Bushfire 2006

The 10th Biennial Australasian Bushfire Conference: Bushfire2006 was held on 6 - 9 June 2006. It explored the theme Life in a Fire-Prone Environment: Translating Science into Practice and provided a forum to share new ideas on the complex issues of bushfire management.

The Conference encouraged communication between agencies and groups involved in bushfire management, built upon the lessons learnt from previous bushfire campaigns, and facilitated a new understanding of the role of fire in the landscape.

Bushfire 2006 was hosted by Griffith University and the South East Queensland Fire and Biodiversity Consortium.

This website provides the Bushfire 2006 Conference papers including abstracts where full papers are not available.

• Conference program (PDF 640k)

Wednesday, 7 June 2006

Plenary

• Changing worlds and fire regimes? Possible consequences of global change for bushfire risk management in the Sydney region (PDF 40k), Dr Ross A Bradstock, New South Wales Department of Environment and Conservation

Fire management and biodiversity (Concurrent Session 1A)

• Recognition of environmental consequences by emergency services personnel (PDF 63k), Dr Ross A Bradstock, New South Wales Department of Environment and Conservation
• Adaptive fire management interim guidelines for Forest Populations of Quokka (Setonix brachyurus) (PDF 67k), John Tillman
• Rainforest recruitment and mortality in eucalypt forests of the wet tropics-refining the model for better management (PDF 187k), Paul Williams, Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service
• Using fire simulation techniques to achieve conservation and restoration objectives (PDF 58k), Manda J Page, University of Queensland
• Translating science into management in NSW: the Hotspots Fire Project (PDF 38k), Nicole Conroy, Hotspots Fire project - Nature Conservation Council of NSW

Bushfires and Community Awareness (Concurrent Session 1B)

• Discourses about fire in New Jersey and New South Wales (PDF 112k), Stentor B Danielson, Clark University, United States
• Pragmatic wildfire protection planning at the urban interface available from three major studies in NSW, Australia (PDF 411k), Rod L Rose, Bushfire and Environmental Services P/L
• Householder preparedness and response in the Eyre Peninsula Bushfire (PDF 110k), Alan Rhodes, RMIT University/CFA,
• A virtual reality bushfire mitigation tool for community consultation (PDF 488k), Arron R Walker, Queensland University of Technology
• Will it take a wildfire to get people involved in your local fire brigade? (PDF 37k), Simon J Proust, Korora Rural Fire Brigade

Sustainable Fire Regimes (Concurrent Session 2A)

• Concepts, characteristics, competition: tools in the search for sustainable fire regimes (PDF 79k), Penny Watson, Hotspots Fire Project
• Determining the effect of repeated burning over 50 years in subtropical forests of south-east Queensland (PDF 38k), Valerie J Debuse, Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, Queensland
• Prescribed burning in Catalonia: fire management and research (PDF 283k), Elsa Pastor, Centre for Studies on Technological Risk, Technical University of Catalonia, Spain
• Prescribed burning in the southern Mt Lofty Ranges: How and why is the decision to burn made? (PDF 89k), Noel W Richards, Flinders University of South Australia: School of Geography Population & Environmental Managment,
• The 'brown' line and the response of bark to fire (PDF 791k), Phil Lacy, Bushfire CRC

Fire Management Systems (Concurrent Session 2B)

• Providing satellite-based early warnings of fires to reduce fire flashovers on South Africa's transmission lines (PDF 114k), Philip E Frost, CSIR, South Africa
• Modelling bushfire severity for the 2003 NSW/ACT bushfires using Landsat imagery (PDF 345k), Thomas W Barrett, Eco Logical Australia Pty Ltd
• Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service Fire Management System - balancing ecological requirements and hazard reduction in burning practices (PDF 91k), Peter A Leeson, Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service
• Vegetation dynamics in the northern extremities of the Australian Alps after the 2003 fires: the story so far (PDF 97k), Michael D Doherty, CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems
• Management strategies in the wildland-urban interface of southern California and their effect on fire behaviour and environmental impacts (PDF 138k), Christopher A Dicus, Natural Resources Management Department, Cal Poly State University, United States

Innovations in Fire Management and Modelling (Concurrent Session 3A)

• Including suppression effectiveness in fireline growth models (PDF 100k), Rodney O Weber, UNSW
• Bushfire Risk Register - A tool for bushfire risk management planning (PDF 415k), Grahame Douglas, NSW Rural Fire Service
• A methodology for determining minimum separation distance between a structure and bushfire hazard (PDF 285k), Lew Short, NSW Rural Fire Service,
• A spatial decision support system for mapping potential bushfire hazard using remotely sensed data (PDF 446k), Christopher J Power, Gold Coast City Council
• Streamlined environmental assessment for bushfire hazard reduction work in NSW (PDF 144k), Belinda Kenny, NSW Rural Fire Service

Bushfires and People (Concurrent Session 3B)

• Bushfires in the Burbs: the communication conundrum (PDF 210k), Brian McAlister, Brisbane City Council
• Managing a nature refuge on a fiery crossroad (PDF 69k), Ian H Herbert
• The self defence alternative in the fight against severe bushfires: Part 1 - Policies and outcomes (PDF 78k), Denis J O'Bryan, Red Eagle Bushfire Protection Services
• Implications of longitudinal studies of bushfire preparedness for planning Community Safety Programs in Northern NSW (PDF 104k), Simon Borgert, NSW Rural Fire Service
• Bushfire management: Why, where and how economics matter? (PDF 101k), Gaminda Ganewatta, RMIT University

Thursday, 8 June 2006

Plenary

• The Ecology of Fire-Developments since 1995 (PDF 576k), Professor Rob Whelan, University of Wollongong

Innovations in Fire Ecology (Concurrent Session 4A)

• Fuel dynamics and fire behaviour in Spinifex grasslands of the Western Desert (PDF 72k), Neil Burrows, Conservation & Land Management Western Australia
• Towards a more detailed understanding of habitat: the responses of bush rats to manipulation of food and predation after fire (PDF 72k), Malcolm S Kennedy, University of Queensland
• Forest, fire and ecological processes-more than just good theory (PDF 114k), Alan York, School of Forest and Ecosystem Science, University of Melbourne
• Emergent patterns in the mosaic of patch burning vary with the fire environment and landscape context in south-western Australia (PDF 281k), Grant W Wardell-Johnson, The University of Queensland
• Predicting impacts of fuel reduction for asset protection on threatened species (PDF 503k), Rob Whelan, University of Wollongong

Fire and Community Education (Concurrent Session 4B)

• Human caused: Reducing the impact of deliberately lit bushfires (PDF 190k), Colleen Bryant
• Impact of prescribed fires on downward communities (PDF 70k), Robert H Leicester, CSIRO-MIT
• Bushfire Smart Program (PDF 78k), Andrew G McLoughlin, Pine Rivers Shire Council & Craig J Weldon, Pine Rivers Shire Council
• Message in a bottle: culture, bushfire and community understanding (PDF 66k), John J Schauble, University of Melbourne
• Community engagement about fire on public land (PDF 123k), Meredith Hartley, Department of Sustainability and Environment, Victoria

Fire Management Systems (Concurrent Session 5A)

• Fire interval classifications to aid in site selection for biodiversity studies: mapping the fire regime (PDF 833k), Roy Wittkuhn, Department of Conservation and Land Management, WA
• Practical ways of incorporating variation in fire intensity into fire management of African savannas (PDF 222k), Navashni Govender, Kruger National Park, South Africa
• ParkInfo: a geographic information system for land managers (PDF 311k), Wayne Kington, Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service - Environmental Protection Agency & Rayelene Brown, Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service - Environmental Protection Agency
• Fire management for minimising risk-what relationships apply? (PDF 301k), Karen King, Australian National University and Bushfire CRC
• NSW advance in approaching performance based assessments of residential developments in bushfire prone areas (PDF 197k), Grahame B Douglas, NSW Rural Fire Service

Fire Management Planning (Concurrent Session 5B)

• Future options for fire behaviour modelling and fire danger rating in New Zealand (PDF 36k), Stuart AJ Anderson, Ensis Forest Biosecurity and Protection, New Zealand
• Spatial patterns of fire type in relation to weather, terrain and vegetation (PDF 313k), Kate A Hammill, DEC NSW
• Planning to plan, planning to practise-A tool kit for fire management planning (PDF 156k), Karan E Smith, Department for Environment and Heritage, South Australia
• Wilsons Promontory Fire April 2003: Origin, fire behaviour and extended suppression (PDF 578k), Greg McCarthy, Melbourne University, Bushfire CRC
• Bushfire patchiness (PDF 236k), Simon P Heemstra, NSW Rural Fire Service

Bushfires and Fuel Management (Concurrent Session 6A)

• Fuels of the future: the challenge of new fuel types (PDF 143k), Dianne Simmons, Deakin University
• A new fuel load model for eucalyptus forests in southeast Queensland (PDF 397k), Jan L Gilroy & Cuong Tran, Griffith University
• Fire risk management in exotic pine plantation in South East Queensland (PDF 36k), David W Taylor, DPI & F - Horticulture & Forestry Science
• Fuel dynamics in shrub dominated landscapes (PDF 53k), Matt P Plucinski, Ensis, Bushfire Research

Friday, 9 June 2006

Plenary

• Fire, science and society at the 'wildland-urban interface' (PDF 262k), Dr A. Malcolm Gill, Australian National University; Bushfire CRC

Fire Management and Biodiversity (Concurrent Session 7A)

• Applying recent advances in vital attributes analysis to management of fire for biodiversity conservation (PDF 65k), Elizabeth M Tasker, University of Wollongong
• Supporting bushland management decisions by simulating future outcomes: a tool for integrating scientific research and understanding (PDF 433k), Michael Ngugi, Environmental Protection Agency
• Comparing the effects of fire and grazing in native grasslands on the Moree Plains, north-west NSW. Which is the better management option for grassland reserves? (PDF k), Tom Lewis, Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries
• Fire Management in the alpine region (PDF 69k), Vic Jurskis, Forests NSW
• Public views of fuels management in the United States: Research findings on social understanding, beliefs and practices (PDF 36k), Sarah McCaffrey, USDA Forest Service, North Central Research Station, United States

Fire Management and The Urban Interface (Concurrent Session 7B)

• Lessons from the January 2003 fires - advancing bushfire risk management in the High Country (PDF 34k), Rick McRae, ACT Emergency Services Agency
• Bushfire risk at the rural/urban interface (PDF 35k), Robert H Leicester, CSIRO - MIT
• A new risk management process for bushfire risk management planning in NSW (PDF 37k), Simon P Heemstra, NSW Rural Fire Service
• Future urban form and bushfire risk in South East Queensland (PDF 35k), Mike Gillen, University of Queensland
• Bushfire hazard planning in Caboolture Shire (PDF 37k), Brad Dines, Caboolture Shire Council

Poster Sessions

• The effects of fire frequency on the understorey of a Subalpine Snow Gum forest (PDF 38k),Geoff Cary
• The role of fire regimes and dispersal patterns on the composition of Rock Ringtail Possum groups (PDF 134k), Jessica R Berryman, University of Hawaii, United States
• Electricity and bushfire mitigation in WA (PDF 36k), Anthony N Baird, Western Power Corporation
• Effects of fire frequency on vegetation in Western Sydney's grassy Cumberland plain woodland and implication for management (PDF 36k), Penny Watson, Hotspots Fire Project
• Bushfire building damage survey- A NSW perspective (PDF 1,486k), Grahame B Douglas, NSW Rural Fire Service
• The Forest Drive Bushfire Management Plan: A Community Group Initiative (PDF 362k), Dennis W Dunn, Forest Drive Bushfire Action Group
• Assessing fuel load by remote sensing (PDF 35k), Duncan Sutherland, Belinda Kenny, NSW Rural Fire Service, Peter Moore, GHD and Peter Ellis, CSIRO Ensis
• NSW Fire Brigades Community Fire Unit Program (PDF 36k), Terry P Munsey, NSW Fire Brigades
• The self defence alternative in the light against severe bushfires. Part 2 - Science and logic (Fire agency approach versus self defence) (PDF 80k), Denis J O'Bryan, Red Eagle Bushfire Protection Services
• Ember Attack: Its role in the destruction of houses during ACT bushfire in 2003(PDF 1,215k), Haihui Wang, CSIRO Manufacturing and Infrastructure Technology
• Increasing Comprehension of Fire Management Plans (PDF 41k), Penelope Colyer, Eco Logical Australia Pty Ltd
• Drought Factor (fine fuel composition) prediction from field measurement of Fine Fuel Moisture Content (PDF 760k), Greg J McCarthy, SFES Melbourne University,
• Impact of a prescribed burn on a threatened macrozamia in southeast Queensland (PDF 35k), Adrian C Borsboom, Queensland Environmental Protection Agency
• Resident's experiences of the 2003 Canberra bushfires(PDF 120k), Malcolm Gill, Australian National University; Bushfire CRC
• Overall fuel hazard guide for South Australia (PDF 32k), Michael A Wouters, Department for Environment & Heritage, SA
• Can weather indices predict the probability of large areas burnt in the Sydney region? (PDF 33k), Ross A Bradstock, New South Wales Department of Environment and Conservation
• Developing ecological fire management guidelines for SA (PDF 88k), Michael A Wouters, Department for Environment & Heritage, SA
• Fire management for community safety and ecological requirements - A local government perspective (PDF 36k), Michael Reif, Caloundra City Council