<
https://theconversation.com/catastrophic-declines-massive-data-haul-reveals-why-so-many-plants-and-animals-suffer-after-fire-241691>
"The megafires that tore through Australia’s forests in 2019–20 burnt more than
ten million hectares. The tragedy prompted a massive research effort to
understand how plants and animals were affected.
So what did it uncover? Research published today in the journal
Nature set
out to answer that question. In a collaboration involving more than 100
scientists, we brought together data for more than 1,300 animal and plant
species. As far as we know, it’s the world’s largest dataset of biodiversity
responses after a single fire season.
We found populations of some species declined, while other species became more
common after the fires. Importantly, the results depended strongly on the
condition of the land before the fire – especially how frequently it had been
burned before the megafires.
The findings have profound implications for how Australia manages its natural
environments. Authorities often use frequent fuel-reduction burning to prepare
for bushfires – however our findings suggest this primes ecosystems for major
disruption when the next wildfire hits."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
