Published in: Nature
Authors: Don A Driscoll, Kristina J Macdonald, Rebecca K Gibson, Tim S Doherty, Dale G Nimmo, Rachael H Nolan, Euan G Ritchie, Grant J Williamson, Geoffrey W Heard, Elizabeth M Tasker, Rohan Bilney, Nick Porch, Rachael A Collett, Ross A Crates, Alison C Hewitt, Elise Pendall, Matthias M Boer, Jody Gates, Rebecca L Boulton, Christopher M Mclean, Heidi Groffen, Alex C Maisey, Chad T Beranek, Shelby A Ryan, Alex Callen, Andrew J Hamer, Andrew Stauber, Garry J Daly, John Gould, Kaya L Klop-Toker, Michael J Mahony, Oliver W Kelly, Samantha L Wallace, Sarah E Stock, Christopher J Weston, Liubov Volkova, Dennis Black, Heloise Gibb, Joshua J Grubb, Melodie A McGeoch, Nick P Murphy, Joshua S Lee, Chris R Dickman, Victor J Neldner, Michael R Ngugi, Vivianna Miritis, Frank Köhler, Marc Perri, Andrew J Denham, Berin D E Mackenzie, Chris A M Reid, Julia T Rayment, Alfonsina Arriaga-Jiménez, Michael W Hewins, Andrew Hicks, Brett A Melbourne, Kendi F Davies, Matthew E Bitters, Grant D Linley, Aaron C Greenville, Jonathan K Webb, Bridget Roberts, Mike Letnic, Owen F Price, Zac C Walker, Brad R Murray, Elise M Verhoeven, Alexandria M Thomsen, David Keith, Jedda S Lemmon, Mark K J Ooi, Vanessa L Allen, Orsi T Decker, Peter T Green, Adnan Moussalli, Junn K Foon, David B Bryant, Ken L Walker, Matthew J Bruce, George Madani, Jeremy L Tscharke, Benjamin Wagner, Craig R Nitschke, Carl R Gosper, Colin J Yates, Rebecca Dillon, Sarah Barrett, Emma E Spencer, Glenda M Wardle, Thomas M Newsome, Stephanie A Pulsford, Anu Singh, Adam Roff, Karen J Marsh, Kye Mcdonald, Lachlan G Howell, Murraya R Lane, Romane H Cristescu, Ryan R Witt, Emma J Cook, Felicity Grant, Bradley S Law, Julian Seddon, Karleah K Berris, Ryan M Shofner, Mike Barth, Torran Welz, Alison Foster, David Hancock, Matthew Beitzel, Laura X L Tan, Nathan A Waddell, Pamela M Fallow, Laura Schweickle, Tom D Le Breton, Craig Dunne, Mikayla Green, Amy-Marie Gilpin, James M Cook, Sally A Power, Katja Hogendoorn, Renee Brawata, Chris J Jolly, Mark Tozer, Noushka Reiter, and Ryan D Phillips
Abstract
With large wildfires becoming more frequent, we must rapidly learn how megafires impact biodiversity to prioritize mitigation and improve policy. A key challenge is to discover how interactions among fire-regime components, drought and land tenure shape wildfire impacts.
The globally unprecedented 2019–2020 Australian megafires burnt more than 10 million hectares, prompting major investment in biodiversity monitoring. Collated data include responses of more than 2,000 taxa, providing an unparalleled opportunity to quantify how megafires affect biodiversity.
We reveal that the largest effects on plants and animals were in areas with frequent or recent past fires and within extensively burnt areas. Areas burnt at high severity, outside protected areas or under extreme drought also had larger effects. The effects included declines and increases after fire, with the largest responses in rainforests and by mammals.
Our results implicate species interactions, dispersal and extent of in situ survival as mechanisms underlying fire responses. Building wildfire resilience into these ecosystems depends on reducing fire recurrence, including with rapid wildfire suppression in areas frequently burnt. Defending wet ecosystems, expanding protected areas and considering localized drought could also contribute. While these countermeasures can help mitigate the impacts of more frequent megafires, reversing anthropogenic climate change remains the urgent broad-scale solution.
Driscoll DA, Macdonald KJ, Gibson RK, Doherty TS, Nimmo DG, Nolan RH, Ritchie EG, Williamson GJ, Heard GW, Tasker EM, Bilney R, Porch N, Collett RA, Crates RA, Hewitt AC, Pendall E, Boer MM, Gates J, Boulton RL, Mclean CM, Groffen H, Maisey AC, Beranek CT, Ryan SA, Callen A, Hamer AJ, Stauber A, Daly GJ, Gould J, Klop-Toker KL, Mahony MJ, Kelly OW, Wallace SL, Stock SE, Weston CJ, Volkova L, Black D, Gibb H, Grubb JJ, McGeoch MA, Murphy NP, Lee JS, Dickman CR, Neldner VJ, Ngugi MR, Miritis V, Köhler F, Perri M, Denham AJ, Mackenzie BDE, Reid CAM, Rayment JT, Arriaga-Jiménez A, Hewins MW, Hicks A, Melbourne BA, Davies KF, Bitters ME, Linley GD, Greenville AC, Webb JK, Roberts B, Letnic M, Price OF, Walker ZC, Murray BR, Verhoeven EM, Thomsen AM, Keith D, Lemmon JS, Ooi MKJ, Allen VL, Decker OT, Green PT, Moussalli A, Foon JK, Bryant DB, Walker KL, Bruce MJ, Madani G, Tscharke JL, Wagner B, Nitschke CR, Gosper CR, Yates CJ, Dillon R, Barrett S, Spencer EE, Wardle GM, Newsome TM, Pulsford SA, Singh A, Roff A, Marsh KJ, Mcdonald K, Howell LG, Lane MR, Cristescu RH, Witt RR, Cook EJ, Grant F, Law BS, Seddon J, Berris KK, Shofner RM, Barth M, Welz T, Foster A, Hancock D, Beitzel M, Tan LXL, Waddell NA, Fallow PM, Schweickle L, Le Breton TD, Dunne C, Green M, Gilpin A-M, Cook JM, Power SA, Hogendoorn K, Brawata R, Jolly CJ, Tozer M, Reiter N, Phillips RD (2024) Biodiversity impacts of the 2019–2020 Australian megafires. Nature PDF DOI
Applied ecology and conservation research group 