Logo of State of the Environment 2011; Photo by Andrew Griffiths, Lensaloft

State of the Environment 2011 (SoE 2011)

State of the Environment 2011 Committee. Australia state of the environment 2011.
Independent report to the Australian Government Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities.
Canberra: DSEWPaC, 2011.

8 Biodiversity

3.10 Altered fire regimes

Changes to fire regimes around Australia are discussed in detail in Chapter 5: Land. The two factors most influencing these changes have been climate and land-use changes, and climate variability. Whereas climate affects the likelihood and intensity of fires, many of the land-use changes—such as land clearing, changes to the balance of trees, shrubs and grasses, and introduced versus native species—affect the amount and type of fuel available for fires, how quickly and evenly or patchily they spread, and their effects on biodiversity.

Birds Australia reports that fire is becoming an increasing threat to birds of isolated forests and heathlands, and that inappropriate burning regimes potentially threaten many birds of northern savannas.85 Conversely, Birds Australia also acknowledges that improved fire management in many places is improving the status of threatened and nonthreatened bird species.

Parry Lagoons Nature Reserve, the Kimberley, Western Australia. Photo by Steve Parish