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Fire ecology and management

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Landscape and Vegetation Ecology of the Kakadu Region, Northern Australia

Part of the book series: Geobotany ((GEOB,volume 23))

Abstract

Fire is a highly frequent and ecologically important phenomenon in the savanna landscape of the Kakadu region. The fire history of the region can be divided into three periods: i) pre-Aboriginal (before about 50 000 years ago) where ignitions were presumably restricted to lightning strikes immediately before and during the early part of the wet season; ii) Aboriginal, when fires were traditionally lit throughout the dry season for a variety of reasons; and iii) contemporary (since about 50 years ago), when there has been a perceived increase in the incidence of high intensity wildfires late in the dry season. The dominant fire management goal currently prevailing is to reduce the frequency and extent of high intensity wild fires through extensive burning early during the dry season, when fires tend to be low in intensity, and patchy. The ecological effects of fire have been poorly documented, but there are two major areas of concern: the effects of burning practices on monsoon rain forests and other fire-sensitive vegetation; and the effects of different fire regimes on the biota of the savanna.

The establishment of extensive research and monitoring programs is an obvious requirement for the resolution of conflict over fire management practices. However, there is also a need for development and articulation of fire management policies. To this end, clear strategic objectives, to which are directed tactical goals, and clarification of the relevance of traditional Aboriginal burning to contemporary fire management are required, along with continual fine-tuning of tactics in the face of great uncertainty over the ecological effects of different burning practices.

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  1. Alan N. Andersen
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  1. Environmental Research Institute of the Supervising Scientist, Jabiru, Northern Territory, Australia

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Andersen, A.N. (1996). Fire ecology and management. In: Finlayson, C.M., Von Oertzen, I. (eds) Landscape and Vegetation Ecology of the Kakadu Region, Northern Australia. Geobotany, vol 23. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-0133-9_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-0133-9_9

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-6547-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-009-0133-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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