Fauna conservation in the age of megafire

Abstract

Record-breaking wildfires have become more common globally and are increasingly affecting areas where fire was previously rare or absent. While many vertebrate species are adapted to particular fire regimes, changes in fire activity are having complex and far-reaching implications, especially for species that have not typically encountered fires. Despite extensive research on fires, empirical data on population loss and recovery post-fire, especially megafire is limited. The Australian 2019–20 megafires were unprecedented in scale, severity, and duration, and highlighted the paucity in key information that allow practitioners to assess the impacts of such fires on animal species. As such, priority management recommendations were proposed that would guide a better understanding of the impacts of these megafires and future ones to come. These recommendations included rapid fauna assessments, long-term monitoring, analysis of fire impacts on different species' persistence, and evaluating the effectiveness of post-fire remedial management strategies. In this thesis I investigate how species are responding to novel fire regimes by using the 2019–20 Australian megafires as a case study. Specifically, my research aims were: (1) assess the recovery of vertebrate species, primarily mammals, over time, (2) assess if recovery is influenced by specific fire variables, such as fire severity and proportion burnt, (3) assess how some species are adapting to novel fire regimes and whether these adaptations are sufficient in aiding population persistence, and (4) investigate the efficacy of artificial shelters, specifically nest boxes as a tool for facilitating recovery following fire events.