Faculty of Science | University of Melbourne
Fire Ecology and Biodiversity
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Welcome to 

Fire Ecology and

Biodiversity


School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences | Faculty of Science

University of Melbourne

About us

Welcome to Alex Santiago

6/4/2020

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We recently welcomed Milaan Heeskens but have had to wave him goodbye already because of COVID-19.  Having struggled to find a flight, the Dutch Embassy came to his rescue and he was able to return home at the end of last week.  Now we're welcoming Alex Santiago, who we hope will be able to stay for more than a few weeks!  The prospects are good because he lives in Melbourne - albeit the chances of any face-to-face meetings through his Honours candidature are looking slim!  The University has transitioned to a Virtual Campus so we're continuing our research from home.  Please extend as warm a welcome to Alex as you can from behind your computer screen!

"I am an honours student working with the Fire Ecology and Biodiversity team, investigating fire and fragmentation in south-west Victoria. Under the supervision of Dr Holly Sitters, my project is investigating the influence of landscape-scale pattern on the genetic diversity of the South-eastern Slider skink. In 2017 skink tail-tip samples were collected by masters student Taylor Reid and sequenced using a relatively new method called DArT sequencing. We are hopeful that the use of genetic markers to infer population health across landscapes will assist in earlier and more effective management of populations and maintain species' persistence." 
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Welcome to Milan Heeskens

16/3/2020

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We'd like to extend a warm welcome to Milan Heeskens who's recently joined us from the Netherlands.

“I’m a 3rd year Dutch student studying applied biology at HAS University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands. I have to fulfil 40 weeks of internship work this school year. I already have done 20 weeks of intern work at a water authority in the Netherlands (WL, Roermond). My project there was to investigate the effects of snags (dead wood) on the aquatic ecology of creeks. I researched that by catching macrofauna and compared that data with older data. It is amazing what creatures you can find in creeks and rivers.

"Now I am doing an internship for 20 weeks here at the School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences in Creswick. I’m researching whether fire has a direct impact on animals or if it impacts animals indirectly. Indirectly means that fires changes plant material (maybe food) or impacts the predators of the animal species and in that way still impacts the animal itself.”
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Tune in to community radio to hear about our research

24/2/2020

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We've been busy talking about some of our favourite topics (fire, fragmentation, small furry animals) on community radio over the past few weeks.

Rachel spoke about her Masters study of the endangered heath mouse on 3CR's Lost in Science and Holly participated in a bushfire special on 3RRR's Einstein A Go-Go, which also featured Trent Penman and Lauren Bennett.

Both radio shows are available as podcasts:


Lost in Science on 3CR
Einstein A Go-Go on 3RRR

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Congratulations to everyone who presented at the Victorian Biodiversity Conference

11/2/2020

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Congratulations to all our students who presented at the Victorian Biodiversity Conference last week, many of whom were presenting their work for the first time. Particular congratulations to Masters student Erin Thomas, who won the best poster award. Her poster on habitat partitioning in macropods not only included some great science, but also featured Erin’s own hand-painted pictures of her study species!
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How Australian wildlife live with bushfires - but the price can be high

21/1/2020

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This article was written by Professor Alan York and was first published on Pursuit. Read the original article.

Distressing scenes of kangaroos fleeing amid flames, of koalas with singed fur and burnt feet and of animals burnt to death have Australians and people around the world worrying over how devastating the current bushfires will be for our unique wildlife.

Australia has a long evolutionary history of fire, and its plants and animals have developed many strategies to cope with occasional fire events. Plants, for example, might resprout from structures below ground or be protected by thick bark, or be able to regenerate from seed stored in the soil or protected by woody capsules.

The massive scale of Australia’s bushfires pose a greater danger to wildlife populations. Picture: Fires at Bargo, 150km southwest of Sydney, 19 December 2019. Picture: Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images

But animals have to rely on their mobility. Many can fly, hop or run to unburnt areas, while others might take shelter in burrows or hollow logs, or climb trees to escape the flames.

So, how worried should we be about the wildlife impact of the fires?

One of the lessons learnt from the 2009 Black Saturday fires in Victoria was that even extreme bushfire events vary in their severity across the landscape. Within the overall burnt area, there are patches that are less affected, like moist gullies and in rocky terrain, and these patches can often provide refuges for animals to shelter in.

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After the fire, as the bush recovers, animals can move out to find new areas to live or take advantage of the new food resources in the recovering landscape, like new vegetation that can be very palatable and has yet to develop defences. Burnt areas can also leave many seeds on the ground and predators will benefit from prey having less cover. Animals in other areas of the landscape not directly affected can also move in to take advantage of these new resources.

But the massive extent of these current fires means the impact on wildlife will likely be worse than what we’ve experienced in recent times.

It is highly likely that there will still be unburnt refuges within individual fires, although how many animals have survived is unknown. Of greatest concern is the lack of large unburnt areas to provide a source of animals to recolonise the regenerating landscape.

The fires have also been so extensive that many populations of particular species will have been severely reduced and will take many years to recover.

Bushfires can threaten already endangered species like the tiny Corroboree Frog. Pictured: Corroboree Frogs on a keeper’s gloved hand at Taronga Zoo, Sydney. Picture: Ian Waldie/Getty Images

We also know that when they lose vegetation to shelter in many small mammals, like bandicoots, the agile antechinus and the bush rat, will face a heightened risk from introduced predators like foxes. Recent research has demonstrated that these predators are often attracted to recently burnt areas.

So, will any species be in danger of extinction?

It is inevitable that there will be reductions in populations in some parts of the landscape and some local extinctions; this is not unusual during bushfires.

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Species at greatest risk of total extinction are those with small, isolated populations, like the visibly spectacular and critically endangered Southern Corroboree Frog. There are probably only 50 adult frogs left in the wild, with their home in the Snowy Mountains, which is threatened by several converging fires.

Fortunately, we have an insurance policy, with captive breeding programs at several institutions in NSW and Victoria.

The future survival of this and other rare iconic species may depend on future reintroductions once their fragile habitat has recovered.

Increasing habitat loss and fragmentation due to land clearing and urban expansion in eastern Australia has meant that animal populations are increasingly becoming isolated from each other. This places certain species at greater risk of extinction when widespread environmental events occur, like the current bushfires.

Habitat loss and climate change will make wildlife more vulnerable to fire threats. Here, a kangaroo shelters from bushfires in a residential area of Nowra, New South Wales on 31 December 2019. Picture: Saeed Khan/AFP/Getty Images

If we are to reduce this risk we need to slow the rate of habitat destruction and ensure appropriate planning strategies are put in place.

And some ecologies are particularly fragile. In many fire-prone Australian landscapes there are unique relationships between plants and their pollinators. Certain groups of orchids, for example, rely on just one family of wasps to pollinate them – these orchids mimic female wasps to attract males. But wasp populations are vulnerable to fires.

It means larger and severe fires like the current ones are likely to disrupt this relationship, with long lasting impacts on both plant and animal communities.

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Pollination is an essential ecosystem service, with the relationship between fire and many pollinators, whether insects, mammals or birds, poorly understood.

The scale and magnitude of these fires is consistent with predictions derived from climate change modelling and we can expect to see more frequent, severe and extensive fires in the future. This will increase the risk of extinction among certain species.

The decline of local populations of particular species due to habitat isolation and loss, and the increased frequency of extreme environmental events like fires, does not bode well for the future.

It means the long-term survival of our iconic wildlife is likely to require greater levels of human intervention to protect and foster vulnerable populations.

While we hear frequent calls for greater fire fighting resources, we will also need more resources for monitoring and safeguarding the well-being of our unique animals.

Banner: A koala injured by fires on Kangaroo Island, Australia, is treated in an animal refuge. Picture: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

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Congratulations to our prize winners!

4/12/2019

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Congratulations to Annalie and Rachel who were awarded the Ecological Management and Restoration prizes for best presentation and best poster (respectively) at the Ecological Society of Australia's annual conference last Friday.

Annalie did an amazing job of distilling a complex analysis into a neat story about how edge contrast between patches of different time-since-fire benefited mammal species richness in the Otway Ranges.  Rachel's eye-catching poster described a love triangle between fire, resource availability and the endangered heath mouse, making for another juicy ecological story!  
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Congratulations to everyone presenting at the Ecological Society of Australia conference this week

27/11/2019

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Eight of our PhD and Masters students are presenting their work at the Ecological Society of Australia's annual conference in Launceston, Tasmania, this week. 

This year's conference theme is Ecology: science for practical solutions and it spans six action-packed days.  It's a wonderful forum for our students to talk about their work and get feedback from the wider ecological community.  


Some of the team even found energy to walk along Cataract Gorge, providing  a lovely opportunity to check out Launceston's beautiful scenery, spot some local birds, and take a few selfies! 
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The Fire Ecology and Biodiversity Group is now on Instagram!

28/10/2019

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Come follow our adventures @fireecologyandbiodiversity
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Volunteer opportunity in the spectacular Mount Lofty Ranges

15/10/2019

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We're gearing up for a bumper field season and Simeon is seeking volunteers to help with his research into mammals, fire and fragmentation in the Mount Lofty Ranges near Adelaide.  Field trips will involve habitat surveys, and/or setting up cameras and hair tube traps.

Please contact Simeon if you're keen to help out or would like further information, and keep your eyes on the facebook page for updates on volunteer opportunities.
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Tiny orange clover mites remind us there's more to biodiversity than meets the eye

5/7/2019

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Saumya deployed 5 small pitfall traps at 112 sites near Casterton during the summer field season, and now faces the daunting task of sorting through the sample jars with Julio's help.

Enthusiasm levels are high thanks to a funky orange clover mite (Bryobia spp.), who they found in one of the first sample jars. Clover mites are relatives of spiders and bed bugs, and only females are likely to appear in samples because they reproduce via parthenogenesis, meaning an unfertilised egg can develop into an embryo. 

Saumya is interested in how fire history and insect biomass affect the abundance of insect-eating small mammals, like yellow-footed antechinus (Antechinus flavipes).  Sadly for the clover mite, she is just a meal (or perhaps a snack) from an antechinus's perspective.

Stay tuned for further updates on cool microscopic critters.
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Where to find us

University of Melbourne
4 Water Street
Creswick
Victoria 3363

Phone +61 (0)3 5321 4300 or email us

Photos contributed by Holly Sitters, Bronwyn Hradsky, students of the Fire Ecology and Biodiversity Group, and remote cameras.
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