Changes in wildfire activity are threatening more than 4,400 species around the world

Changes in wildfire activity are putting more than 4,400 species at risk around the world, says a new paper led by the University of Melbourne, involving 27 international researchers.

“These species include 19 percent of birds, 16 percent of mammals, 17 percent of dragonflies and 19 percent of legumes that are classified as endangered, threatened or vulnerable,” said lead author Dr. . Luke Kelly, Senior Lecturer in Ecology and Centenary Research Fellow. “That’s a huge number of plants and animals that face threats associated with fire.”

The paper, “Fire and biodiversity in the Anthropocene”, published in Science, found that species classified as threatened by increased frequency or intensity of fire include the orangutan in Indonesia and the emu-wren mallee in Australia.

“Recent wildfires have burned ecosystems where wildfires have historically been rare or absent, from tropical forests in Queensland, Southeast Asia and South America to the tundra of the Arctic Circle,” said Dr. Kelly.

“Very large and severe fires have been observed even in areas with a long history of recurrent fires, and this is consistent with observations of longer fire seasons and predictions of increased fire activity in the forests and shrublands of the Australia, Southern and Western Europe. United States. “

The research team also found a striking example from Australia: the total area burned by forest fires on the east coast from August 2019 to March 2020, 12.6 million hectares, was unprecedented in size.

However, some species and ecosystems are threatened when the fire does not occur. Frequent fires, for example, are an important part of African savanna ecosystems, and less fire activity can lead to shrub invasion, which can displace wild herbivores such as wildebeest that prefer open areas.

“Understanding what is causing changes in different places helps us find effective solutions that benefit people and nature,” said Dr. Kelly.

Researchers, including 27 authors from a total of 25 institutions around the world (including six authors from the University of Melbourne), identified three main groups of human factors that transform fire activity and its impact on biodiversity: global climate change, land use and biotic invasions. This means that people and governments around the world must take action and address the different changes in the environment that are taking place.

“It really is time for new, bolder conservation initiatives,” said Dr. Kelly. “Emerging actions include large-scale habitat restoration, reintroducing fuel-depleting mammals, creating low-flammable green spaces, and letting forest fires burn under the right conditions. The role of people really matters. : managing indigenous fires will improve biodiversity and human-being well-being in many regions of the world “.

Michael Clarke, a professor of zoology at La Trobe University, who supported the study, echoed Dr. Kelly’s call, saying, “Our research highlights the magnitude of the challenge that fire poses to animals, plants and people. given worsening weather conditions – a conclusion echoed in the Royal Commission’s recent fire report last summer. ”