Journal article
Environmental assessment of erosion following prescribed burning in the Mount Lofty Ranges, Australia
RH Morris, RA Bradstock, D Dragovich, MK Henderson, TD Penman, B Ostendorf
International Journal of Wildland Fire | Published : 2014
DOI: 10.1071/WF13011
Abstract
Erosion following fire has the potential to affect water quality, alter soil profiles and detrimentally affect human infrastructure. There is a clear need for environmental assessments to have regard for erosion concerns from prescribed burning. This study focussed on 10 prescribed burns conducted in the Southern Mount Lofty Ranges. Generalised additive modelling was used to determine the main significant environmental variables influencing the presence of sediment movement at 505 field-assessed sites. Sediment movement after the 10 prescribed burns was minor. Fire severity was a highly significant environmental determinant for the presence of sediment movement after prescribed burning. To p..
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Funding Acknowledgements
Thanks are extended to staff from Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources (formerly known as Department of Environment and Heritage) and SA Water. Project operational advice was provided by Ian Tanner and Danni Boddington, local burn details were given by DEWNR staff including Tammy Leggett, Richards Coombs, Anne McLean and Tim Groves. Peter Clinton and Linton Johnson from the Bureau of Meteorology analysed the rainfall-intensity-frequency duration data. We thank Anne Porter, Wollongong University for her assistance with statistics. Funding from the Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre is acknowledged. Thanks are also extended to the anonymous reviewers for their helpful suggestions.