By U7524147

The 2020 wildfires have hammered various woodland ecosystems in Australia, amounting to unprecedented damages to flora and fauna across the nation. As climate change promotes longer, more frequent and more intense wildfires, the risk posed to biodiversity increases. Developing and refining methods to make ecosystems more resilient to such megafires might become ever more important in ensuring the security of Australia’s biodiversity. My work experience with PhD candidate Heather Burns from Fenner School explores the use of artificially constructed structures to help population recovery in small animals from post-fire ecosystems.

Wildfires burn away understorey vegetation and woody debris that serve as refuge for many small animals, leaving the surviving population with few shelters and vulnerable to predation. In fact, predators, including invasive ones such as cats, reportedly actively seek out burnt areas for hunting opportunities. To combat this, Burns proposes the construction of piles of branches and logs to serve as shelter for small mammals and reptiles, relieving predatory pressures and helping with population recovery. Chicken wire is layered over the piles in some sites as an additional defense against predators as they allow smaller animals to pass through but prevent larger predators from accessing the habitats. 

A camera pointed at a cork board baited with tuna and sesame oil is mounted at each site. The abundance and extent of animals captured on the camera serves as a proxy for the amount of animals taking up residence in the wood piles. Burn then examines the data to determine the effectiveness of these artificial habitats across sites of varying burn severity and also to determine whether the addition of chicken wire increases residency rate.

These structures attempt to manage the threat of changing fire regimes and invasive pests on biodiversity. Should the structures prove effective, the potential lies in its scalability as these structures are cheap and easily built. Rangers and land managers can quickly deploy these structures following a wildfire, when support for these small animals are most urgently needed. Furthermore, during past wildfires, many Australians have expressed sympathy for the affected fauna and many have helped such as by building water points for animals. These easily implemented structures can be another avenue for citizens to partake in wildfire recovery efforts, expanding the reach and scale of mitigation. 

Yet, despite the potential of the project, I cannot help but feel it is simply another band-aid on an ever-increasing problem. Climate change will result in worse and worse fires. Invasive species already have well-established populations that are costly to manage. All the while the mismanagement of land leaves the native bush more vulnerable to fire events. Mitigation efforts such as Burn’s are crucial in buying time and relieving some pressures on biodiversity loss. But no matter how innovative and efficient such programs are, as long as the underlying drivers such as energy use, growing consumption and the prioritization of short term financial gain over land are not addressed, I am afraid that much of Australia’s biodiversity hangs by a fraying thread.

(All images courtesy of Heather Burns)