Trends in fire patterns in a southern African savanna under alternative land use practices

Climate, topography, vegetation and land use interact to influence fire regimes. Variable fire regimes may promote landscape heterogeneity, diversification in vegetation pattern and biotic diversity. The objective was to compare effects of alternative land use practices on landscape heterogeneity. Patch characteristics of fire scars were measured from 21 annual burn maps produced from 1972 to 2001 Landsat imagery. Trends in fire patterns under alternative land use practices were compared across a 250,000 ha savanna in southern Africa partitioned into three land use zones. Zone 1, Madikwe Game Reserve (MGR), has had mostly prescribed fires since 1993. Zone 2, cattle farms near MGR in South Africa (SAF), has experienced occasional fires. Zone 3, communal grazing lands in neighboring Botswana (BOT), has had the fewest fires. Cattle ranching was the predominant land use throughout the study area until 1992, when land use switched to conservation and eco-tourism in MGR. Sixteen landscape metrics were applied to this data set to uncover trends in the patch characteristics of the fire scars. A principal components analysis (PCA) reduced the dimensionality of the results so trends in the 10 most important size, shape, and proximity metrics could be better interpreted. The PCA results showed that more burning over time in MGR, and to a lesser extent in SAF, increased patch size, size variability, shape complexity and proximity, while fire exclusion in BOT produced no change or decreasing trends. We tested for significant differences in these metrics between the three land use zones and between two periods, 1972–1992 and 1993–2001. Most patch characteristics in MGR and SAF differed significantly from those in BOT, especially during the latter period, while between MGR and SAF they did not. Patch area, shape complexity and core area increased significantly between periods in MGR, while patch size, size variability and core area increased significantly between periods in SAF. In BOT, no patch characteristics changed significantly between periods. Within the time span analyzed for the study area, we conclude that increased fire occurrence promoted landscape heterogeneity while fire exclusion did not

An argument for pandemic risk management using a multidisciplinary One Health approach to governance: an Australian case study

The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 and the subsequent COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in significant global impact. However, COVID-19 is just one of several high-impact infectious diseases that emerged from wildlife and are linked to the human relationship with nature. The rate of emergence of new zoonoses (diseases of animal origin) is increasing, driven by human-induced environmental changes that threaten biodiversity on a global scale. This increase is directly linked to environmental drivers including biodiversity loss, climate change and unsustainable resource extraction. Australia is a biodiversity hotspot and is subject to sustained and significant environmental change, increasing the risk of it being a location for pandemic origin. Moreover, the global integration of markets means that consumption trends in Australia contributes to the risk of disease spill-over in our regional neighbours in Asia-Pacific, and beyond. Despite the clear causal link between anthropogenic pressures on the environment and increasing pandemic risks, Australia’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, like most of the world, has centred largely on public health strategies, with a clear focus on reactive management. Yet, the span of expertise and evidence relevant to the governance of pandemic risk management is much wider than public health and epidemiology. It involves animal/wildlife health, biosecurity, conservation sciences, social sciences, behavioural psychology, law, policy and economic analyses to name just a few. The authors are a team of multidisciplinary practitioners and researchers who have worked together to analyse, synthesise, and harmonise the links between pandemic risk management approaches and issues in different disciplines to provide a holistic overview of current practice, and conclude the need for reform in Australia. We discuss the adoption of a comprehensive and interdisciplinary ‘One Health’ approach to pandemic risk management in Australia. A key goal of the One Health approach is to be proactive in countering threats of emerging infectious diseases and zoonoses through a recognition of the interdependence between human, animal, and environmental health. Developing ways to implement a One Health approach to pandemic prevention would not only reduce the risk of future pandemics emerging in or entering Australia, but also provide a model for prevention strategies around the world

8. Remote Sensing Of Vegetation Fires And Its Contribution To A Fire Management Information System

In the last decade, research has proven that remote sensing can provide very useful support to fire managers. This chapter provides an overview of the types of information remote sensing can provide to the fire community. First, it considers fire management information needs in the context of a fire management information system. An introduction to remote sensing then precedes a description of fire information obtainable from remote sensing data (such as vegetation status, active fire detection and burned areas assessment). Finally, operational examples in five African countries illustrate the practical use of remotely sensed fire information. As indicated in previous chapters, fire management usually comprises activities designed to control the frequency, area, intensity or impact of fire. These activities are undertaken in different institutional, economic, social, environmental and geographical contexts, as well as at different scales, from local to national. The range of fire management activities also varies considerably according to the management issues at stake, as well as the available means and capacity to act. Whatever the level, effective fire management requires reliable information upon which to base appropriate decisions and actions. Information will be required at many different stages of this fire management system. To illustrate this, we consider a typical and generic description of a fire management loop , as provided in Figure 8.1. Fire management objectives result from fire related knowledge . For example, they may relate to sound ecological reasons for prescribed burning in a particular land management context, or to frequent, uncontrolled fires threatening valuable natural or human resources. Whatever the issues, appropriate objectives require scientific knowledge (such as fire impact on ecosystems components, such as soil and vegetation), as well as up-to date monitoring information (such as vegetation status, fire locations, land use, socioeconomic context, etc.). Policies, generally at a national and governmental level, provide the official or legal long term framework (e.g. five to ten years) to undertake actions. A proper documentation of different fire issues, and their evolution, will allow their integration into appropriate policies, whether specific to fire management, or complementary to other policies in areas such as forestry, rangeland, biodiversity, land tenure, etc. Strategies are found at all levels of fire management. They provide a shorter-term framework (e.g. one to five years) to prioritise fire management activities. They involve the development of a clear set of objectives and a clear set of activities to achieve these objectives. They may also include research and training inputs required, in order to build capacity and to answer specific questions needed to improve fire management. The chosen strategy will result from a trade-off between priority fire management objectives and the available capacity to act (e.g. institutional framework, budget, staff, etc.), and will lead towards a better allocation of resources for fire management operations to achieve specific objectives. One example in achieving an objective of conserving biotic diversity may be the implementation of a patch-mosaic burning system (Brockett et al., 200 1 ) instead of a prescribed block burning system, based on an assumption that the former should better promote biodiversity in the long-term than the latter (Parr & Brockett, 1999). This strategy requires the implementation of early season fires to reduce the size of later season fires. The knowledge of population movements, new settlements or a coming El Nino season, should help focus the resources usage, as these factors might influence the proportion as well as the locations of area burned. Another strategy may be to prioritise the grading of fire lines earlier than usual based on information on high biomass accumulation. However, whatever the strategies, they need to be based on reliable information

8. Remote Sensing Of Vegetation Fires And Its Contribution To A Fire Management Information System

In the last decade, research has proven that remote sensing can provide very useful support to fire managers. This chapter provides an overview of the types of information remote sensing can provide to the fire community. First, it considers fire management information needs in the context of a fire management information system. An introduction to remote sensing then precedes a description of fire information obtainable from remote sensing data (such as vegetation status, active fire detection and burned areas assessment). Finally, operational examples in five African countries illustrate the practical use of remotely sensed fire information. As indicated in previous chapters, fire management usually comprises activities designed to control the frequency, area, intensity or impact of fire. These activities are undertaken in different institutional, economic, social, environmental and geographical contexts, as well as at different scales, from local to national. The range of fire management activities also varies considerably according to the management issues at stake, as well as the available means and capacity to act. Whatever the level, effective fire management requires reliable information upon which to base appropriate decisions and actions. Information will be required at many different stages of this fire management system. To illustrate this, we consider a typical and generic description of a fire management loop , as provided in Figure 8.1. Fire management objectives result from fire related knowledge . For example, they may relate to sound ecological reasons for prescribed burning in a particular land management context, or to frequent, uncontrolled fires threatening valuable natural or human resources. Whatever the issues, appropriate objectives require scientific knowledge (such as fire impact on ecosystems components, such as soil and vegetation), as well as up-to date monitoring information (such as vegetation status, fire locations, land use, socioeconomic context, etc.). Policies, generally at a national and governmental level, provide the official or legal long term framework (e.g. five to ten years) to undertake actions. A proper documentation of different fire issues, and their evolution, will allow their integration into appropriate policies, whether specific to fire management, or complementary to other policies in areas such as forestry, rangeland, biodiversity, land tenure, etc. Strategies are found at all levels of fire management. They provide a shorter-term framework (e.g. one to five years) to prioritise fire management activities. They involve the development of a clear set of objectives and a clear set of activities to achieve these objectives. They may also include research and training inputs required, in order to build capacity and to answer specific questions needed to improve fire management. The chosen strategy will result from a trade-off between priority fire management objectives and the available capacity to act (e.g. institutional framework, budget, staff, etc.), and will lead towards a better allocation of resources for fire management operations to achieve specific objectives. One example in achieving an objective of conserving biotic diversity may be the implementation of a patch-mosaic burning system (Brockett et al., 200 1 ) instead of a prescribed block burning system, based on an assumption that the former should better promote biodiversity in the long-term than the latter (Parr & Brockett, 1999). This strategy requires the implementation of early season fires to reduce the size of later season fires. The knowledge of population movements, new settlements or a coming El Nino season, should help focus the resources usage, as these factors might influence the proportion as well as the locations of area burned. Another strategy may be to prioritise the grading of fire lines earlier than usual based on information on high biomass accumulation. However, whatever the strategies, they need to be based on reliable information