SEMINAR: "A burning question: how can fire be best managed for fauna conservation?"

In this talk I present an integrated discussion based on several areas of research in my lab on fire impacts on vertebrate ecology. The incidence of fire is increasing and predictions are that this trend will worsen in south-west WA under future climate change scenarios. I present data on the behavioural, ecological and morphological responses of reptiles, small mammals and birds to fire (both wildfire and arson) using case studies from Kings Park and Charles Darwin Reserve in south-west WA. This research highlights the importance of long-unburnt vegetation for many species and points to the need to consider proactive fire management that maintains areas of long-unburnt vegetation in the landscape.