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Impact of 2019–2020 mega-fires on Australian fauna habitat
- Source :
- Nature Ecology & Evolution. 4:1321-1326
- Publication Year :
- 2020
- Publisher :
- Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2020.
-
Abstract
- Australia’s 2019–2020 mega-fires were exacerbated by drought, anthropogenic climate change and existing land-use management. Here, using a combination of remotely sensed data and species distribution models, we found these fires burnt ~97,000 km2 of vegetation across southern and eastern Australia, which is considered habitat for 832 species of native vertebrate fauna. Seventy taxa had a substantial proportion (>30%) of habitat impacted; 21 of these were already listed as threatened with extinction. To avoid further species declines, Australia must urgently reassess the extinction vulnerability of fire-impacted species and assist the recovery of populations in both burnt and unburnt areas. Population recovery requires multipronged strategies aimed at ameliorating current and fire-induced threats, including proactively protecting unburnt habitats. An assessment of the habitat of native vertebrate species burnt by the 2019–2020 Australian mega-fires shows that 70 taxa were severely affected.
- Subjects :
- 0106 biological sciences
education.field_of_study
Extinction
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences
Ecology
Climate Change
Fauna
Global warming
Species distribution
Population
Australia
Vegetation
010603 evolutionary biology
01 natural sciences
Fires
Droughts
Geography
Habitat
Threatened species
education
Ecosystem
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 2397334X
- Volume :
- 4
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Nature Ecology & Evolution
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....dffd85386482b8c07d740d32558ee9e2