Loss of terrestrial biodiversity in Australia: Magnitude, causation, and response

Science, Journal Year: 2023, Volume and Issue: 381(6658), P. 622 - 631

Published: Aug. 10, 2023

Australia’s biota is species rich, with high rates of endemism. This natural legacy has rapidly diminished since European colonization. The impacts invasive species, habitat loss, altered fire regimes, and changed water flows are now compounded by climate change, particularly through extreme drought, heat, wildfire, flooding. Extinction rates, already far exceeding the global average for mammals, predicted to escalate across all taxa, ecosystems collapsing. These losses symptomatic shortcomings in resourcing, law, policy, management. Informed examples advances conservation practice from control, Indigenous land management, citizen science, we describe interventions needed enhance future resilience. Many characteristics Australian biodiversity loss globally relevant, recovery requiring society reframe its relationship environment.

Language: Английский

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Biodiversity impacts of the 2019–2020 Australian megafires

Nature, Journal Year: 2024, Volume and Issue: 635(8040), P. 898 - 905

Published: Nov. 13, 2024

With large wildfires becoming more frequent1,2, we must rapidly learn how megafires impact biodiversity to prioritize mitigation and improve policy. A key challenge is discover interactions among fire-regime components, drought land tenure shape wildfire impacts. The globally unprecedented3,4 2019–2020 Australian burnt than 10 million hectares5, prompting major investment in monitoring. Collated data include responses of 2,000 taxa, providing an unparalleled opportunity quantify affect biodiversity. We reveal that the largest effects on plants animals were areas with frequent or recent past fires within extensively areas. Areas at high severity, outside protected under extreme also had larger effects. included declines increases after fire, rainforests by mammals. Our results implicate species interactions, dispersal extent situ survival as mechanisms underlying fire responses. Building resilience into these ecosystems depends reducing recurrence, including rapid suppression frequently burnt. Defending wet ecosystems, expanding considering localized could contribute. While countermeasures can help mitigate impacts megafires, reversing anthropogenic climate change remains urgent broad-scale solution. Data collected from taxa provide biodiversity, revealing

Language: Английский

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Shifting fire regimes cause continent-wide transformation of threatened species habitat

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Journal Year: 2024, Volume and Issue: 121(18)

Published: April 22, 2024

Human actions are causing widespread increases in fire size, frequency, and severity diverse ecosystems globally. This alteration of regimes is considered a threat to numerous animal species, but empirical evidence how shifting within both threatened species’ ranges protected areas scarce, particularly at large spatial temporal scales. We used big data approach quantify multidecadal changes southern Australia from 1980 2021, spanning 415 reserves (21.5 million ha) 129 including birds, mammals, reptiles, invertebrates, frogs. Most the region have experienced declines unburnt vegetation (≥30 y without fire), recently burnt (≤5 since frequency. The mean percentage declined 61 36% (1980 2021), whereas increased 20 35%, frequency by 32%, with latter two trends primarily driven record-breaking 2019 2020 season. strongest occurred for high-elevation high elevation, productivity, strong rainfall decline, southeast continent. Our results provide widely held poorly tested assumption that species experiencing habitat underscores imperative developing management strategies conserve fire-threatened an increasingly fiery future.

Language: Английский

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A review of 60 years of fire management for threatened fauna and flora at Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve, Western Australia

Pacific Conservation Biology, Journal Year: 2025, Volume and Issue: 31(2)

Published: April 3, 2025

Context Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve in Western Australia has a long history of ecological studies and adaptive fire management. This provides an excellent opportunity to assess the effects management, including exclusion, on ecosystems threatened species important nature reserve. Aims To review complexity managing for conservation communities. Methods In this paper, we reviewed data from personal consultations, historical records analyses regimes, long-term Djimaalup/noisy scrub-bird monitoring, camera-trap surveys, botanical quadrat analysis, dating before after large 2015. Key results Fire sensitive at are identified. Senescing flora recruited following 2015 fire-stimulated were recorded first time. The exclusion was key factor scrub-bird, but implications other species. Conclusions While introduced excluded granite headlands >60 years conserve fauna habitat, may not have been optimal strategy dependent fauna, Implications effective management tool 60 initially driven by must consider range present as well changing climate. Long-term monitoring invaluable allow informed decisions

Language: Английский

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Australia's most imperilled vertebrates

Biological Conservation, Journal Year: 2022, Volume and Issue: 270, P. 109561 - 109561

Published: May 23, 2022

The likelihood of extinction within the next 20 years was determined for 47 Australian mammal, bird, reptile, frog and freshwater fish taxa previously identified as being highly imperilled. A 14-member expert elicitation panel, consisting a mix taxon experts government managers threatened species, estimated that there > 50% chance nine would be extinct by 2041. panel further 16 (considered extant under legislation), which are no recent independently verified records, already extinct, with four almost certainly extinct. For five these taxa, they persist more if currently extant, notwithstanding lack records. Most considered occur conservation areas in south-eastern Australia, where human population density is highest. All imperilled wholly or partly reserves, total reserved area 1994 km2, 0.13% conserved Australia. Highly also on 313 km2 non-conservation government-owned land, 242 private land. needs management intervention to prevent Australia's most vertebrate represents 0.06% terrestrial environments.

Language: Английский

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Done but not dusted: Reflections on the first global reptile assessment and priorities for the second

Biological Conservation, Journal Year: 2023, Volume and Issue: 278, P. 109879 - 109879

Published: Jan. 4, 2023

Language: Английский

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Extinct Australian birds: numbers, characteristics, lessons and prospects

Emu - Austral Ornithology, Journal Year: 2024, Volume and Issue: 124(1), P. 8 - 20

Published: Jan. 2, 2024

Since European colonisation of Australia in 1788, nine Australian bird species (1.2% the total) have become extinct, along with 22 subspecies (of 16 species). Consistent global patterns, Australia's island endemic birds been particularly susceptible, comprising eight species' extinctions (38% to islands smaller than Tasmania), and 13 subspecies' extinctions. The extinction only one (Paradise Parrot Psephotellus pulcherrimus) from mainland contrasts far higher rate mammals (27 312 that occurred on mainland), is comparable other continents over this period. Extinctions were caused mainly by introduced predators (especially for taxa), habitat degradation, hunting (for some taxa). timing uncertain, but first subsequent was loss flightless White Gallinule Porphyrio albus Lord Howe Island period 1788–1790. most decades since then, recent being Norfolk Island's White-chested White-eye Zosterops albogularis decade 2000–2009. Environmental legislation, an extensive conservation reserve system, dedicated management efforts prevented However, local extirpations continue, many threatened continue decline and, without increase efforts, likely increase, due direct compounding impacts climate change.

Language: Английский

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Increasing threat of wildfires: the year 2020 in perspective: A Global Ecology and Biogeography special issue

Global Ecology and Biogeography, Journal Year: 2022, Volume and Issue: 31(10), P. 1898 - 1905

Published: Sept. 8, 2022

Abstract Aim Each year, wild and managed fires burn roughly 4 million km 2 [~400 hectares (Mha)] of savanna, forest, grassland agricultural ecosystems. Land use climate change have altered fire regimes throughout the world, with a trend toward higher‐severity found from Australia, Americas, Europe Asia, to Arctic. In 2020, there were notable catastrophic in Australia (in 2019/20 Austral season), Western United States, South America Siberia. These defined much global year compounded by socio‐economic disruption Coronavirus 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic. Location Global. Time period 2020. Major taxa studied Flora fauna. Methods The Global Ecology Biogeography special issue, ‘Increasing threat wildfires: 2020 perspective’, includes 18 papers that catalogue these events, their drivers impacts on flora Results Collectively, highlight importance response traits, exposure sensitivity interacting threats determining impacts. Main conclusions scale megafires has helped identify new research areas required more comprehensively assess biodiversity biogeochemistry inform ecosystem management.

Language: Английский

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Severe wildfires promoted by climate change negatively impact forest amphibian metacommunities

Diversity and Distributions, Journal Year: 2023, Volume and Issue: 29(6), P. 785 - 800

Published: April 24, 2023

Abstract Aim Changes to the extent and severity of wildfires driven by anthropogenic climate change are predicted have compounding negative consequences for ecological communities. While there is evidence that severe weather events like drought impact amphibian communities, effects wildfire on such communities not well understood. The species likely vary, owing diversity their life‐history traits. However, no previous research has identified commonalities among amphibians at most risk from wildfire, limiting conservation initiatives in aftermath wildfire. We aimed investigate impacts unprecedented 2019–2020 black summer bushfires Australian forest Location Eastern coast New South Wales, Australia. Methods conducted visual encounter surveys passive acoustic monitoring across 411 sites within two regions, one northeast southeast Wales. used fire mapping multispecies occupancy models assess 35 species. Results demonstrate a influence metacommunity richness south with weaker north—reflective less fires occurred this region. Both threatened common were impacted extent. Occupancy burrowing rain specialists had mostly relationships extent, while arboreal neutral relationships. Main Conclusion Metacommunity adaptive strategies needed account after climatic events. Ecological, morphological variation drives susceptibility wildfires. document first change‐driven impacting temperate broad geographic area, which raises serious concern persistence under an increasingly fire‐prone climate.

Language: Английский

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Animal population decline and recovery after severe fire: Relating ecological and life history traits with expert estimates of population impacts from the Australian 2019-20 megafires

Biological Conservation, Journal Year: 2023, Volume and Issue: 283, P. 110021 - 110021

Published: May 16, 2023

Catastrophic megafires can increase extinction risks; identifying species priorities for management and policy support is critical preparing responding to future fires. However, empirical data on population loss recovery post-fire, especially megafire, are limited taxonomically biased. These gaps could be bridged if species' morphological, behavioural, ecological life history traits indicated their fire responses. Using expert elicitation that estimated changes following the 2019–20 Australian 142 terrestrial aquatic animal (from every vertebrate class, one invertebrate group), we examined whether estimates of fire-related mortality, mortality in year trajectories over 10 years/three generations were related traits. Expert lower potentially flee or shelter from fire, associated with fire-prone habitats. Post-fire linked diet, diet specialisation, home range size, susceptibility introduced herbivores damage compete resources. Longer-term diet/habitat species; slower histories shorter subadult dispersal distances also had estimates. Across groups, experts was poorest pre-fire decline more threatened conservation status. Sustained likely needed recover habitat specialisations, histories, pre-existing declines statuses. This study shows help inform before after megafires, but further response essential.

Language: Английский

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