Understanding the distribution and impacts of wildfires in GunaiKurnai country through subregions

Abstract

GunaiKurnai Country contains a wide range of environmental zones. Differentiating the study region by environmental zone or ‘bioregion’ allows for a more detailed understanding of the spread of wildfires and the distribution of cultural sites relative to vegetation, landforms, infrastructure and centres of population. Such an approach allows us to make better predictions on the actual and likely impacts of fires on cultural sites across the landscape. While a fire may begin in one bioregion, it may (or may not) spread to another: understanding the spread of fires within and across bioregions, each with its own fuel loads and distribution of cultural sites, may shed useful light on management needs or options at a landscape scale.