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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 37(1)

Survival behaviour of swamp wallabies during prescribed burning and wildfire

Nathan Garvey A B , Dror Ben-Ami A C D , Daniel Ramp A and David B. Croft A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.

B Biosis Research Pty Ltd, PO Box 489, Port Melbourne, Vic. 3207, Australia.

C Sherman Group Ltd, 2 Paddington Street, Paddington, NSW 2021, Australia.

D Corresponding author. Email: dben-ami@shermangroup.com.au

Wildlife Research 37(1) 1-12 https://doi.org/10.1071/WR08029
Submitted: 19 February 2008  Accepted: 13 November 2009   Published: 1 March 2010

Abstract

Context. Prescribed (or controlled) burning is frequently advocated as a means of reducing fuel loads in peri-urban forests to minimise the risk of high-intensity wildfires. An important consideration in prescribed burns is the impact on native wildlife.

Aims. An opportunity arose to follow the movements of radio-collared peri-urban swamp wallabies during a prescribed burn and after an unexpected wildfire in the same location a short time later. Movement data was used to assess the relative impacts of the prescribed burn and wildfire on mortality, emigration and habitat use; the behavioural responses and methods of avoidance used by swamp wallabies in response to an oncoming fire front; and the management implications for wildlife that inhabit fire-prone habitats in proximity to human settlement where wildfire mitigation is necessary.

Methods. Here we report on the movements of radio-collared swamp wallabies, Wallabia bicolor, before, during and after a prescribed fire and after a wildfire on the same site 6 months later.

Key results. No radio-collared swamp wallabies were killed during the prescribed burn and only one wallaby was observed to emigrate from the area post-fire. This contrasted to the wildfire where one wallaby died during or just after the fire and another perished in the post-fire environment a few months later. The wildfire also increased emigration post-fire.

Conclusions. We demonstrate that wallabies can avoid fire fronts and that this avoidance behaviour may be more successful during cooler fires. The prescribed burn provided a suitable habitat for wallabies but did not result in a shift in habitat preference.

Implications. Mitigation of the impact of prescribed burns on swamp wallabies may be achieved by allowing sufficient time for habitat complexity to re-establish between burns.

Additional keywords: ecology, peri-urban, prescribed burn, Wallabia bicolor, wildfire.


Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service for their support in conducting this research (including GIS data) and for safety provisions throughout our radio-tracking during the prescribed burn. All trapping, handling and tracking of the wallabies used in this study were approved by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service and the University of New South Wales Animal Care and Ethics Committee under the project registration number 99/44. We would also like to thank Jan Nedved and Jeff Vaughan at Cowan Field Station for their support and expertise, and the comments of an anonymous referee that substantially improved this report.


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