Extent and effect of the 2019-20 Australian bushfires on upland peat swamps in the Blue Mountains, NSW
Kirstie A. Fryirs
A C , Kirsten L. Cowley A , Natalie Hejl B , Anthony Chariton B , Nicole Christiansen B , Rachael Y. Dudaniec B , Will Farebrother A , Lorraine Hardwick B , Timothy Ralph A , Adam Stow B and Grant Hose B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia.
B Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia.
C Corresponding author. Email: kirstie.fryirs@mq.edu.au
International Journal of Wildland Fire 30(4) 294-300 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF20081
Submitted: 4 June 2020 Accepted: 25 December 2020 Published: 22 January 2021
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.
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