Accounting for the neglected: Invertebrate species and the 2019–2020 Australian megafires

Abstract

Aim: Invertebrates make up the vast majority of fauna species but are often overlooked in impact assessment and conservation response. The extent to which the 2019-2020 Australian megafires overlapped with the range of vertebrate species has been well documented; consequently, substantial resourcing has been directed towards their recovery. Here, we attempt to document the extent of overlap of these megafires with invertebrate species. In doing so, we seek to demonstrate that it is possible and worthwhile to assess the effect of a catastrophic event on a large number of poorly known species.Location: Temperate and subtropical Australia.

Recognition and completeness: two key metrics for judging the utility of citizen science data

“…This is problematic for taxa where recognition to species level is difficult (whether in professional or citizen science), leading to insufficient distribution, abundance, and trend data, which may prevent potential listing (Marsh et al . 2021). The recognition of higher‐level taxa (eg genera) as having persistently low recognition despite expert engagement may provide an important line of evidence for affording these taxa formal protection.…”

Increasing threat of wildfires: the year 2020 in perspective: A Global Ecology and Biogeography special issue

“…Although it has long been recognized that climate change is likely to bring an increase in extreme fire seasons (Clark, 1988), the recent megafires in 2020 have laid bare many of our gaps in knowledge. As discussed by Marsh et al (2022) in their vulnerability assessment of invertebrates following the Australian Black Summer fires, it is difficult to assess fire impacts when basic information about species distributions and their responses to fire is lacking. As Safford et al (2022) highlight, the extreme fire seasons of 2020 in the Western United States are likely a harbinger of future fire seasons under a warmer, drier climate.…”

“…The papers in this special issue include vulnerability assessments of plant species (Gallagher et al, 2022), vertebrate fauna (Legge et al, 2022), squamates of conservation concern (including geckos, skinks and snakes, Santos et al, 2022), invertebrates (Marsh et al, 2022) and ecosystems (Keith et al, 2022). A common theme across these studies is that vulnerability assessments must consider fire response traits in combination with information on fire regimes, and not just the proportion of a species' range or ecosystem extent that was subject to fire.…”

“…Santos et al (2022) find that 43% of Australian squamates of conservation concern are threatened by changes in fire regimes. Marsh et al (2022) find that the Black Summer fires burned at least 50% of the range of nearly 800 invertebrate taxa, with vulnerability assessments hampered by major knowledge gaps in invertebrate ecology. Finally, Keith et al (2022) identified 29 ecosystems that are vulnerable to poor post‐fire recovery because of exposure to threats such as high fire frequency, pre‐fire drought stress and post‐fire invasive predators.…”

Making choices: prioritising the protection of biodiversity in wildfires

“…Some efforts were also made to protect biodiversity; for example, emergency actions were taken to prevent looming fire from destroying the few remaining Wollemi pines (Wollemia nobilis) that occur in the wild. However, most biodiversity assets in the path of the fires were not actively protected and the fires burnt approximately 10 million ha of native vegetation, damaged World Heritage areas, killed millions of wild animals, and caused the likely extinction of at least one species (Moir 2021) and the imperilment of hundreds of species (Gallagher et al 2021;Legge et al 2022b;Marsh et al 2022). In some cases, actions taken to protect human life or property were not only undertaken in preference to actions for the protection of biodiversity, but those actions themselves (such as widespread use of backburning, and bulldozing mineral earth containment lines) are likely to have caused at least some detriment to biodiversity.…”