Study suggests rethink of prescribed burns and fire management in Australia

A new study examining plant and animal species after the Black Summer fire season found greater biodiversity loss in areas subject to frequent burning. You can view two articles on the study here, one from The Conversation and one from the ABC.

One of the arguments often put forward to support fuel reduction  burning is that it can prevent or reduce the severity of larger bushfires. The argument goes that even if planned burning causes some impacts, it is less than what would occur during a larger bushfire. However, it is interesting to note that this study found otherwise, that the frequency of fire (e.g. planned burning followed by bushfire rather than bushfire alone) may cause greater harm and “condemns many plants and animals to large, potentially catastrophic declines in the next bushfire”.