Fire ecology and management

Fire is a highly frequent and ecologically important phenomenon in the savanna landscape of the Kakadu region. The fire history of the region can be divided into three periods: i) pre-Aboriginal (before about 50 000 years ago) where ignitions were presumably restricted to lightning strikes immediately before and during the early part of the wet season; ii) Aboriginal, when fires were traditionally lit throughout the dry season for a variety of reasons; and iii) contemporary (since about 50 years ago), when there has been a perceived increase in the incidence of high intensity wildfires late in the dry season. The dominant fire management goal currently prevailing is to reduce the frequency and extent of high intensity wild fires through extensive burning early during the dry season, when fires tend to be low in intensity, and patchy. The ecological effects of fire have been poorly documented, but there are two major areas of concern: the effects of burning practices on monsoon rain forests and other fire-sensitive vegetation; and the effects of different fire regimes on the biota of the savanna.