The Impacts of Burn Severity and Frequency on Erosion in Western Arnhem Land, Australia.

Autor: Bretreger D; College of Engineering, Science and Environment, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia., Hancock GR; College of Engineering, Science and Environment, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia., Lowry J; Ecosystem Restoration and Landform Team, Environmental Research Institute of the Supervising Scientist (ERISS), Darwin, NT 0820, Australia., Senanayake IP; College of Engineering, Science and Environment, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia., Yeo IY; College of Engineering, Science and Environment, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) [Sensors (Basel)] 2024 Apr 03; Vol. 24 (7). Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Apr 03.
DOI: 10.3390/s24072282
Abstrakt: Wildfires are pivotal to the functioning of many ecosystems globally, including the magnitude of surface erosion rates. This study aims to investigate the relationships between surface erosion rates and wildfire intensity in the tropical north savanna of Australia. The occurrence of fires in western Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia was determined with remotely sensed digital datasets as well as analogue erosion measurement methods. Analysis was performed using satellite imagery to quantify burn severity via a monthly delta normalised burn ratio ( dNBR ). This was compared and correlated against on-ground erosion measurements (erosion pins) for 13 years. The dNBR for each year (up to +0.4) displayed no relationship with subsequent erosion (up to ±4 mm of erosion/deposition per year). Poor correlation was attributed to low fire severity, patchy burning, significant time between fires and erosion-inducing rainfall. Other influences included surface roughness from disturbances from feral pigs and cyclone impacts. The findings here oppose many other studies that have found that fires increase surface erosion. This accentuates the unique ecosystem characteristics and fire regime properties found in the tropical Northern Territory. Scenarios of late dry season fires with high severity were not observed in this study and require more investigations. Ecosystems such as the one examined here require specialised management practices acknowledging the specific ecosystem functions and processes. The methods employed here combine both analogue and digital sensors to improve understandings of a unique environmental system.
Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Databáze: MEDLINE
Externí odkaz:
Nepřihlášeným uživatelům se plný text nezobrazuje