Bushfires-Box 2

	Published by Australian Academy of Science
Bushfires spark extensive search for answers Box 2 \| Fire in the Australian Alps

Many people might think of the ‘bush’ as that mix of forests, reserves and unpopulated land that fringes our major cities. But Australia has some distinctive landscapes that require special consideration when it comes to managing fire.

The high country area of south-east Australia which takes in New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory form the unique landscape of the Australian Alps.

Following the 2002–03 fires which devastated this area of south-east Australia, the Federal Government allocated extra funding for research into managing fire in high altitude terrain.

The Bushfire CRC HighFire research project is looking into how fires affect alpine and sub-alpine ecosystems and communities, providing scientific evidence to support practical and effective fire management practices.

It is looking into issues such as fuel management, ecosystem functions, climate change factors and the flammability of the landscape.

Amazingly, although the 2002–03 fires consisted of 185 fires which burned through some 1.8 million hectares, it wasn’t the worst fire to burn through south-east Australia. Researchers estimate it was the third largest fire in the region, after massive burns in 1851 and 1939.

Apart from the normal factors contributing to the 2002–03 wildfires, there were extenuating factors. The Australian Alps National Parks body says Australia had been going through drought conditions and the effects of an El Niño cycle. The average rainfall for 2002 was the fourth driest since 1900, and temperatures were among the warmest recorded.

Most of the Australian Alps is set aside as national parks but in addition to prescribed burns, a major issue for these alpine and sub-alpine regions has been the grazing of cattle and sheep. For some, there is a strong belief that ‘alpine grazing reduces blazing’: that grazing animals reduce the risk of fire by eating plant material that might otherwise go up in flames.

However, research conducted by CSIRO scientists shows that cattle generally prefer the open grassy areas for grazing, rather than the heathlands that pose the bigger fire risk.

And following the 2003 bushfires, researchers studying parts of the Bogong High Plains in Victoria, came to a similar conclusion. The researchers said that the ‘grazing reduces blazing’ theory might be attractive, but that it was an oversimplification.

Following concerns about erosion and catchment issues, grazing was discontinued in what is now Kosciuszko National Park in New South Wales. And in Victoria, the cattle grazing licences in the Alpine National Park were not renewed after the last ones expired in mid-2006.

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