Using ecological burns to benefit biodiversity
Wherever possible, NPWS plans prescribed burns to achieve positive ecological outcomes along with reducing bushfire risk. However, the primary goal of ecological burning is to achieve biodiversity conservation outcomes.
Some ecological burns are used as part of an integrated weed control program to help restore native habitats. Others introduce fire into a landscape to reinstate this natural process, enabling native plants to regenerate and creating habitat required by fauna.
For example, the endangered Mount Lofty Ranges chestnut rumped heathwren disappears from heathland habitats that are long unburnt. Prescribed burning is used to reintroduce fire to patches of poor-quality habitat to help prevent this species from becoming extinct.
A number of threatened orchids also need occasional fires to prevent them from being outcompeted by larger plants. They use the post-fire period when the habitat is more open to flower and set seed
These examples show how specific eco burns have benefited biodiversity:
