Assignment task:
You have been tasked with writing a briefing report for the Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife Commission on the impact of fire regimes on plants and animals, to better support evidence-based management on national parks.
Write your report on:
Plants (e.g. grasses and trees)
Impacts of fire regimes
In your report you are required to assess the current evidence of positive and negative impacts of fire regimes in northern Australia on plants.
You must consider:
Which species are positively impacted by specific fire regimes?
Which species are negatively impacted by specific fire regimes?
Can a change in fire regimes result in increased negative impacts (e.g what is the likely impact of moving from a regime of frequent early dry season fires, to a regime of frequent late dry season fires)?
Fire regimes to consider in your report: Frequent early dry season fires, frequent late dry season fires, and long unburnt areas (i.e a minimum of 5 years unburnt).
Recommendations for conservation
Having assessed the evidence of positive and negative impacts of fire on your chosen group, you are then required to consider what this knowledge could mean for conservation of your chosen group. What are your recommendations for fire management in National Parks to support conservation of your chosen group of plants or animals?