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Four Corners: Ecological effects of bushfires

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Trees smoulder and glow after fire at night
Four Corners: Ecological effects of bushfires

SUBJECTS:  Science

YEARS:  5–6, 9–10


Did you know that Australia is the most flammable continent on Earth?

Watch this clip to discover how bushfires impact natural ecosystems, and how the increasing global threat of bushfires may affect Australia. Australian scientists explain the ecological consequences of fire and a US expert describes his concerns for the future.


Things to think about

  1. 1.Ecologists and fire experts are becoming increasingly concerned about the size and scale of recent bushfires. What can be causing bushfires to become so large? What are some of the possible consequences for natural environments, wildlife, communities and firefighters?
  2. 2.At the beginning of the clip, what does the narrator say is the cause of suffering by plants and animals as a consequence of fire? Professor Lindenmayer uses a word to describe a quality that most natural fires have, a quality critical for the recovery of biodiversity and the environment. What is that word? How does he contrast the nature of natural fires with back-burning or human fires?
  3. 3.Describe the effect bushfires have on the environment and biodiversity. Explain how the impact differs according to the type of fire. If we are heading into an 'age of uncontrollable megafires', how might this impact forest ecosystems, biodiversity, land management and human lifestyles?
  4. 4.Research the way ecosystems recover after bushfire. How do certain native species of plants use fire to regenerate? How do animal populations recover after fire?


Acknowledgements

Image courtesy of Malcolm Paterson, CSIRO, Wikimedia Commons.


Date of broadcast: 12 Mar 2007


Copyright

Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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