New research is informing how, when and where prescribed burns may be used to mitigate bushfire threats while maintaining our biodiversity.
The reverberations of Australia’s recent epic bushfire season will be felt for generations. The Eastern State’s drought is as bad as the Federation drought, but it is hotter, which means both elevated bushfire risk and unstoppable fires.
“The bushfire crisis has drawn a big thick line underneath some gaping holes in our knowledge,” says Dr Joe Fontaine, who is leading research to contribute to more effective fire management practices.
“We urgently need to understand how climate change and fire interact to drive changes in ecosystems – this may be individual species, ecosystems, or destabilising carbon storage.” Dr Fontaine is looking at the role of prescribed burns to inform better decision making by local and state governments.
“Our research is exploring the consequences of intentional, prescribed burns on our biodiverse vegetation in WA. We’re considering when, where, and how often fire should be used to reduce hazard and what the biodiversity trade-offs are under a drying and warming climate.”
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Image via Murdoch University
