Australian bushfires leave grisly trail of environmental damage

[rodeodance]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061217/wl_afp/australiafiresanimalsenvironment_061217103018

Australian bushfires leave grisly trail of environmental damage

Sun Dec 17, 5:31 AM ET

SYDNEY (AFP) - Tens of thousands of iconic Australian creatures including koalas and kangaroos may have died in fires that swept through vast tracts of southern Australia this week, environmentalists say.
............

But they will also leave a significant environmental legacy because of their impact on flora and fauna, according to Wildlife Victoria spokeswoman Sandy Fernee.

"I think we've already lost tens of thousands of animals when you consider how widespread the fires are," she told AFP.

The wildfires, caused by lightning strikes in some areas and arson in others, have raged in the southern states of Victoria and Tasmania as well as New South Wales and Western Australia for two weeks.........

[Kagemusha]

1. I wonder how many people realize nature bounces back from fire.

I read articles like this and wonder. People endlessly focus on death, never on what comes after, it seems. Fire's not like radiation contamination. Fire makes certain kind of seeds sprout, for instance. In this case, the very destruction leads directly to rebirth. That's how nature works. I mean, it's not the same as pollution, which KEEPS environments dead after killing them. Fire is a natural process. Yes, it'll leave a "significant" legacy but, while there is a temptation to want to freeze nature in time so that the flora and fauna existing today will last forever, this is a completely unrealistic expectation. Nature not only is programmed to survive a large level of devastation, but to some extent, regularly requires it in order to continue to properly function.

Just saying, because I can see the natural reaction. "OMG, tens of thousands of animals died!" The Australian wilderness will bounce back, but that probably won't make very good copy.

[The Stranger]

2. No, apparently, nature will not "bounce back" from these fires.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061218/sc_nm/australia_bushfires_dc

Australian fires kill thousands of native animals

By Alex Koutts
Mon Dec 18, 2:51 AM ET

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of native Australian animals such as koalas and kangaroos have been killed in bushfires that have burned across southeast Australia in the past two weeks, wildlife officials said on Monday.

The bushfires, which are still burning in three eastern states, have been so big and intense that wildlife officials fear some species may become extinct as the fires destroy large swathes of animal habitats.

Koalas and possums, which instinctively climb to the treetops for safety, would have had no chance of escaping the blazes, and kangaroos and bush birds would have been unable to outrun the fast-burning fires, he said.

This meant a very real threat of seeing species unique to the burnt-out areas, such as frogs and birds, becoming extinct, O'Brien said.

"These fires will directly contribute to the extinction of a number of species and we won't know the full effects for another 10 years," he said.

[Kagemusha]

3. Nature as a whole will

As I said, it's not like irradiation. If some species die out, others will rise to take their place. Please don't take that as some kind of argument that this is a good situation but, reading the above and concluding that the ground is burnt to a crisp, and nothing will ever grow there or live there again, would be reading way too much into it.

I'm not sure why I bother though. Everyone wants to dwell on loss.

[The Stranger]

4. This isn't some sort of natural or normal species loss.

The rate of species loss right now is staggering, mostly due to habitat destruction like that going on here, or global warming -- it is not some sort of "normal process."

The fires that are raging uncontrolled likely are the result of abnormal weather patterns that have been created by man.

[Kagemusha]

5. Whether man is to blame for this is just sooooo irrelevant to me.

Dead animals are dead animals regardless of if they're burned by an "unnatural" wildfire or fried by the impact of a random meteorite. Now, don't let me get in the way of your condemnation of mankind but, it still has nothing to do with what I said.

I said, fire does not destroy the habitat permanently. A particularly vulnerable species' habitat might be wiped out to the point of extincting the species, but THE HABITAT, in and of itself, most certainly will bounce back, because that's what it's programmed to do. It may not be the same as before, but there will be a habitat, not just charred trees.

But I wouldn't notice how fire leads to new life either, were I too busy harping on the evil of mankind.

Brushfires predate man. The form and intensity may change - fire suppression most certainly changes the environment - but like I said, destruction that can be linked to man in any way, makes better copy than rebirth on Planet Earth. There's small joys for those willing to find them.