Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2024L00006:reg:3:p25
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2024L00006
Segment Type: reg
Provision Reference: reg 3 (pt 25/58)
Character Range: 71544–74756

predators, loss of genetic diversity). Although specific fire regimes have previously been suggested (OEH 2012), appropriate fire regimes are site and context dependent (Bain et al. 2008). Therefore, site-specific management at the local population scale is essential. However, given Eastern Bristlebirds may have difficulty escaping fire, avoiding encircling burns is essential.

           Fire management considerations include fire scale, intensity, frequency, and seasonality (OEH 2012). In determining appropriate fire management regimes, it is important to consider those regimes on which Eastern Bristlebirds and their habitat depend (Olsen & Weston 2005). For example, within Heathland, fire management planning in and around Eastern Bristlebird habitat needs to collectively consider fire extent, severity, timing, interconnectivity of ground and mid-canopy fuel, and the delivery of fire into the landscape (e.g. backing fire, spot ignition, line ignition). It is also important to consider the extent of planned burns, as smaller, staggered burns that create a mosaic of vegetation age classes in and around key habitat are valuable. Further, fire management should consider synergistic effects of other threats to the Eastern Bristlebird and adopt an adaptive rather than prescriptive approach.

           Appropriate fire management regimes need to be incorporated within fire management plans and considered in conjunction with factors such as protection of human life and property and recovery of threatened species and ecological communities. Generally, effective fire management to conserve Eastern Bristlebird
           populations include: mosaic, low-intensity and/or burns with small footprints, ignited along one fire front, a suitable site-specific fire interval, strategic breaks and buffers and timing with respect to breeding season and environmental conditions such as drought (though this can vary between sites).

           As with mitigation of wildfire, fire management regimes need to protect buffer zones, connecting habitat and unburnt refugia and, because the response to fire is site and context dependent, fine scale site-specific management is required (Bain et al. 2008). Refugia sites also need to be sufficiently large to support a population that is resilient to demographic stochasticity while burnt habitat recovers and provides opportunities for the population to expand.

                 3.2.4            Climate change

           Australia's climate has warmed by about 1.4 °C since 1910, leading to an increase in the frequency of extreme heat events (BOM & CSIRO 2020). Warming has occurred across Australia in all months, with both day and night-time temperatures increasing. Winter rainfall in southern Australia is projected to decline, while most of the country is likely to experience more extreme daily rainfall (BOM & CSIRO 2020). Heatwaves are also lasting longer, reaching more extreme maximum temperatures, and occurring more frequently over many regions of Australia, including south-eastern Australia (Perkins-Kirkpatrick et al. 2016; Evans et al. 2017; Herold et al. 2018; BOM & CSIRO 2020). Heatwaves also exacerbate drought, which in turn can