Shrub cover declined as Indigenous populations expanded across southeast Australia

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.

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Publication Details

Journal
Science
Published
2024-10-31
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adn8668
Citations
20
Primary Topic
Fire effects on ecosystems
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
5.65

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article

Shrub cover declined as Indigenous populations expanded across southeast Australia

Janelle Stevenson, Annika Herbert, Peter Kershaw, Scott Mooney et al.
20 citations
Science
Fire effects on ecosystems
5.65
article

Shrub cover declined as Indigenous populations expanded across southeast Australia

Janelle Stevenson, Annika Herbert, Peter Kershaw, Scott Mooney, S. Anna Florin, Michela Mariani, David M. J. S. Bowman, Simon Connor, Michael‐Shawn Fletcher, Haidee Cadd, Simon Haberle, Martin Theuerkauf, Matthew Adesanya Adeleye, Andy J. Wills
article en
20 citations

Abstract

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.

ScienceVol. 386(6721)
Leuphana University of Lüneburg (DE), Australian National University (AU), University of Tasmania (AU), University of Nottingham (GB), The University of Melbourne (AU), University of Wollongong (AU), University of Cambridge (GB), Universitätsmedizin Greifswald (DE), Universität Greifswald (DE), Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research (AU), Environmental Earth Sciences (AU), Monash University (AU)
Leverhulme Trust
Climate action
Openalex Percentile: Top 3%
Fire effects on ecosystems
5.65
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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