RIS ID
75231
Abstract
Fuel reduction in bushland adjacent to urban development is an important component of bushfire management to protect lives and properties. In many urban areas, the objective of property protection by fuel reduction conflicts with biodiversity management objectives. Conserving threatened species in such situations will require information on spatial distributions of these species in the landscape. We used GIS modelling to predict the likely impacts of strategic fire advantage zones (SFAZs) on two threatened species in the Shoalhaven region of NSW: the eastern bristlebird and the glossy black cockatoo. We used current knowledge of the association between these animals and vegetation to predict habitat suitability. We overlaid residential areas on this habitat-suitability map, and then applied buffers around the residential areas to represent minimum (250m) and maximum (450m) SFAZs scenarios. For eastern bristlebirds, 4000 ha of suitable habitat occurred in the study area, and nearly 15% of this would become unsuitable with 450m SFAZs. For the cockatoos, approximately 9% of 30,000 ha of suitable habitat would be altered with 450m SFAZs. The GIS models provide the information needed for more creative bushfire mitigation activities that could deliver both the conservation of endangered species and protection of human assets.
Included in
Life Sciences Commons, Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons, Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons
Publication Details
This paper was originally published as: Whelan, RJ, Collins, L & Loemker, R, Predicting impacts of fuel reduction for asset protection on threatened species, Proceedings of Bushfire '06, Life In A Fire-Prone Environment: Translating Science Into Practice conference, Griffith University, Brisbane, 6–9 June 2006.