Shrub cover declined as Indigenous populations expanded across southeast Australia
Publikation: Beiträge in Zeitschriften › Zeitschriftenaufsätze › Forschung › begutachtet
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in: Science (New York, N.Y.), Jahrgang 386, Nr. 6721, 01.11.2024, S. 567-573.
Publikation: Beiträge in Zeitschriften › Zeitschriftenaufsätze › Forschung › begutachtet
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Shrub cover declined as Indigenous populations expanded across southeast Australia
AU - Mariani, Michela
AU - Wills, Alastair
AU - Herbert, Annika
AU - Adeleye, Matthew
AU - Florin, S. Anna
AU - Cadd, Haidee
AU - Connor, Simon
AU - Kershaw, Peter
AU - Theuerkauf, Martin
AU - Stevenson, Janelle
AU - Fletcher, Michael Shawn
AU - Mooney, Scott
AU - Bowman, David
AU - Haberle, Simon
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2024 American Association for the Advancement of Science. All rights reserved.
PY - 2024/11/1
Y1 - 2024/11/1
N2 - Wildfires in forests globally have become more frequent and intense because of changes in climate and human management. Shrub layer fuels allow fire to spread vertically to forest canopy, creating high-intensity fires. Our research provides a deep-time perspective on shrub fuel loads in fire-prone southeastern Australia. Comparing 2833 records for vegetation cover, past climate, biomass burning, and human population size across different phases of human occupation, we demonstrated that Indigenous population expansion and cultural fire use resulted in a 50% reduction in shrub cover, from approximately 30% from the early to mid-Holocene (12 to 6 thousand years ago) to 15% during the late to mid-Holocene (6 to 1 thousand years ago). Since the start of British colonization to the present, shrub cover has increased to the highest ever recorded (mean of 35% land cover), increasing the risk of high-intensity fires.
AB - Wildfires in forests globally have become more frequent and intense because of changes in climate and human management. Shrub layer fuels allow fire to spread vertically to forest canopy, creating high-intensity fires. Our research provides a deep-time perspective on shrub fuel loads in fire-prone southeastern Australia. Comparing 2833 records for vegetation cover, past climate, biomass burning, and human population size across different phases of human occupation, we demonstrated that Indigenous population expansion and cultural fire use resulted in a 50% reduction in shrub cover, from approximately 30% from the early to mid-Holocene (12 to 6 thousand years ago) to 15% during the late to mid-Holocene (6 to 1 thousand years ago). Since the start of British colonization to the present, shrub cover has increased to the highest ever recorded (mean of 35% land cover), increasing the risk of high-intensity fires.
KW - Biology
KW - Ecosystems Research
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85208291679&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1126/science.adn8668
DO - 10.1126/science.adn8668
M3 - Journal articles
C2 - 39480950
AN - SCOPUS:85208291679
VL - 386
SP - 567
EP - 573
JO - Science (New York, N.Y.)
JF - Science (New York, N.Y.)
SN - 0036-8075
IS - 6721
ER -