Disturbance ecology and fire

In Australia, fire is a factor - often a critical factor - in the natural disturbance regime that influences the distribution and abundance of populations and ecosystems.

Fire regimes - the type, extent, season, intensity and interval between fires - interact with and respond to other ecological processes, such as climate and interactions between organisms, to produce the range of ecosystems and ecological communities that we see in the landscape.

Particular ecosystems have evolved with a particular set of fire regimes and certain species will be present under these fire regimes.

Unlocking the ecological information behind changes in fire regimes presents a major research challenge for the department. The department's fire research program is exploring beneficial fire regimes and impacts of fire in the landscape, and how to manage fire-prone systems to maximise public safety, and ecosystem health and regeneration.

The department's fire research program has priority themes that include:

• the effect of varying fire regimes on biota
• fuel dynamics
• fire behaviour.

Find out more about fire research.