Immediate impacts of fire on koala movement in a fragmented landscape
Hazard reduction burns could pose a significant conservation challenge to threatened habitat specialists, such as koalas Phascolarctos cinereus. This study examines the immediate effects of a medium to hot hazard reduction burn on a small number of koalas occupying a fragmented agricultural area. Th...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2024-12-01
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| Series: | Global Ecology and Conservation |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989424004785 |
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| author | Damber Bista Benjamin Allen Greg Baxter Rosemary Booth Kathryn Reardon-Smith Vanessa Gorecki Peter Murray |
| author_facet | Damber Bista Benjamin Allen Greg Baxter Rosemary Booth Kathryn Reardon-Smith Vanessa Gorecki Peter Murray |
| author_sort | Damber Bista |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Hazard reduction burns could pose a significant conservation challenge to threatened habitat specialists, such as koalas Phascolarctos cinereus. This study examines the immediate effects of a medium to hot hazard reduction burn on a small number of koalas occupying a fragmented agricultural area. Three koalas being monitored using GPS telemetry were inadvertently exposed to fire in a small strip of roadside vegetation in an agricultural landscape, providing an unexpected opportunity to assess their immediate responses to the fire. Nearly 81 % of available trees were burnt to some degree, with 31 % of tree foliage scorched up to 10.2 m above the ground. The koalas reduced their home range sizes by 20–54 % post-fire, where two avoided burnt areas while one remained within them. These findings highlight the importance of maintaining unburnt patches and corridors in fragmented landscapes and developing comprehensive conservation plans to mitigate the adverse effects of fire on koalas and other arboreal fauna. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-df0795397b0d4fd8988f77f1d7a495c4 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2351-9894 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Global Ecology and Conservation |
| spelling | doaj-art-df0795397b0d4fd8988f77f1d7a495c42025-08-20T02:49:05ZengElsevierGlobal Ecology and Conservation2351-98942024-12-0156e0327410.1016/j.gecco.2024.e03274Immediate impacts of fire on koala movement in a fragmented landscapeDamber Bista0Benjamin Allen1Greg Baxter2Rosemary Booth3Kathryn Reardon-Smith4Vanessa Gorecki5Peter Murray6University of Southern Queensland, Institute for Life Sciences and the Environment, Toowoomba, Queensland 4350, Australia; Corresponding author.University of Southern Queensland, Institute for Life Sciences and the Environment, Toowoomba, Queensland 4350, Australia; Centre for African Conservation Ecology, Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth 6034, South AfricaUniversity of Southern Queensland, Institute for Life Sciences and the Environment, Toowoomba, Queensland 4350, AustraliaUniversity of Southern Queensland, Institute for Life Sciences and the Environment, Toowoomba, Queensland 4350, AustraliaUniversity of Southern Queensland, Institute for Life Sciences and the Environment, Toowoomba, Queensland 4350, Australia; University of Southern Queensland, School of Agriculture and Environmental Science, Toowoomba, Queensland 4350, AustraliaUniversity of Southern Queensland, Institute for Life Sciences and the Environment, Toowoomba, Queensland 4350, AustraliaUniversity of Southern Queensland, Institute for Life Sciences and the Environment, Toowoomba, Queensland 4350, Australia; University of Southern Queensland, School of Agriculture and Environmental Science, Toowoomba, Queensland 4350, AustraliaHazard reduction burns could pose a significant conservation challenge to threatened habitat specialists, such as koalas Phascolarctos cinereus. This study examines the immediate effects of a medium to hot hazard reduction burn on a small number of koalas occupying a fragmented agricultural area. Three koalas being monitored using GPS telemetry were inadvertently exposed to fire in a small strip of roadside vegetation in an agricultural landscape, providing an unexpected opportunity to assess their immediate responses to the fire. Nearly 81 % of available trees were burnt to some degree, with 31 % of tree foliage scorched up to 10.2 m above the ground. The koalas reduced their home range sizes by 20–54 % post-fire, where two avoided burnt areas while one remained within them. These findings highlight the importance of maintaining unburnt patches and corridors in fragmented landscapes and developing comprehensive conservation plans to mitigate the adverse effects of fire on koalas and other arboreal fauna.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989424004785FragmentationHazard reduction burnMarsupialMovement ecologyPhascolarctos cinereusWildfire |
| spellingShingle | Damber Bista Benjamin Allen Greg Baxter Rosemary Booth Kathryn Reardon-Smith Vanessa Gorecki Peter Murray Immediate impacts of fire on koala movement in a fragmented landscape Global Ecology and Conservation Fragmentation Hazard reduction burn Marsupial Movement ecology Phascolarctos cinereus Wildfire |
| title | Immediate impacts of fire on koala movement in a fragmented landscape |
| title_full | Immediate impacts of fire on koala movement in a fragmented landscape |
| title_fullStr | Immediate impacts of fire on koala movement in a fragmented landscape |
| title_full_unstemmed | Immediate impacts of fire on koala movement in a fragmented landscape |
| title_short | Immediate impacts of fire on koala movement in a fragmented landscape |
| title_sort | immediate impacts of fire on koala movement in a fragmented landscape |
| topic | Fragmentation Hazard reduction burn Marsupial Movement ecology Phascolarctos cinereus Wildfire |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989424004785 |
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