Future fire scenarios: Predicting the effect of fire management strategies on the trajectory of high-quality habitat for threatened species

Connell, Jemima; Watson, Simon J.; Taylor, Rick S.; Avitabile, Sarah C.; Schedvin, Natasha; Schneider, Kathryn; Clarke, Michael F.

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2019.02.004

Cited by 20 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…A drawback of mosaics of different vegetation ages as established in the present case is that patches of old age tend to be small and therefore potentially of less value for biodiversity conservation than large patches (Berry et al 2015b). In addition, the distribution of vegetation ages is likely to be sensitive to the relative burn area of periodically reintroduced fire, potentially leading to relatively small areas of older vegetation ages at low (3 to 5% yr −1 of total available area) relative burn areas (Connell et al 2019).…”

Section: Retention Of Older Vegetation Ages In the Mosaic Landscapementioning

confidence: 81%

Wildfire and fire mosaic effects on bird species richness and community composition in south-western Australia

Wills¹,

Liddelow²,

Tunsell³

2020

fire ecol

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Background: A fire management strategy of deliberate patch-mosaic burning (PMB) is postulated to promote biodiversity by providing a range of habitat patches with different fire histories, habitat qualities, and vegetation ages at a given scale. We investigated the response of avian fauna to fire, particularly species richness and community composition, in a landscape composed of a diversity of vegetation ages including long-unburned refuges (age 26 years), compared with a landscape of uniform vegetation ages recovering from an extensive and intense fire. Results: There was no effect of heterogeneity in vegetation age on species richness at whole forest management block (about 6000 ha), or local (2 ha) scales. There were different responses of particular species to vegetation age. Nine species showed responses to vegetation age at local (2 ha) scales, which is presumably a surrogate for availability of key resources and which changes over time. Australian Pipit (Anthus australis Vieillot, 1818) were absent from swamp vegetation <3.5 years old, while Spotted Pardalote (Pardalotus punctatus Shaw & Nodder, 1792) were only found in forest vegetation <3.5 years old. Year-to-year changes in local assemblages were detected after removing the effect of time since fire. There was no difference in effect of the two fire regimes on assemblage composition or feeding-guild structure. Conclusions: Mosaics of different vegetation ages had no net benefit for biodiversity, as measured by species richness and assemblage composition, at the forest block management unit scale. Different responses to vegetation age among bird species did not lead to increased bird richness at the scale of forest management block. A potential advantage of mosaics in conservation of avian biodiversity is through preservation of patches of older vegetation ages in the landscape, compared to the periodic extensive loss of older vegetation ages in wildfires. However, the absence of large-scale effects of vegetation age on bird species richness, the tendency for birds to specialize to fuel ages >5.5 years in the landscape studied, and indications of flexible responses of some species at landscape scales allows some flexibility in fuel management strategies and the scale at which they are applied with respect to avifauna.

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Section: Retention Of Older Vegetation Ages In the Mosaic Landscapementioning

confidence: 81%

Wildfire and fire mosaic effects on bird species richness and community composition in south-western Australia

Wills¹,

Liddelow²,

Tunsell³

2020

fire ecol

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“…For example, several threatened mallee bird species have specialized post‐fire habitat requirements (Connell et al., 2017), yet availability of preferred post‐fire age classes can be limited and/or disjunct at the landscape scale (e.g. Connell et al., 2019). Life history traits can exacerbate this impact.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fire, drought and flooding rains: The effect of climatic extremes on bird species’ responses to time since fire

Connell

Hall

Nimmo

et al. 2021

Diversity and Distributions

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Aim Climatic extremes and fire affect ecosystems across the globe, yet our understanding of how species are influenced by the interaction of these broadscale ecological drivers is poorly understood. Using a ten‐year dataset, we tested how extreme drought and rainfall interacted with time since fire (TSF) to shape bird species’ distributions. Location Semi‐arid mallee woodlands of south‐eastern Australia. Methods We quantified the effects of climatic extremes on bird species’ occurrence, species richness and incidence at 180 sites across three climatic periods—an El Niño‐associated drought (the “Big Dry”), immediately after La Niña drought‐breaking rainfall (“Big Wet”) and three years following the La Niña event (“Post‐Big Wet”). We then compared species’ responses with TSF across the three climatic periods using a chronosequence of sites from 1 to 117 years post‐fire. Results La Niña rainfall had sustained impacts on species’ occurrence. Over half of species increased significantly during the Big Wet. Despite three intervening years of below‐average rainfall, three quarters of these species remained comparably high, Post‐Big Wet. By contrast, less than half of threatened and declining species benefited from high rainfall. Responses of species to TSF were found to differ contingent on climatic conditions: almost twice as many species responded to TSF during the Big Wet and almost three times as many Post‐Big Wet, compared with the Big Dry. Across climatic periods, a majority of species showed preference for mid to older post‐fire vegetation. Main conclusions Variation in responses to TSF is likely due to the effect of climatic variation on resources. We suggest that, at sites of different post‐fire age, interactions between TSF and climate may differentially influence both the availability and longevity of resources. Given climatic extremes are predicted to become increasingly severe with climate change, accounting for their influence on fauna–fire dynamics will require careful management of fire.

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“…Adaptive governance at multiple scales with the help of aggressive data processing and involving all the stakeholders is the key to success in mitigating the effect and hazards of the wildfire [171]. In this regards, good papers the readers can read include [172][173][174][175][176][177]. Big data measurement and analysis related to fire occurrences and prediction of fire events require a more significant framework incorporating the government and communities living nearby fire-prone areas to increase wildfire resilience.…”

Section: Prediction Of Propagation Of Firementioning

confidence: 99%

Role of Machine Learning Algorithms in Forest Fire Management: A Literature Review

Arif¹,

K²,

A³

et al. 2021

J Robotics Autom

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Forest fire disasters are recently getting lots of attention due to climate change globally. Globally, climate changes are rapidly changing the fire patterns on Earth. Effective fire management requires accurate information about the fire occurrence, its spread, and impact on the environment. Prediction of fire activities in the forest guides the authorities to make optimal, efficient, and sound decisions in fire management. This paper aims to summarize recent trends in the forest fire events prediction, detection, spread rate, and mapping of the burned areas. Furthermore, fire emissions in terms of smoke also put the Earth's public health and ecological system at greater risk. Hence, future policymaking can be more accurate in saving billions of dollars, improving the healthy environment and ecological cycle for the inhabitants of this Earth. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the usage of different machine learning algorithms in forest fire or wildfire management. Furthermore, we have identified some potential areas where new technologies and data can help better fire management decision making.

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Future fire scenarios: Predicting the effect of fire management strategies on the trajectory of high-quality habitat for threatened species

Cited by 20 publications

References 57 publications

Wildfire and fire mosaic effects on bird species richness and community composition in south-western Australia

Wildfire and fire mosaic effects on bird species richness and community composition in south-western Australia

Fire, drought and flooding rains: The effect of climatic extremes on bird species’ responses to time since fire

Role of Machine Learning Algorithms in Forest Fire Management: A Literature Review

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