Over the last 15 million years, Australia has become increasingly drier. As a result, fires have become a more frequent and important part of Australia's natural landscape. In fact, many Australian plants need fire to survive.
Some Australian plants have developed adaptations to help them survive fires. For example, mallee eucalypts have large underground roots (lignotubers) which enable them to regenerate after fires. Also, many eucalypts are able to grow new leaves and branches from burnt trunks.
Some plants are so well adapted to fire that fire is both an advantage and, in some cases, a necessity for survival. Fires remove competing plants, open up the canopy to greater sunlight and enrich the soil with ash from the previous generation of plants. This creates ideal conditions for the growth of certain short-lived but fast-growing species, such as acacias. Further, some plants have seed capsules that only release their seeds after being singed or seeds that need to be scorched to germinate.
However, people try to manage fires in ways that may be inappropriate to maintain maximum biodiversity. They may burn the bush more often than would occur naturally or try to prevent fires completely. These fire regimes can have profound consequences for the native vegetation and animals.
Humans have been using fire to manage the Australian landscape for tens of thousands of years. Today fire is being used increasingly to promote long-term biodiversity. This requires a good understanding of the relationship between fire and biodiversity in the Australian landscape, and a clearer understanding of what we want to achieve with our modern burning regimes.
Allen E Greer
Herpetology
Australian Museum
Copyright © Australian Museum, 2003
This page: http://www.amonline.net.au/factsheets/fire.htm
