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Prescribed Burning in Victoria: Policy and Practice
Abstract
Victoria has the best Code of Fire Management Practice in Australia and results from extensive and intensive consultation, negotiation and development. This Code sets out the primary objectives and standards expected from fire managers on public land. Victoria can demonstrate a significant improvement in its fire management over the past 60 years with respect to the protection of human life and property from bushfires, but it still has a long way to go with respect to environmental management of fire. A process is in place for applying fire across the Victorian landscape in an ecologically sustainable manner, but as yet has not had the time and resources to execute it. The recent Victorian fires reinforce the need to implement the use of broadscale prescribed burning to complement the more intensive and strategic fire protection prescribed burning. The State needs to increase the priority given to providing well trained, well educated and well resourced fire managers and fire operations staff. In the long-term, more prescribed burning, primarily aimed at achieving ecological objectives, will help reduce the occurrence and impact of large and intense bushfires. This will simultaneously reduce the cost of emergency operations and disaster relief and achieve better land management outcomes.
... In Australia, however, prescribed burning has been carried out on a recurring basis since the 1960s for the purposes of wildfire mitigation, agricultural practices such as stubble reduction and grazing land management, property protection, the maintenance of ecological processes and biodiversity conservation [53**]. These same authors describe the areas in Australia where prescribed burning is implemented, which coincide with those where the most intense fires have occurred due to the type of vegetation and climate [54]. Although the authorities' use of prescribed fire has increased since the 1960s, growing environmental awareness since the mid-1980s has prompted questions about whether prescribed burning has negative environmental effects, triggering a reduction in its use [53**]. ...
... These authors also highlight an increase in the 1990s in articles focussing exclusively on the ecological effects. Interestingly, in an exhaustive review of studies published in Australia, Oliveras and Bell [54] did not find a single publication that completely ruled out the use of fire as a management tool. ...
Fire plays a role in the vast majority of terrestrial ecosystems. Researchers have discovered that the negative effects of prescribed fire on soil, water and vegetation are transitory, and that benefits are much greater. This paper presents a synthesis of the most important recent work on the effects of prescribed fire on soil, water and vegetation and assesses the validity of the use of fire as a management tool. The impact of fire is low and temporary, while the benefits are greater both directly (e.g. reduction in vegetative fuel and the risk of fire, non-contamination of water) and indirectly (e.g. improvement in forest health). Thus, prescribed burning is a good management tool and should be incorporated into land management and regional planning. Researchers, managers, stakeholders and landowners must be taken into account in order to increase knowledge of this management tool and implement it in the most optimal way possible.
... Wildfires in south-eastern Australia have the potential to reach higher intensities than other parts of Australia (Tolhurst 2003;Fig. 2), the South Pacific (Luke & McArthur 1978), and perhaps even the world (Pyne 2006). ...
... Major climatic zones in Australia based on a modified Koeppen classification system (source: http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/ncc/climate_averages/climateclassifications) Potential fire intensity across Australia based on a combination of vegetation types, terrain and weather patterns (source:Tolhurst 2003) ...
Fire has been part of the natural environment of south-eastern Australia for tens of millions of years. Aboriginal people used fire selectively, with skill, for many reasons. The removal of Aboriginal people from most of the region after European settlement changed fire regimes and the composition and structure of vegetation. This study explores the history of fire in south-eastern Australia, describes the development of prescribed burning as a forest management tool, and discusses the factors that have influenced changes in fire regimes. It draws on published and unpublished literature and data held by the Forest Fire Management Committee of the Institute of Foresters of Australia. The study finds that the use of prescribed burning in south-eastern Australia in the past 100 years has been driven primarily by political and legal factors. Since 1939, more than 50 public inquiries, reviews and royal commissions have been held into matters concerning the management of fire in landscapes, including prescribed burning. Prescribed burning has been used for wildfire mitigation, agricultural practices (such as stubble reduction and grazing land management), property protection, the maintenance of ecological processes and biodiversity conservation. Prescribed burning in the region has only ever been practised on a small percentage of forest and land each year.
The study finds that a substantial body of fire and ecosystem science has been generated in the past 50 years, with rapid technological developments to support prescribed burning and fire management. Research has provided tools and methods for broadscale prescribed burning, but negative public perceptions of fire have prevented the deployment of comprehensive fire management programs in the region. Although much has been achieved, considerable changes are still required in fire management for it to be sustainable and optimal in protecting economic, social and environmental values. The risks to human lives, property, biodiversity and the environment associated with wildfire are increasing in south-eastern Australia due to climate change, and the wider use of prescribed burning is essential for managing these. The increasing extent and occurrence of wildfire disasters in the region indicates that current fire management will not sustain the full range of ecosystem processes and biodiversity, nor reduce to an acceptable level the impact of wildfires on human lives and property. There is compelling evidence for the greater use of prescribed burning to reduce wildfire risks and impacts, rather than committing increasing resources to wildfire suppression. The potential negative impacts of prescribed burning can be managed effectively using existing knowledge and tools. Clear communication of the benefits of prescribed burning can influence political and public opinion in its favour. More investment in training, human capacity and supporting resources is required to safely and effectively deploy prescribed burning more widely to reduce future wildfire risks.
... Over the past millennia, wildfires have played a significant role in shaping the distribution and arrangement of Australian vegetation, in particular in south-eastern Australia. Wildfire regimes in these regions have the potential to occur at higher intensities and more frequently than in other parts of Australia [5] and possibly even the world [6]. ...
The precise information on fuel characteristics is essential for wildfire modelling and management. Satellite remote sensing can provide accurate and timely measurements of fuel characteristics. However, current estimates of fuel load changes from optical remote sensing are obstructed by seasonal cloud cover that limits their continuous assessments. This study utilises remotely sensed Synthetic-Aperture Radar (SAR) (Sentinel-1 backscatter) data as an alternative to optical-based imaging (Sentinel-2 scaled surface reflectance). SAR can penetrate clouds and offers high-spatial and medium-temporal resolution datasets and can hence complement the optical dataset. Inspired by the optical-based Vegetation Structural Perpendicular Index (VSPI), an SAR-based index termed RADAR-VSPI (R-VSPI) is introduced in this study. R-VSPI characterises the spatio-temporal changes in fuel load due to wildfire and the subsequent vegetation recovery thereof. The R-VSPI utilises SAR backscatter (σ◦) from the co-polarized (VV) and cross-polarized (VH) channels at a centre frequency of 5.4 GHz. The newly developed index is applied over major wildfire events that occurred during the “Black Summer” wildfire season (2019–2020) in southern Australia. The condition of the fuel load was mapped every 5 (any orbit) to 12 (same orbit) days at an aggregated spatial resolution of 110 m. The results show that R-VSPI was able to quantify fuel depletion by wildfire (relative to healthy vegetation) and monitor its subsequent post-fire recovery. The information on fuel condition and heterogeneity improved at high-resolution by adapting the VSPI on a dual-polarization SAR dataset (R-VSPI) compared to the historic forest fuel characterisation methods (that used visible and infrared bands only for fuel estimations). The R-VSPI thus provides a complementary source of information on fuel load changes in a forest landscape compared to the optical-based VSPI, in particular when optical observations are not available due to cloud cover.
Australia's native forests are predominantly Crown land, managed by the States. Regional Forest Agreements between four of the States and the Federal Government (1997–2001) resulted in a 36% increase in the area of conservation reserves and a 15% decrease in area of multiple-use (including timber harvesting) forests. The limited acceptance of timber harvesting in native forests, together with the rapid expansion of hardwood plantations, has diverted research focus away from native forests. Recent events including a prolonged drought and two forest fires totaling more than 3 million ha should have stimulated research in native forests on the effects of fire on ecosystem processes, on the management of fire and on management of water catchments; fires, far more than logging, are shaping our native forests in recent times. In particular, the use of prescribed fire to reduce fuels has decreased. We argue that Australian research effort in native eucalypt forests is lacking in two key areas – the effects of fire on carbon storage in forests and soils, and on the management of water yield from forested catchments. The results of forest research are variously published in the scientific journals, and increasingly in consultancy reports to governments or a to a range of organizations and industries. The question of who does the harnessing of knowledge coming from the science of forest ecology is compounded by constant changes in both political and management arrangements. If forest science is to assume a greater role in politics and forest management in Australia, scientists must enter the foray, using the fighting words of politics rather than maintaining the protective mantle of neutrality. With research in native forests being continually downgraded at both State and Federal levels, we take a somewhat less than optimistic view about how well ecological sciences will be harnessed in the service of forest stewardship and sustainability in Australia.
The rate of accumulation and the composition of the forest floor litter were studied in an open eucalypt forest at Seal Rocks, New South Wales. The forest is subject to frequent fires and its recent fire history is well documented. The height of the understorey vegetation was shown to be a good indication of the time since fire. Litter accumulation in eucalypt forests can be adequately described by a modified exponential equation with two parameters, steady-state accumulation (Xss) and rate of accumulation (k). Both parameters are functions of the annual litter fall, which is assumed to be continuous in this model. The steady-state accumulation of litter in the Seal Rocks forest was found to be 1.67 kg m-2, reached after c. 10 years. The model should be recognized as a gross simplification of the many factors which affect litter accumulation, in particular the assumption of a constant value for k. The components of the litter on the forest floor change in relative importance with time owing to differing rates of accumulation and decomposition.
Total litter fall in mature Eucalyptus obliqua forest is typical for warm temperate forest, in the range 3.6-5.5 t ha-' yr-'. Fifty per cent of the litter fall occurs in the summer months, and the seasonal rate of litter fall is dependent primarily on temperature. The concentration of nutrients in litter fall varies significantly throughout the year. Prior to litter fall, about 70% of the phosphorus is withdrawn from that portion of the biomass which is to fall as litter and the amount of phosphorus cycled in the litter is therefore very small. At the other extreme, calcium is immobilized in large quantities immediately prior to litter fall. The internal, or 'biochemical', cycling of phosphorus is probably of major significance in the functioning of eucalypt forests on Australian soils characterized by a low phosphorus content.
The effects of prescribed low‐intensity burning during spring and autumn on invertebrates in litter/upper soil were assessed in dry sclerophyll mixed eucalypt forest near Daylesford, west–central Victoria. The 4‐year study was based on 68 848 arthropod specimens representing 29 ordinal or lower level taxa contained in 1980 pitfall trap samples, and on in situ counts of earthworms (Annelida) in 2220 litter/upper soils samples.
The spring bum caused short‐term reductions in activity among the common ‘major’ taxa Collembola (springtails) and Diptera (flies), and among the rarely trapped ‘minor’ taxa Opilionida (harvestmen), Lepidoptera (moths) and Apocrita (parasitic wasps) for up to one year. These reductions were associated with low fine fuel loads in the first year after the fire. Populations of earthworms also declined substantially, but recovered within 3 years of the burn. The autumn burn suppressed the Collembola and the ‘minor’ taxa Blattodea, Polydesmida, Thysanura and Tettigoniidae for up to 10 months. Earthworms were not affected. Very dry soil conditions were associated with depressed collembolan activity at study sites irrespective of burning.
Given the importance of Collembola, larval Diptera and earthworms among decomposers in forest litter, it appears that the spring burn, and to a lesser extent the autumn burn, may have temporarily reduced the decomposer cycle. Further research on individual species is required to substantiate this conclusion, and also on the effects of high frequency burning. In the interim, any broadscale fuel reduction burning in forest ecosystems similar to that studied here should be scheduled for autumn rather than spring to protect earthworms and no burning should be permitted during drought periods, to minimize adverse impacts on the overall invertebrate fauna inhabiting litter/upper soil.
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