Fire Ecology 101
Why should Aussies learn about Aussie plants and fire?
First, it’s part of our heritage: we live on a fire-prone continent. Indigenous people understood that, and wove fire deep into their culture and practice. Settlers from England didn’t get it, and maybe a lot of us still don’t. I think learning how fire functions in Australia’s landscapes is a fundamental part of really belonging here.
Understanding fire ecology has expanded the way I see the bush. In particular, it has helped me twig that it doesn’t stand still. Ecologists talk about vegetation dynamics, and I really like that word, because it acknowledges that the bush changes with time. Because some changes happen slowly – over decades or even centuries – we don’t always recognise what’s going on.
Fire ecology has given me an appreciation of rhythm and pattern in the bush. The bush has cycles over time, and patterns across the landscape, and those cycles and patterns are intertwined with fire. It’s the patterns, the variations across time and space, which allow so many different plant and animal species to live together. So fire plays a role in creating and maintaining biodiversity.
Fire isn’t the only factor which creates pattern and opportunities for species to co-exist. Variations in rainfall, temperature, slope, aspect and soils also do that. Fire interacts with all those factors, and when you learn about fire, you learn more about each of them.
Learning about fire has given me new eyes to see, and understand, the bush. And the more we understand what’s going on, the more our actions are likely to be appropriate.
Over time, I plan to add more topics to this section.
For now, read about:
​
