Extent and effect of the 2019-20 Australian bushfires on upland peat swamps in the Blue Mountains, NSW

Kirstie A. Fryirs; Kirsten L. Cowley; Natalie Hejl; Anthony Chariton; Nicole Christiansen; Rachael Y. Dudaniec; Will Farebrother; Lorraine Hardwick; Timothy Ralph; Adam Stow; Grant Hose

doi:10.1071/WF20081

Extent and effect of the 2019-20 Australian bushfires on upland peat swamps in the Blue Mountains, NSW

Kirstie A. Fryirs^*, Kirsten L. Cowley, Natalie Hejl, Anthony Chariton, Nicole Christiansen, Rachael Y. Dudaniec, Will Farebrother, Lorraine Hardwick, Timothy Ralph, Adam Stow, Grant Hose

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

13 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The devastating bushfires of the 2019-20 summer are arguably the most costly natural disaster in Australian recorded history. What is little known is that these fires severely affected the temperate highland peat swamps on sandstone (THPSS), a form of upland wetland that occurs in the water supply catchments of Sydney in the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area and National Park. During the fires, 59% of THPSS was burnt and 72% of those by a high severity burn. Upland swamps at Newnes were the most affected, with 96% of swamps burnt and 84% of these experiencing a very high burn severity. We present an analysis of the spatial extent and severity of the bushfire on the THPSS and discuss some of the likely consequences on their geomorphological, hydrological and ecological structure, function and recovery potential.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	294-300
Number of pages	7
Journal	International Journal of Wildland Fire
Volume	30
Issue number	4
Early online date	22 Jan 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1071/WF20081
Publication status	Published - 2021

Keywords

climate change
fire regime
peatland
upland wetland
wildfire

Access to Document

10.1071/WF20081

Cite this

@article{eac196ecbc3d44e68cf31068760d6ea7,

title = "Extent and effect of the 2019-20 Australian bushfires on upland peat swamps in the Blue Mountains, NSW",

abstract = "The devastating bushfires of the 2019-20 summer are arguably the most costly natural disaster in Australian recorded history. What is little known is that these fires severely affected the temperate highland peat swamps on sandstone (THPSS), a form of upland wetland that occurs in the water supply catchments of Sydney in the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area and National Park. During the fires, 59% of THPSS was burnt and 72% of those by a high severity burn. Upland swamps at Newnes were the most affected, with 96% of swamps burnt and 84% of these experiencing a very high burn severity. We present an analysis of the spatial extent and severity of the bushfire on the THPSS and discuss some of the likely consequences on their geomorphological, hydrological and ecological structure, function and recovery potential. ",

keywords = "climate change, fire regime, peatland, upland wetland, wildfire",

author = "Fryirs, {Kirstie A.} and Cowley, {Kirsten L.} and Natalie Hejl and Anthony Chariton and Nicole Christiansen and Dudaniec, {Rachael Y.} and Will Farebrother and Lorraine Hardwick and Timothy Ralph and Adam Stow and Grant Hose",

year = "2021",

doi = "10.1071/WF20081",

language = "English",

volume = "30",

pages = "294--300",

journal = "International Journal of Wildland Fire",

issn = "1049-8001",

publisher = "CSIRO",

number = "4",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Extent and effect of the 2019-20 Australian bushfires on upland peat swamps in the Blue Mountains, NSW

AU - Fryirs, Kirstie A.

AU - Cowley, Kirsten L.

AU - Hejl, Natalie

AU - Chariton, Anthony

AU - Christiansen, Nicole

AU - Dudaniec, Rachael Y.

AU - Farebrother, Will

AU - Hardwick, Lorraine

AU - Ralph, Timothy

AU - Stow, Adam

AU - Hose, Grant

PY - 2021

Y1 - 2021

N2 - The devastating bushfires of the 2019-20 summer are arguably the most costly natural disaster in Australian recorded history. What is little known is that these fires severely affected the temperate highland peat swamps on sandstone (THPSS), a form of upland wetland that occurs in the water supply catchments of Sydney in the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area and National Park. During the fires, 59% of THPSS was burnt and 72% of those by a high severity burn. Upland swamps at Newnes were the most affected, with 96% of swamps burnt and 84% of these experiencing a very high burn severity. We present an analysis of the spatial extent and severity of the bushfire on the THPSS and discuss some of the likely consequences on their geomorphological, hydrological and ecological structure, function and recovery potential.

AB - The devastating bushfires of the 2019-20 summer are arguably the most costly natural disaster in Australian recorded history. What is little known is that these fires severely affected the temperate highland peat swamps on sandstone (THPSS), a form of upland wetland that occurs in the water supply catchments of Sydney in the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area and National Park. During the fires, 59% of THPSS was burnt and 72% of those by a high severity burn. Upland swamps at Newnes were the most affected, with 96% of swamps burnt and 84% of these experiencing a very high burn severity. We present an analysis of the spatial extent and severity of the bushfire on the THPSS and discuss some of the likely consequences on their geomorphological, hydrological and ecological structure, function and recovery potential.

KW - climate change

KW - fire regime

KW - peatland

KW - upland wetland

KW - wildfire

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85099992095&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1071/WF20081

DO - 10.1071/WF20081

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85099992095

SN - 1049-8001

VL - 30

SP - 294

EP - 300

JO - International Journal of Wildland Fire

JF - International Journal of Wildland Fire

IS - 4

ER -

Extent and effect of the 2019-20 Australian bushfires on upland peat swamps in the Blue Mountains, NSW

Abstract

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this