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Fire Ecology and

Biodiversity


School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences | Faculty of Science

University of Melbourne

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Out with Smokey Bear and in with Nature's Phoenix

30/7/2015

2 Comments

 
In Australia, fire is viewed as both an ecological disaster and a source of natural disturbance, but in many other regions public attitudes are overwhelmingly fire-phobic.

Public opinion in the United States has been shaped by Smokey Bear, a fictitious character created in 1944 to raise awareness of correct campfire etiquette.  Smokey’s mantra is “remember, ONLY YOU can prevent forest fires”, which has fostered a lively culture of fire suppression.  Command-and-control attitudes towards fire have become pervasive, to the detriment of ecological communities.
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We’ve contributed to a new book which provides the first global synthesis of the ecological benefits of high- and mixed-severity fire.  The book includes case studies from around the world, and we describe the Mountain Ash (Eucalyptus regnans) forests of southeast Australia, where large fires are infrequent and intense.  Unlike many eucalypt species, Mountain Ash is considered fire-sensitive because it’s killed by severe fire.  However, its regeneration is dependent on high-intensity fire, which desiccates seed capsules and releases up to 14 million seeds per hectare.

The book advocates a paradigm shift that replaces Smokey Bear with nature’s phoenix.  According to Greek mythology, the phoenix is a long-lived bird which is repeatedly consumed by flames and reborn.   

Buy the book on Amazon, and find out more via an interview with editors Dominick DellaSala and Chad Hanson.

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2 Comments
Pete C
29/7/2015 03:39:21 am

Crikey where will it all end books conferences when is the signing, looking forward to it. Very interesting stuff

Reply
australianwritings.com link
3/12/2018 11:34:25 pm

That was the smoky bear which have outlet of the all companies have been reached after to get the fire on the forests. We will be accurate to perform our role of the biodiversity for the etiquette by the all natural terms that will our pervasive.

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