Fire, forests and fauna (The 2020 Krebs Lecture)

Abstract

DECLARATION OF FUNDING This research did not receive any specific funding. CONFLICT OF INTEREST The author declares no conflicts of interest ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This is personal perspective on fire in Australia, but I am deeply indebted to my friend and colleague Charley Krebs for suggesting that I deliver his named lecture. I hope that he felt I did his request justice. I thank the University of Canberra for hosting the talk and Denis Saunders and Mike Calver for encouraging me to write this article. Importantly, many of my insights into the effects of, and recovery from, wildfire could not be derived without the benefit of long-term ecological monitoring-something that Charles Krebs is passionate about and something that he has maintained diligently in his extraordinary career. I am deeply indebted to a vast number of people with whom I have had the great good fortune to have worked with over the past 37 years; scientists, statisticians, field ecologists (who are also scientists), field volunteers, and many others too numerous to mention (but are not forgotten). My lecture and this associated paper are dedicated to the memory of the late Marjorie Lindenmayer who lived with great dignity and grace and died the same way.

Complex Organisms Must Deal with Complex Threats: How Does Amphibian Conservation Deal with Biphasic Life Cycles?

“…The terrestrial stage in the amphibian life cycle faces many anthropogenic threats which impact their dispersal and reproductive ability. Among these threats are disease, habitat loss, degradation, and fragmentation, and invasive species [15][16][17][18][19].…”

“…Amphibians have received notoriety for being the most threatened vertebrate taxa since their first global assessment in 2004 [14]. Research suggests the most likely explanation for the current amphibian extinction crisis is disease, but declines have been exacerbated by the interaction of multiple anthropogenic threats: drought, wildfires and extreme temperature exacerbated by climate change; habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation; and the introduction of invasive species [15][16][17][18][19]. These threats reduce survival and reproductive output [20], reducing the population size [21,22] and decreasing genetic viability [23][24][25].…”