Assessing changes in high-intensity fire events in south-eastern Australia using Fourier Transform Infra-red (FITR) spectroscopy

Rebecca Ryan; Zoë Thomas; Ivan Simkovic; Pavel Dlapa; Martin Worthy; Robert Wasson; Ross Bradstock; Scott Mooney; Katharine Haynes; Anthony Dosseto

doi:10.1071/WF24064

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

Previous Next Contents Vol 33(9)

Assessing changes in high-intensity fire events in south-eastern Australia using Fourier Transform Infra-red (FITR) spectroscopy

Rebecca Ryan

^A ^* , Zoë Thomas ^B ^C , Ivan Simkovic ^D , Pavel Dlapa

^D , Martin Worthy ^E , Robert Wasson ^E ^F , Ross Bradstock ^G , Scott Mooney

^H , Katharine Haynes ^G ^I and Anthony Dosseto ^A ^G

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A Wollongong Isotope Geochronology Laboratory, School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences, University of Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia.

^B Chronos 14Carbon-Cycle Facility, Mark Wainwright Analytical Centre, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia.

^C School of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK.

^D Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University, Mlynská dolina B-2, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovak Republic.

^E Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia.

^F College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Cairns, Qld, Australia.

^G Centre for Environmental Risk Management of Bushfires, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia.

^H Earth and Sustainability Science Research Centre, UNSW Sydney, Australia.

^I Science, Economics and Insights Division, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, NSW, Australia.

^* Correspondence to: rjr072@uowmail.edu.au

International Journal of Wildland Fire 33, WF24064 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF24064

Submitted: 5 April 2024 Accepted: 3 August 2024 Published: 4 September 2024

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of IAWF. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Background

As fire regimes continue to evolve in response to climate change, understanding how fire characteristics have responded to changes in the recent past is vital to inform predictions of future fire events.

Aims and methods

Using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, we assessed how fire intensity has changed in two fire-prone landscapes in south-eastern Australia: (1) the Blue Mountains; and (2) Namadgi National Park during the past 3000 years.

Key results

Higher aromatic/aliphatic ratios suggest increased high-intensity fire frequency in sediments at the surface of both cores. Increases in the frequency of extreme drought periods, coupled with the change in vegetation and anthropogenic ignitions following colonisation, could have increased the frequency of high-intensity fires in the past ~200 years.

Conclusions

FTIR spectroscopy can be used in sediment deposits to infer that the frequency of high-intensity fire events has increased in the past 200 years compared to the previous ~3000 years.

Implications

These results are important for understanding how past fire regimes have responded to climate, people and vegetation shifts in the past ~3000 years and can be used to inform models for future predictions and management strategies.

Keywords: bushfires, carbon, climate, fire history, fire intensity, FTIR spectroscopy, sediments, Southeastern Australia.

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