Source fire area (a measure of fire activity) was the most important predictor of maximum spotting distance and the number of long-distance spot fires produced (i.e. >500m from a source fire). Weather (surface and upper-level), vegetation and topographic variables had important secondary effects. Spotting distance and number of long-distance spot fires increased strongly with increasing source fire area, particularly under strong winds and in areas containing dense forest and steep slopes. General vegetation descriptors better predicted spotting compared with bark hazard and presence variables, suggesting systems that measure and map bark spotting potential need improvement. The results from this study have important implications for the development of predictive spotting and wildfire behaviour models.
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Braithwaite, Richard W. "Effects of fire regimes on lizards in the wet-dry tropics of Australia." Journal of Tropical Ecology 3, no. 3 (August 1987): 265–75. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0266467400002145.
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ABSTRACTA quantitative analysis of the effect of fire regime on the abundance of common lizard species and genera and the species richness of two lizard groups in Kakadu National Park (12° S) is presented. A surprising range of relationships between species abundance and components of fire regimes was revealed. Carlia amax, Heteronotia binoei and Carlia gracilis appear to be fire-sensitive, Diporiphora bilineata and Carlia triacantha are favoured by early hot fires, Cryptoblepharus plagiocephalus seems relatively unaffected, Carlia foliorum seems very tolerant of fires, while Ctenotus and Sphenomorphus spp. are favoured by low intensity, patchy fires with high intensity spots.Lizard species experiencing the high-frequency fire regimes of the savannas and dry forests of the Australian wet-dry tropics are not able to select habitat at different stages of regeneration after fire but select habitat produced by fires of different types. The implication for management is that no one fire regime is optimal for the fauna as a whole. A range of fire regimes within a park should be maintained in order to retain the whole fauna.
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Cruz, Miguel G., Andrew L. Sullivan, James S. Gould, Richard J. Hurley, and Matt P. Plucinski. "Got to burn to learn: the effect of fuel load on grassland fire behaviour and its management implications." International Journal of Wildland Fire 27, no. 11 (2018): 727. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf18082.
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The effect of grass fuel load on fire behaviour and fire danger has been a contentious issue for some time in Australia. Existing operational models have placed different emphases on the effect of fuel load on model outputs, which has created uncertainty in the operational assessment of fire potential and has led to end-user and public distrust of model outcomes. A field-based experimental burning program was conducted to quantify the effect of fuel load on headfire rate of spread and other fire behaviour characteristics in grasslands. A total of 58 experimental fires conducted at six sites across eastern Australia were analysed. We found an inverse relationship between fuel load and the rate of spread in grasslands, which is contrary to current, untested, modelling assumptions. This result is valid for grasslands where fuel load is not a limiting factor for fire propagation. We discuss the reasons for this effect and model it to produce a fuel load effect function that can be applied to operational grassfire spread models used in Australia. We also analyse the effect of fuel load on flame characteristics and develop a model for flame height as a function of rate of fire spread and fuel load.
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Williams, R. J., J. C. Z. Woinarski, and A. N. Andersen. "Fire experiments in northern Australia: contributions to ecological understanding and biodiversity conservation in tropical savannas." International Journal of Wildland Fire 12, no. 4 (2003): 391. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf03025.
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The management of fire in savannas has been informed by a strong tradition of fire experiments, especially in Africa. This research tradition is much shorter in the 2 million square kilometres of tropical savannas in northern Australia, but has yielded several natural experiments, and three designed, manipulative, controlled field experiments (hereafter 'manipulative' experiments) of international significance (at Munmarlary, Kapalga and Kidman Springs in the Northern Territory). Here we assess the contributions of experiments, in particular the manipulative experiments, to ecological understanding and biodiversity management in Australia's savannas. Running from 1973 to 1996, the Munmarlary experiment comprised hectare-scale experimental plots with four replicated dry season fire treatments, and was designed to examine interactions between fire, landscape and biodiversity. The Kapalga experiment ran from 1989 to 1995, with a range of fire treatments broadly similar to those at Munmarlary. However, experimental units were 10–20�km2 sub-catchments, making it one of the largest, replicated fire experiments ever conducted. The Kidman Springs experiment focused on grass-layer productivity and composition to meet the needs of the pastoral industry, but also provided an opportunity to examine biodiversity responses to different fire regimes. Methodologically, the experiments have generally focused on phenomena—the responses to different fire treatments of individual taxa—rather than on mechanisms that determine response syndromes. They have highlighted that a range of responses to differences in fire regime is possible, and that no single fire regime can optimise all biodiversity outcomes. For effective conservation of biodiversity in the face of such complexity, conservation goals will need to be made explicit. The existing portfolio of manipulative experiments is incomplete, lacking especially a consideration of some critical savanna taxa and environments, and providing little information on the significance of spatial and temporal variability in fire patterns, especially at small scales. An understanding of fire in Australian savanna landscapes remains inadequate, so there is a continuing need for close partnerships between scientists and conservation managers, with fire management treated as a series of landscape experiments in an adaptive management framework.
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Kala, Jatin, Alyce Sala Tenna, Daniel Rudloff, Julia Andrys, Ole Rieke, and Thomas J. Lyons. "Evaluation of the Weather Research and Forecasting model in simulating fire weather for the south-west of Western Australia." International Journal of Wildland Fire 29, no. 9 (2020): 779. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf19111.
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The Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model was used to simulate fire weather for the south-west of Western Australia (SWWA) over multiple decades at a 5-km resolution using lateral boundary conditions from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Re-Analysis (ERA)-Interim reanalysis. Simulations were compared with observations at Australian Bureau of Meteorology meteorological stations and the McArthur Forest Fire Danger Index (FFDI) was used to quantify fire weather. Results showed that, overall, the WRF reproduced the annual cumulative FFDI at most stations reasonably well, with most biases in the FFDI ranging between –600 and 600. Biases were highest at stations within the metropolitan region. The WRF simulated the geographical gradients in the FFDI across the domain well. The source of errors in the FFDI varied markedly between the different stations, with no one particular variable able to account for the errors at all stations. Overall, this study shows that the WRF is a useful model for simulating fire weather for SWWA, one of the most fire-prone regions in Australia.
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Gould, JS, I. Knight, and AL Sullivan. "Physical Modelling of Leaf Scorch Height From Prescribed Fires in Young Eucalyptus Sieberi Regrowth Forests in South-Eastern Australia." International Journal of Wildland Fire 7, no. 1 (1997): 7. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf9970007.
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Information on weather, fuel and fire behaviour were recorded on 56 experimental prescribed fires in young coastal silvertop ash (Eucalyptus sieberi) regrowth forest in south-east New South Wales, Australia. The thermal environment above the fire was measured in 14 of those fires. Existing plume models, based on the assumption of a uniformly burning line fire, were found to under-predict the temperature of the air rising into the canopy. An axially symmetric plume model, based on the observation that fires burning in non-uniform fuels are not uniformly burning line fires, was developed using standard plume rise equations. This model, called the Sporadic Axial Model (SAM), was calibrated using data from one fire. This model can be used to predict scorch height from known ambient temperature and Byram's fire line intensity. The SAM model suggests that scorch height will be greater for prescribed fires burnt under calm conditions than prescribed fires of the same intensity burnt under stronger wind conditions.
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Noble, James C., David S. Hik, and Anthony R. E. Sinclair. "Landscape ecology of the burrowing bettong: fire and marsupial biocontrol of shrubs in semi-arid Australia." Rangeland Journal 29, no. 1 (2007): 107. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/rj06041.
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Prior to European settlement, medium-sized marsupials, especially bettongs (Bettongia spp.), were widely distributed across arid and semi-arid Australia. Most disappeared rapidly in the late 1800s in the earliest settled rangelands such as the West Darling region of western New South Wales following the spread of domestic herbivores, rabbit invasion, exotic predators and loss of habitat. Because the burrowing bettong (Bettongia lesueur) is the only fossorial macropod species, it left a clearly visible record of its past presence, distribution and habitat preferences in the form of substantial relict warrens, particularly in stony, ‘hard-red’ habitats. With the reduction in fire frequency because of excessive grazing pressures following European settlement in the 19th century, there was a rapid increase in the density of unpalatable native shrubs. We examine the hypothesis that periodic wildfires and browsing by bettongs were together able to regulate shrub densities in semi-arid rangelands in Australia. Information from various sources concerning the effects of fire, rainfall and browsing on the demography of shrubs was used to construct a model of shrub population dynamics. The model indicates the potential for two states for a given bettong density: first, a low shrub density maintained by a combination of periodic fire and bettong browsing; and second, a high shrub density in the absence of fire. These results have broad implications for pastoral and conservation management in Australian semi-arid rangelands.
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Tapper, NJ, G. Garden, J. Gill, and J. Fernon. "The Climatology and Meteorology of High Fire Danger in the Northern Territory." Rangeland Journal 15, no. 2 (1993): 339. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/rj9930339.
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In most areas of Australia the calculation of a fire danger index (FDI) is the cornerstone of fie weather forecasting and provides an operationally objective basis for the issue of fire weather warnings. FDI's are derived from the observation or prediction of a number of basic meteorological parameters which are then combined with information on fuel characteristics. The forest and grassland fire danger in southern Australia is greatest during the austral summer and is characterised by long periods of low fire danger interspersed with occasional extreme fire danger events. By contrast, much of tropical and subtropical Australia shows a distinctly different seasonality, magnitude and frequency of fire danger. The problem is essentially one of the austral winter-spring (dry season) period and is characterised by extended periods of moderate to high fire danger. This paper provides a broad climatological background to the problem of high fire danger in northern Australia, concentrating in particular on the Northern Territory. The paper also addresses particular meteorological situations in northern Australia which give rise to elevated fire danger. Two synoptic-scale weather patterns are discussed in particular; the passage of prefrontal troughs which seasonally produce high fire danger in the region of the tropic, and winter subtropical ridging which produces strong winds and high fire danger over the north of the continent during the dry season.
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Hill, Robert S., Yelarney K. Beer, Kathryn E. Hill, Elizabeth Maciunas, Myall A. Tarran, and Carmine C. Wainman. "Evolution of the eucalypts – an interpretation from the macrofossil record." Australian Journal of Botany 64, no. 8 (2016): 600. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/bt16117.
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Eucalypts have influenced the fire ecology of the Australian landscape more than any other plant group. They are the iconic plant taxon in the Australian vegetation today, but their origin, early evolution and migration remain poorly understood, mostly because of a remarkably sparse and underworked fossil record. However, a recent major macrofossil find in southern South America, coupled with increasing sophistication of molecular phylogenetic and palynological research allow for a more comprehensive summary of the likely early history of this group of genera. It is likely that the origin was close to the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary, somewhere in the Weddellian Biogeographic Province (which includes southern South America, western Antarctica and south-eastern Australia), in an area with high natural fire frequency. Evidence for the early record of eucalypts in Australia and their eventual spread across the continent, leading to their current dominance of the Australian plant biomass is growing and is consistent with a drying climate and increasing fire frequency following a very wet period during the Paleogene. The causes of the extinction of eucalypts from South America and probably New Zealand are considered, but remain obscure.
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Price, Owen F., and Ross A. Bradstock. "The effect of fuel age on the spread of fire in sclerophyll forest in the Sydney region of Australia." International Journal of Wildland Fire 19, no. 1 (2010): 35. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf08167.
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We investigated the effect of fuel age on the truncation of spread of unplanned fires using a set of 1473 patches in the Sydney region of Australia. Twenty-two percent of patches derived from prescribed fire experienced a subsequent unplanned fire within 5 years, compared with 42% of patches derived from unplanned fires. Among those encounters, the subsequent unplanned fire stopped at the leading edge of 18% of prescribed patches and 11% of unplanned patches. In comparison, the subsequent fire stopped somewhere in the patch for 44% of both prescribed and unplanned fires. Overall, there was a 10% chance that a prescribed burn patch would experience an unplanned fire that stops within the patch. Statistical modelling revealed that the presence of a road barrier was the best predictor of the likelihood of stopping on the leading edge, but fuel age and weather also had an influence. Stopping on the trailing edge was less influenced by the variables analysed. In extreme weather, even 1-year-old patches have a low likelihood of stopping unplanned fires. Fuel age had little influence on the spread of unplanned fires. Consequently, prescribed fires will be most effective when sited at the urban interface where resultant reduced unplanned fire intensity will be a benefit.
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Justice, Christopher O., Richard Smith, A. Malcolm Gill, and Ivan Csiszar. "A review of current space-based fire monitoring in Australia and the GOFC/GOLD program for international coordination." International Journal of Wildland Fire 12, no. 4 (2003): 247. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf03013.
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Satellite remote sensing of fires provides a unique view of our planet and quantitative information that can inform resource management and policy. Operational and experimental satellite sensing systems have the capability to provide regional and global monitoring of fires. These systems provide different types of fire information for estimation of fire danger, detecting active fires, estimating burned area, quantifying emissions products, estimating fire damage and monitoring post-fire ecosystem recovery. Efforts to extract and provide such information fall largely in the research domain and are in various stages of development. The pressing demand for reliable and up-to-date information, on fire occurrence, extent and emissions, warrants the transition of the mature research methods and experimental sensors into the operational domain. Providing consistent, timely and easily useable fire information of known accuracy for improved resource management is a challenge facing the research and operational communities. As part of the Integrated Global Observing Systems initiative, an international program called Global Observations of Forest Cover/Global Observations of Land Dynamics (GOFC/GOLD) is coordinating a concerted effort to meet this challenge. This paper describes the goals of this international program and provides a case study of the development and current status of satellite-based fire monitoring in Australia. We identify the major obstacles to a broader adoption of the technology by the fire community, the current needs and the relevance of the broader international program to national satellite-based fire monitoring activities.
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Williams, RJ, AM Gill, and PHR Moore. "Seasonal Changes in Fire Behaviour in a Tropical Savanna in Northern Australia." International Journal of Wildland Fire 8, no. 4 (1998): 227. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf9980227.
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In a landscape-scale experiment, fires were lit in replicate catchments 15-20 km2 in area, either early in the dry season (June) or late in the dry season (September) between 1990 and 1994. For each fire, Byram-intensity was determined in representative one ha areas of Eucalyptus miniata – E. tetrodonta open-forest, with a ground stratum dominated by annual grasses. Fuel weights were measured by harvest, fuel heat content was assumed to be constant, and the rate of spread was determined using electronic timers. Fuels consisted primarily of grass and leaf litter, and ranged from 1.5 to 13 t ha-1; in most years, average fuel loads were 2-4 t ha-1. Rates of spread were generally in the range of 0.2-0.8 ms-1. The mean intensity of early dry season fires (2100 kW m-1) was significantly less than that of the late dry season fires (7700 kW m-1), primarily because, in the late dry season, there was more leaf litter, fuels were drier, and fire weather was more extreme. Crown fires, a feature of forest fires of high intensity in southeastern Australia, were not observed in the Kapalga fires. Fire intensity was a very good predictor of both leaf-char height and leaf-scorch height for fires between 100 kW m-1 and 10,000 kW m-1, the range in which the majority of experimental fires fell.
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Ward, Bruce G., Thomas B. Bragg, and Barbara A. Hayes. "Relationship between fire-return interval and mulga (Acacia aneura) regeneration in the Gibson Desert and Gascoyne–Murchison regions of Western Australia." International Journal of Wildland Fire 23, no. 3 (2014): 394. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf13007.
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A study of 26 burnt mulga (Acacia aneura) stands was conducted from 2003 to 2012 in the Gibson Desert and eastern Gascoyne–Murchison region of Western Australia to assess the effect of fire interval on seedling regeneration. Tree-ring analysis and Landsat satellite imagery identified mulga stands with fire intervals ranging from 3 to 52 years. Results show fire-return intervals less than 20 years produce 2–3-year-old seedling regeneration lower than 50% of the original adult stand population (average juvenile-to-adult ratio=0.49). In total, 6 of the 26 stands sampled had reburnt within 3 to 10 years of the previous burn, a consequence of increased plant growth associated with higher rainfall. For all fires, summer fires were larger and more frequent (24 of 35 fires recorded, median fire size=150km2) than spring fires (median fire size=91km2). This study emphasises the important role of fire in maintaining the diversity and vigour of the mulga–Triodia ecosystem but indicates a minimum fire-return interval of 26 years to maintain mulga populations.
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Drucker, Adam G., Stephen T. Garnett, Marty K. Luckert, Gabriel M. Crowley, and Niilo Gobius. "Manager-based valuations of alternative fire management regimes on Cape York Peninsula, Australia." International Journal of Wildland Fire 17, no. 5 (2008): 660. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf07102.
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Decisions about fire management on pastoral properties are often made with little empirical knowledge. Proper accounting of the interactions between land, pasture, trees and livestock within the context of climatic variability and market conditions is required in order to assess financial implications of alternative fire management regimes. The present paper aims to facilitate such accounting through the development of a manager-driven decision-support tool. This approach is needed to account for variable property conditions and to provide direction towards considering optimal practices among a vast array of potential activities. The tool is an interactive model, developed for a hypothetical property, which analyses the costs and benefits of a baseline (no fires) against a historically based probability of wildfire overlaid by four alternative fire management regimes, representing cumulatively increasing levels of fire management intensity. These are: Regime 1, no action taken to prevent or stop wildfires; Regime 2, fire suppression (reactive fighting of wildfire); Regime 3, Regime 2 plus prevention (early dry-season burning); and Regime 4, Regime 3 combined with storm-burning (burning soon after the first wet-season storm). The model, which shows that fire and fire management have significant influences on the gross margin of Cape York Peninsula cattle properties, can be used as a decision-support tool in developing fire management strategies for individual properties. Specific fire management recommendations follow, together with the identification of potential areas of future work needed to facilitate use of the tool by clients.
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Russell-Smith, Jeremy, Cameron P. Yates, Chris Brock, and Vanessa C. Westcott. "Fire regimes and interval-sensitive vegetation in semiarid Gregory National Park, northern Australia." Australian Journal of Botany 58, no. 4 (2010): 300. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/bt99210.
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Few data are available concerning contemporary fire regimes and the responses of fire interval-sensitive vegetation types in semiarid woodland savanna landscapes of northern Australia. For a 10 300 km2 semiarid portion of Gregory National Park, in the present paper we describe (1) components of the contemporary fire regime for 1998–2008, on the basis of assessments derived from Landsat and MODIS imagery, (2) for the same period, the population dynamics, and characteristic fine-fuel loads associated with Acacia shirleyi Maiden (lancewood), an obligate seeder tree species occurring in dense monodominant stands, and (3) the fire responses of woody species, and fine-fuel dynamics, sampled in 41 plots comprising shrubby open-woodland over spinifex hummock grassland. While rain-year (July–June) rainfall was consistently reliable over the study period, annual fire extent fluctuated markedly, with an average of 29% being fire affected, mostly in the latter part of the year under relatively harsh fire-climate conditions. Collectively, such conditions facilitated short fire-return intervals, with 30% of the study area experiencing a repeat fire within 1 year, and 80% experiencing a repeat fire within 3 years. Fine fuels associated with the interior of lancewood thickets were characteristically small (<1 t ha–1). Fine fuels dominated by spinifex (Triodia spp.) were found to accumulate at rates equivalent to those observed under higher-rainfall conditions. Stand boundaries of A. shirleyi faired poorly under prevailing fire regimes over the study period; in 16 plots, juvenile density declined 62%, and adult stem density and basal area declined by 53% and 40%, respectively. Although the maturation (primary juvenile) period of A. shirleyi is incompletely known, assembled growth rate and phenology data indicated that it is typically >10 years. Of 133 woody species sampled, all trees (n = 26), with the exception of A. shirleyi, were resprouters, and 58% of all shrub species (n = 105) were obligate seeders, with observed primary juvenile periods <5 years. Assembled data generally supported observations made from other northern Australian studies concerning the responses of fire-sensitive woody taxa in rugged, sandstone-derived landscapes, and illustrated the enormous challenges facing ecologically sustainable fire management in such settings. Contemporary fire regimes of Gregory National Park are not ecologically sustainable.
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Plucinski, M. P., A. L. Sullivan, and W. L. McCaw. "Comparing the performance of daily forest fire danger summary metrics for estimating fire activity in southern Australian forests." International Journal of Wildland Fire 29, no. 10 (2020): 926. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf19185.
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Fire danger indices integrate weather and fuel variables to indicate the potential for wildland fires to ignite, spread, resist suppression and cause damage. McArthur’s Forest Fire Danger Index (FFDI) is applied across much of Australia, with the forecast daily maximum value used to inform fire management planning decisions and issuance of public warnings. Variations in daily maximum FFDI and the hourly changing of FFDI values during the day (including use of different soil moisture deficit indices) were compared against five binary fire activity statistics in six forested areas in southern Australia, with performance assessed using Theil–Sen regression lines fitted to rank percentile curves. Fire activity rates were similar on days with wide and narrow hourly FFDI distributions except in one study area where days with wide distributions experienced more fires. The maximum hourly FFDI metric performed the best of all the metrics tested, though there were no statistically significant differences among any of them. There was also little difference in the performance of metrics determined using alternative calculations and different drought indices. These results suggest that the current use of the forecast hourly maximum FFDI is appropriate and that using alternative methods to determine Drought Factor offers little benefit.
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Harris, Sarah, Graham Mills, and Timothy Brown. "Variability and drivers of extreme fire weather in fire-prone areas of south-eastern Australia." International Journal of Wildland Fire 26, no. 3 (2017): 177. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf16118.
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Most of the life and property losses due to bushfires in south-eastern Australia occur under extreme fire weather conditions – strong winds, high temperatures, low relative humidity (RH) and extended drought. However, what constitutes extreme, and the values of the weather ingredients and their variability, differs regionally. Using a gridded dataset to identify the highest 10 fire weather days from 1972 to 2012, as defined by McArthur’s Forest Fire Danger Index (FFDI), for 24 sites across Victoria and nearby, we analyse the extent and variability of these highest 10 FFDI days, and of the contributing temperature, RH, wind speed, wind direction and drought indices. We document the occurrence of these events by time of day, month of occurrence and inter-annual variability. We find there is considerable variability among regions in the highest FFDI days and also the contributing weather and drought parameters, with some regional groupings apparent. Many major fire events occurred on these highest 10 fire weather days; however there are also days in which extreme fire weather occurred yet no known major fires are recorded. The results from this study will be an additional valuable resource to fire agencies in fire risk planning by basing fire management decisions on site-specific extreme fire weather conditions.
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Bradstock, Ross A. "Effects of large fires on biodiversity in south-eastern Australia: disaster or template for diversity?" International Journal of Wildland Fire 17, no. 6 (2008): 809. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf07153.
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Large fires coincident with drought occurred in south-eastern Australia during 2001–2007. Perceptions of large, intense fires as being ecologically ‘disastrous’ are common. These are summarised by four hypotheses characterising large fires as: (i) homogenous in extent and intensity; (ii) causing large-scale extinction due to perceived lack of survival and regeneration capacity among biota; (iii) degrading due to erosion and related edaphic effects; (iv) unnatural, as a consequence of contemporary land management. These hypotheses are examined using available evidence and shown to inadequately account for effects of large fires on biodiversity. Large fires do not burn homogeneously, though they may produce intensely burnt patches and areas. The bulk of biota are resilient through a variety of in situ persistence mechanisms that are reinforced by landscape factors. Severe erosive episodes following fire tend to be local and uncertain rather than global and inevitable. Redistribution of soil and nutrients may reinforce habitat variation in some cases. Signals of fire are highly variable over prehistoric and historic eras, and, in some cases, contemporary and pre-European signal levels are equivalent. The most important effects of large fires in these diverse ecological communities and landscapes stem from their recurrence rate. Adaptive management of fire regimes rather than fire events is required, based on an understanding of risks posed by particular regimes to biota.
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Yates, Cameron, and Jeremy Russell-Smith. "Fire regimes and vegetation sensitivity analysis: an example from Bradshaw Station, monsoonal northern Australia." International Journal of Wildland Fire 12, no. 4 (2003): 349. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf03019.
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The fire-prone savannas of northern Australia comprise a matrix of mostly fire-resilient vegetation types, with embedded fire-sensitive species and communities particularly in rugged sandstone habitats. This paper addresses the assessment of fire-sensitivity at the landscape scale, drawing on detailed fire history and vegetation data assembled for one large property of 9100�km2, Bradshaw Station in the Top End of the Northern Territory, Australia. We describe (1) the contemporary fire regime for Bradshaw Station for a 10 year period; (2) the distribution and status of 'fire sensitive' vegetation; and (3) an assessment of fire-sensitivity at the landscape scale. Fire-sensitive species (FSS) were defined as obligate seeder species with minimum maturation periods of at least 3 years. The recent fire history for Bradshaw Station was derived from the interpretation of fine resolution Landsat MSS and Landsat TM imagery, supplemented with mapping from coarse resolution NOAA-AVHRR imagery where cloud had obstructed the use of Landsat images late in the fire season (typically October–November). Validation assessments of fire mapping accuracy were conducted in 1998 and 1999. On average 40% of Bradshaw burnt annually with about half of this, 22%, occurring after August (Late Dry Season LDS), and 65% of the property burnt 4 or more times, over the 10 year period; 89% of Bradshaw Station had a minimum fire return interval of less than 3 years in the study period. The derived fire seasonality, frequency and return interval data were assessed with respect to landscape units (landsystems). The largest landsystem, Pinkerton (51%, mostly sandstone) was burnt 41% on average, with about 70% burnt four times or more, over the 10 year period. Assessment of the fire-sensitivity of individual species was undertaken with reference to data assembled for 345 vegetation plots, herbarium records, and an aerial survey of the distribution of the long-lived obligate-seeder tree species Callitris intratropica. A unique list of 1310 plant species was attributed with regenerative characteristics (i.e. habit, perenniality, resprouting capability, time to seed maturation). The great majority of FSS species were restricted to rugged sandstone landforms. The approach has wider application for assessing landscape fire-sensitivity and associated landscape health in savanna landscapes in northern Australia, and elsewhere.
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Williamson, Grant J., Owen F. Price, Sarah B. Henderson, and David M. J. S. Bowman. "Satellite-based comparison of fire intensity and smoke plumes from prescribed fires and wildfires in south-eastern Australia." International Journal of Wildland Fire 22, no. 2 (2013): 121. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf11165.
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Smoke pollution from wildfires can adversely affect human health, and there is uncertainty about the amount of smoke pollution caused by prescribed v. wildfires, a problem demanding a landscape perspective given that air quality monitoring is sparse outside of urban airsheds. The primary objective was to assess differences in fire intensity and smoke plume area between prescribed fires and wildfires around Melbourne and Sydney, Australia. We matched thermal anomaly satellite data to databases of fires in forests surrounding both cities. For each matched fire we determined hotspot count and quantified their intensity using the fire radiative power (FRP) measurement. Smoke plumes were mapped using MODIS true colour images. Wildfires had more extreme fire intensity values than did prescribed burns and the mean size of wildfire plumes was six times greater than of prescribed fire plumes for both cities. Statistical modelling showed that the horizontal area covered by smoke plumes could be predicted by hotspot count and sum of FRP, with differences between cities and fire type. Smoke plumes from both fire types reached both urban areas, and particulate pollution was higher on days affected by smoke plumes. Our results suggested that prescribed fires produced smaller smoke plume areas than did wildfires in two different flammable landscapes. Smoke plume and FRP data, combined with air pollution data from static monitors, can be used to improve smoke management for human health.
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Krusel, N., D. Packham, and N. Tapper. "Wildfire Activity in the Mallee Shrubland of Victoria, Australia." International Journal of Wildland Fire 3, no. 4 (1993): 217. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf9930217.
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McArthur's Fire Danger Indices were developed originally as empirical models to describe fire danger in dry sclerophyll forest and grasslands of Australia. These indices are now used widely in southeastern Australia for fire danger rating and as a guideline for the issue of fire weather warnings. Nine years of historical fire reports, fire danger indices and meteorological information have been analysed objectively to develop a model to predict days of high fire activity in the mallee shrubland of northwestern Victoria. Tested on two years of independent data it was found that the use of a simple model utilising standard meteorological observations rather than the McArthur Forest Fire Danger Index reduced the false alarm rate from 98.4% to 96.7%. Although apparently a small reduction in false alarm rate, over a two year period days of high fire activity predicted incorrectly were reduced dramatically by 345 days.
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RUSSELL-SMITH, JEREMY, PAUL G. RYAN, DAVID KLESSA, GORDON WAIGHT, and ROBERT HARWOOD. "Fire regimes, fire-sensitive vegetation and fire management of the sandstone Arnhem Plateau, monsoonal northern Australia." Journal of Applied Ecology 35, no. 6 (June 28, 2008): 829–46. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2664.1998.tb00002.x.
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Bowman, D. M. J. S., Yue Zhang, Angie Walsh, and R. J. Williams. "Experimental comparison of four remote sensing techniques to map tropical savanna fire-scars using Landsat-TM imagery." International Journal of Wildland Fire 12, no. 4 (2003): 341. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf03030.
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A landscape-scale fire experiment, conducted over two consecutive dry seasons in a large tract of tropical savanna in northern Australia, was used to evaluate four methods to map fire scars apparent on Landsat-TM imagery: (i) systematic visual; (ii) semi-automated; (iii) automated; and (iv) change detection. All of the methods showed rapid fading of the fire scars. Overall, the automated and visual methods were able to discriminate burnt areas for longer than the other methods. However, the automated method also falsely identified fire-scars on between 5 and 20% of the unburnt catchments prior to the experimental late dry season fire treatments. One cause of the fading appears related to the increased flushing of tree canopies on burnt areas, although the spatially patchy recovery within and between catchments points to the importance of other factors such as the recovery of the ground layer. It appears that Landsat-TM imagery cannot be used to reliably determine the spatial extent and timing of fires in environments with rapid post-fire recovery, such as tropical savannas, thereby limiting the utility of this data source for fine-scale ecological studies.
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Gill, A. Malcolm, Karen J. King, and Andrew D. Moore. "Australian grassland fire danger using inputs from the GRAZPLAN grassland simulation model." International Journal of Wildland Fire 19, no. 3 (2010): 338. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf09023.
Full textAbstract:
Assessing and broadcasting the Fire Danger Rating each day of the fire season is an important activity in fire-prone nations. For grasslands in Australia, grass curing and biomass are biological variables that are not usually archived yet as inputs, along with weather data, to the calculation of Grassland Fire Danger Index (GFDI) and potential fire intensity. To assess past changes in the index, the biological inputs for GFDI for Canberra in south-eastern Australia were obtained using a pasture simulator, GRAZPLAN. Shoot biomass (including leaf litter) and grass curing were modelled using three contrasting pasture models (exotic annual, exotic perennial and native perennial) in order to calculate two variants of McArthur’s GFDI Mark 4 (the original and a modified version which includes fuel load); values were either capped at 100 as in the original (the ‘worst possible’ condition) or left open-ended. GFDI, and the potential fire intensity for fires burning with the wind each afternoon during a 54-year period were calculated. The native perennial grass model gave contrasting results to those from the exotic perennial grass model, whereas the annual grass model usually was intermediate in behaviour. GRAZPLAN outputs allow not only retrospective examination, but also provide a basis for predicting potential fire danger and behaviour as a result of climate change.
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King, Karen J., Robert M. de Ligt, and Geoffrey J. Cary. "Fire and carbon dynamics under climate change in south-eastern Australia: insights from FullCAM and FIRESCAPE modelling." International Journal of Wildland Fire 20, no. 4 (2011): 563. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf09073.
Full textAbstract:
This study used simulation modelling to investigate fire and carbon dynamics for projected warmer and drier climates in the south-eastern Australian high country. A carbon accounting model FullCAM and the landscape fire regime simulator FIRESCAPE were combined and used to simulate several fire management options under three climate scenarios – the recent climate (1975–2005); a moderate climate projected for 2070 (B1); and a more extreme climate projected for 2070 (A1FI). For warmer and drier climates, model simulations predicted (i) an increase in fire incidence; (ii) larger areas burned; (iii) higher mean fire intensities; (iv) shorter fire cycle lengths; (v) a greater proportion of fires burning earlier in the fire season; (vi) a reduction in carbon stores; (vii) a reduction in carbon sequestration rates; and (viii) an increase in the proportion of stored carbon emitted to the atmosphere. Prescribed burning at historical or twice historical levels had no effect on fire or carbon dynamics. In contrast, increasing the initial attack success (a surrogate for suppression) partially offset the adverse effects of warmer and drier climates on fire activity, but not on carbon dynamics. For the south-eastern Australian high country, simulations indicated that fire and carbon dynamics are sensitive to climate change, with simulated fire management only being able to partially offset the adverse effects of warmer and drier climate.
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Beringer, J., L. B. Hutley, N. J. Tapper, A. Coutts, A. Kerley, and A. P. O'Grady. "Fire impacts on surface heat, moisture and carbon fluxes from a tropical savanna in northern Australia." International Journal of Wildland Fire 12, no. 4 (2003): 333. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf03023.
Full textAbstract:
Savannas form a large fraction of the total tropical vegetation and are extremely fire prone. We measured radiative, energy and carbon exchanges over unburned and burned (both before and after low and moderate intensity fires) open forest savanna at Howard Springs, Darwin, Australia. Fire affected the radiative balance immediately following fire through the consumption of the grass-dominated understorey and blackening of the surface. Albedo was halved following fire of both intensities (from 0.12 to 0.07 and from 0.11 to 0.06 for the moderate and low intensity sites, respectively), but the recovery of albedo was dependent on the initial fire intensity. The low intensity fire caused little canopy damage with little impact on the surface energy balance and only a slight increase in Bowen ratio. However the moderate fire resulted in a comprehensive canopy scorch and almost complete leaf drop in the weeks following fire. The shutdown of most leaves within the canopy reduced transpiration and altered energy partitioning. Leaf death and shedding also resulted in a cessation of ecosystem carbon uptake and the savanna turned from a sink to a source of carbon to the atmosphere because of the continued ecosystem respiration. Post-fire, the Bowen ratio increased greatly due to large increases in sensible heat fluxes. These changes in surface energy exchange following fire, when applied at the landscape scale, may have impacts on climate through local changes in circulation patterns and changes in regional heating, precipitation and monsoon circulation.
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Speer, MS, LM Leslie, JR Colquhoun, and E. Mitchell. "The Sydney Australia Wildfires of January 1994 - Meteorological Conditions and High Resolution Numerical Modeling Experiments." International Journal of Wildland Fire 6, no. 3 (1996): 145. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf9960145.
Full textAbstract:
Southeastern Australia is particularly vulnerable to wildfires during the spring and summer months, and the threat of devastation is present most years. In January 1994, the most populous city in Australia, Sydney, was ringed by wildfires, some of which penetrated well into suburban areas and there were many other serious fires in coastal areas of New South Wales (NSW). In recent years much research activity in Australia has focussed on the development of high resolution limited area models, for eventual operational prediction of meteorological conditions associated with high levels of wildfire risk. In this study, the period January 7-8, 1994 was chosen for detailed examination, as it was the most critical period during late December 1993/early January 1994 for the greater Sydney area. Routine forecast guidance from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology's operational numerical weather prediction (NWP) models was very useful in that both the medium and short range models predicted synoptic patterns suggesting extreme fire weather conditions up to several days in advance. However, vital information of a detailed nature was lacking. A new high resolution model was run at the operational resolution of 150 km and the much higher resolutions of 25 km and 5 km. The new model showed statistically significant greater skill in predicting details of wind, relative humidity and temperature patterns both near the surface and above the boundary layer. It also produced skilful predictions of the Forest Fire Danger Index.
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Lindenmayer, David B., Chris MacGregor, Jeff T. Wood, Ross B. Cunningham, Mason Crane, Damian Michael, Rebecca Montague-Drake, et al. "What factors influence rapid post-fire site re-occupancy? A case study of the endangered Eastern Bristlebird in eastern Australia." International Journal of Wildland Fire 18, no. 1 (2009): 84. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf07048.
Full textAbstract:
We quantified the post-fire recovery of the endangered Eastern Bristlebird (Dasyornis brachypterus) at Booderee National Park, south-eastern Australia. Occurrence was recorded on 110 sites a year before, and for 3 years after a major unplanned fire in 2003. Although the Eastern Bristlebird is thought to be sensitive to wildfire, data indicated that the species either persisted continuously on burned sites or returned to previously occupied sites within 2 years. Post-fire site occupancy was associated with several factors: (1) pre-fire site occupancy; (2) vegetation type; (3) spatial heterogeneity in fire and the amount of unburned vegetation surrounding a site; and (4) site-level vegetation structure (e.g. diversity of understorey and midstorey plants). The most likely mechanism underpinning rapid re-occupancy was movement by resident birds to unburned parts elsewhere within their territories. The addition of intensive feral predator baiting within the present study suggests that predation may have a more important effect on populations after unplanned fires than formerly recognised. Our results have significant implications for fire management in areas where the Eastern Bristlebird occurs. Care should be taken with back-burning during unplanned fires and the spatial and temporal arrangement of prescribed fires to ensure unburned vegetation remains as refugia to facilitate bird persistence.
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Harris, AJL. "Towards Automated Fire Monitoring From Space: Semi-Automated Mapping of the January 1994 New South Wales Wildfires Using AVHRR Data." International Journal of Wildland Fire 6, no. 3 (1996): 107. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf9960107.
Full textAbstract:
The Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) is capable of providing low cost thermal data in which wild-fires can easily be detected. Data are available for large areas (~ 3000 x 6000 km) at-least 4 times a day, and can be received directly by the user. An automated hot-spot detection technique inserted into the data stream could therefore provide timely fire information for wild-fire monitoring. Such an automated technique is applied to AVHRR data acquired for the wild-fires which burnt extensive areas in New South Wales, Australia, during January 1994. The technique allows rapid production of fire maps. These revealed a number of major fires burning mainly within the National Parks, impacting on settlements and roads. Such a synoptic view of these fire events would be difficult to obtain using any other means.
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Price, Owen F., and Michael Bedward. "Using a statistical model of past wildfire spread to quantify and map the likelihood of fire reaching assets and prioritise fuel treatments." International Journal of Wildland Fire 29, no. 5 (2020): 401. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf18130.
Full textAbstract:
We present a method to quantify and map the probability of fires reaching the vicinity of assets in a wildfire-prone region, by extending a statistical fire spread model developed on historical fire patterns in the Sydney region, Australia. It calculates the mean probability of fire spreading along sample lines around assets, weights the probability according to ignition probability and also estimates the change in spread probability that fuel reduction in treatment blocks would achieve. We have developed an R package WildfireRisk to implement the analysis and demonstrate it with two case studies in forested eastern Australia. The probability of a fire reaching the vicinity of an asset was highest in the heavily forested parts of each case study, but when weighted for ignition probability, the high probability shifted to the wildland–urban interface. Further, when weighted by asset location, high-priority areas for treatment were in blocks next to the wildland–urban interface. This method is objective, fast and based on the behaviour of real historical fires. We recommend its use in wildfire risk planning, as an adjunct to heuristic methods and simulations. Additional functionality can be incorporated into our method, for instance via a function for building impact.