Biodiversity impacts of the 2019-2020 Australian megafires.

ABSTRACT: 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 hectares⁵, 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

SUBMITTER: Driscoll DA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11602714 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature