CONSERVATION CONFLICTS OVER BURNING BUSH IN SOUTH-EASTERN AUSTRALIA

Current fire management practices in the fire-prone vegetation of sout h-eastern Australia are based mainly on the concept of hazard reductio n via the use of periodic low-intensity fires to maintain the amount o f flammable fuel within specified (low) limits. We examined the possib le conflict between the requirements of fire management for hazard red uction and requirements for species conservation in the dry-sclerophyl l shrublands and woodlands of the Sydney region. Our data indicate tha t potentially severe fire hazard (fine fuel loads of greater than or e qual to t.ha(-1)) can reappear in the woodland and shrubland vegetatio n within 2-4 years after low-intensity fires, such as are typical of t he fuel-reduction burns usually prescribed. Our data also show that lo w-intensity fires will have significant effects on the species composi tion of the communities if they occur with an inter-fire interval of l ess than 7-8 years, causing a significantly reduced abundance of long- lived woody shrub species. There is thus a clear conflict in south-eas tern Australia between fire management practices based solely on presc ribed burning for hazard reduction and the fire management practices n ecessary to maintain ecosystem biodiversity, and this conflict is grea test for fire-sensitive shrub species. The conflict between these two vegetation management objectives cannot be resolved by a simple compro mise, as prescribed fires with inter-fire intervals any greater than 4 years will allow a potentially severe fire hazard to exist, while a b urning regime with any inter-fire intervals less than 8 years will res ult in loss of biodiversity. This conflict means that it will probably not be possible to achieve simultaneously both hazard reduction and s pecies conservation for any specified managed area. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Limited.