Biodiversity impacts of the 2019–2020 Australian megafires
journal contribution
posted on 2024-12-12, 01:13 authored by 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 MaiseyAlex 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 BlackDennis Black, Heloise GibbHeloise Gibb, Joshua GrubbJoshua Grubb, Melodie A McGeoch, Nicholas MurphyNicholas Murphy, Joshua S Lee, Chris R Dickman, Victor J Neldner, Michael R Ngugi, Vivianna Miritis, Frank Köhler, Marc Perri, Andrew J Denham, Berin DE Mackenzie, Chris AM 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, Zachary WalkerZachary Walker, Brad R Murray, Elise M Verhoeven, Alexandria M Thomsen, David Keith, Jedda S Lemmon, Mark KJ Ooi, Vanessa L Allen, Orsolya Decker, Peter GreenPeter 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 XL 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 ReiterNoushka Reiter, Ryan D Phillips<p dir="ltr">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.</p>
