Biodiversity impacts of the 2019-2020 Australian megafires

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Driscoll, Don A.; Macdonald, Kristina J.; Gibson, Rebecca K.; Doherty, Tim S.; Nimmo, Dale G.; Nolan, Rachael H.; Ritchie, Euan G.; Williamson, Grant J.; Heard, Geoffrey W.; Tasker, Elizabeth M.; Bilney, Rohan; Porch, Nick; Collett, Rachael A.; Crates, Ross A.; Hewitt, Alison C.; Pendall, Elise; Boer, Matthias M.; Gates, Jody; Boulton, Rebecca L.; Mclean, Christopher M.; Groffen, Heidi; Maisey, Alex C.; Beranek, Chad T.; Ryan, Shelby A.; Callen, Alex; Hamer, Andrew J.; Stauber, Andrew; Daly, Garry J.; Gould, John; Klop-Toker, Kaya L.; Mahony, Michael J.; Kelly, Oliver W.; Wallace, Samantha L.; Stock, Sarah E.; Weston, Christopher J.; Volkova, Liubov; Black, Dennis; Gibb, Heloise; Grubb, Joshua J.; McGeoch, Melodie A.; Murphy, Nick P.; Lee, Joshua S.; Dickman, Chris R.; Neldner, Victor J.; Ngugi, Michael R.; Miritis, Vivianna; Kohler, Frank; Perri, Marc; Denham, Andrew J.; Mackenzie, Berin D. E.; Reid, Chris A. M.; Rayment, Julia T.; Arriaga-Jimenez, Alfonsina; Hewins, Michael W.; Hicks, Andrew; Melbourne, Brett A.; Davies, Kendi F.; Bitters, Matthew E.; Linley, Grant D.; Greenville, Aaron C.; Webb, Jonathan K.; Roberts, Bridget; Letnic, Mike; Price, Owen F.; Walker, Zac C.; Murray, Brad R.; Verhoeven, Elise M.; Thomsen, Alexandria M.; Keith, David; Lemmon, Jedda S.; Ooi, Mark K. J.; Allen, Vanessa L.; Decker, Orsi T.; Green, Peter T.; Moussalli, Adnan; Foon, Junn K.; Bryant, David B.; Walker, Ken L.; Bruce, Matthew J.; Madani, George; Tscharke, Jeremy L.; Wagner, Benjamin; Nitschke, Craig R.; Gosper, Carl R.; Yates, Colin J.; Dillon, Rebecca; Barrett, Sarah; Spencer, Emma E.; Wardle, Glenda M.; Newsome, Thomas M.; Pulsford, Stephanie A.; Singh, Anu; Roff, Adam; Marsh, Karen J.; Mcdonald, Kye; Howell, Lachlan G.; Lane, Murraya R.; Cristescu, Romane H.; Witt, Ryan R.; Cook, Emma J.; Grant, Felicity; Law, Bradley S.; Seddon, Julian; Berris, Karleah K.; Shofner, Ryan M.; Barth, Mike; Welz, Torran; Foster, Alison; Hancock, David; Beitzel, Matthew; Tan, Laura X. L.; Waddell, Nathan A.; Fallow, Pamela M.; Schweickle, Laura; Le Breton, Tom D.; Dunne, Craig; Green, Mikayla; Gilpin, Amy-Marie; Cook, James M.; Power, Sally A.; Hogendoorn, Katja; Brawata, Renee; Jolly, Chris J.; Tozer, Mark; Reiter, Noushka; Phillips, Ryan D.
• 署名单位: Deakin University; University of Sydney; Charles Sturt University; Western Sydney University; University of Tasmania; University of Queensland; University of Queensland; Australian National University; University of Adelaide; La Trobe University; University of Newcastle; HUN-REN; HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research; University of Melbourne; University of New South Wales Sydney; Australian Museum; University of Wollongong; University of New England; University of Colorado System; University of Colorado Boulder; University of Technology Sydney; Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research (ARI); University of Melbourne; Bush Heritage Australia; Australian National University; University of the Sunshine Coast; University of Adelaide; University of Canberra; Macquarie University
• 刊物名称: Nature
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0028-6213
• DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-08174-6
• 发表日期: 2024-11-28
• 页码: 898-+
• 关键词: fire severity; responses; forest

摘要

With large wildfires becoming more frequent(1,2), 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(3,4) 2019-2020 Australian megafires burnt more than 10 million hectares(5), 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.