@article {bnh-6790, title = {Savanna fire management and bushfire and natural hazard scenario planning for north Australia}, number = {555}, year = {2020}, month = {03/2020}, institution = {Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC}, address = {Melbourne}, abstract = {

The {\textquoteleft}Scenario planning for remote community risk management in northern Australia{\textquoteright} project is part of CDU{\textquoteright}s northern hub second round suite of projects, which commenced in July 2017. The hub involves collaborations between the Darwin Centre for Bushfire Research (DCBR) at Charles Darwin University (CDU), the North Australia Indigenous Land \& Sea Management Alliance Ltd (NAILSMA), the Aboriginal Research Practitioners Network (ARPNet) also based at CDU, and regional stakeholders including north Australian Fire and Emergency Management agencies, Conservation Agencies and remote Indigenous communities. In this report, we provide summaries of the work undertaken to date in the two main components of the Northern hub{\textquoteright}s scenario planning project.

Firstly, we are developing a framework for the Fire \& Emergency Services agencies to engage with remote Indigenous communities to potentially improve Emergency Services delivery. The agencies recognise the need to improve the services provided remotely, but also recognise that in part and in some jurisdictions (particularly the NT) not only are they not funded to achieve this, also that the classic model of volunteering does not suit remote Indigenous community members, who are too busy dealing with unemployment and poverty. However, the expanding Indigenous Ranger program is a potential means to more appropriately engage with local Indigenous people to build resilience and disaster assistance.

The process has involved a suite of case studies where interviews have been undertaken with members of the, now, wide-spread Indigenous Ranger programs to ascertain the aspirations, willingness and capacity of the Indigenous Rangers to engage in EM activities. In this report, we provide summaries of the activities undertaken and information gathered to date at Hermannsberg in Central Australia, Broome in the Kimberley, Galiwinku on Elcho Island off Arnhem Land and Borroloola on the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Secondly, we are continuing the program of service delivery of land management, monitoring and evaluation tools to assist fire managers in remote north Australia to develop {\textquotedblleft}Improved Fire Management Regimes{\textquotedblright}, by providing information with respect to the spatial distribution, and effects of fires on tropical savanna and rangeland habitats through the Savanna Monitoring \& Evaluation Reporting Framework (SMERF). In this report, we outline the further development of SMERF, in particular the proofing of the fire metrics collated in the previous year with a Far North Queensland Conservation estate case study in conjunction with partners at Queensland Parks \& Wildlife.

}, keywords = {fire management, Savanna, scenario planning}, issn = {555}, author = {Jeremy Russell-Smith and Kamaljit Sangha and Andrew C. Edwards} } @article {bnh-5056, title = {Limitations of high resolution satellite stereo imagery for estimating canopy height in Australian tropical savannas}, journal = {International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation}, volume = {75}, year = {2019}, month = {03/2019}, pages = {12}, chapter = {83}, abstract = {

Obtaining reliable measures of tree canopy height across large areas is a central element of forest inventory and carbon accounting. Recent years have seen an increased emphasis on the use of active sensors like Radar and airborne LiDAR (light detection and scanning) systems to estimate various 3D characteristics of canopy and crown structure that can be used as predictors of biomass. However, airborne LiDAR data are expensive to acquire, and not often readily available across large remote landscapes. In this study, we evaluated the potential of stereo imagery from commercially available Very High Resolution (VHR) satellites as an alternative for estimating canopy height variables in Australian tropical savannas, using a semi-global dense matching (SGM) image-based technique. We assessed and compared the completeness and vertical accuracy of extracted canopy height models (CHMs) from GeoEye 1 and WorldView 1 VHR satellite stereo pairs and summarised the factors influencing image matching effectiveness and quality.

Our results showed that stereo dense matching using the SGM technique severely underestimates tree presence and canopy height. The highest tree detection rates were achieved by using the near-infrared (NIR) band of GE1 (8{\textendash}9\%). WV1-GE1 cross-satellite (mixed) models did not improve the quality of extracted canopy heights. We consider these poor detection rates and height retrievals to result from: i) the clumping crown structure of the dominant Eucalyptus spp.; ii) their vertically oriented leaves (affecting the bidirectional reflectance distribution function); iii) image band radiometry and iv) wind induced crown movement affecting stereo-pair point matching. Our detailed analyses suggest that current commercially available VHR satellite data (0.5 m resolution) are not well suited to estimating canopy height variables, and therefore above ground biomass (AGB), in Eucalyptus dominated north Australian tropical savanna woodlands.

}, keywords = {canopy height, Satellite, Savanna, Stereo}, doi = {10.1016/j.jag.2018.10.021}, url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0303243418308390}, author = {Grigorijs Goldbergs and Stefan Maier and Shaun R Levick and Andrew C. Edwards} } @article {bnh-6041, title = {Incentivising fire management in Pindan (Acacia shrubland): A proposed fuel type for Australia{\textquoteright}s Savanna burning greenhouse gas emissions abatement methodology}, journal = {Ecological Management \& Restoration}, volume = {19}, year = {2018}, month = {08/2018}, pages = { 230-238}, abstract = {

The Australian Government has sanctioned development of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) abatement methodologies to meet international emissions reduction obligations. Savanna burning emissions abatement methodologies have been available since 2012, and there are currently 72 registered projects covering approximately 32 million ha. Abatement to date has exceeded 4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2-e) principally through the application of low intensity early dry season fire management to reduce the amount of biomass combusted in higher intensity late dry season (LDS) fires. Savanna burning projects can only be conducted on areas with eligible fire-prone vegetation fuel types where implementing the improved fire management regime is considered ecologically appropriate. This study assesses the suitability of including tall\ Acacia\ shrublands ({\textquoteleft}Pindan{\textquoteright}) as a new eligible fuel type. These shrublands make up 12\% (~2 million ha) of the Kimberley region, Western Australia, where, on average, 32\% is fire affected annually, mostly in the LDS. A standard assessment protocol was applied to describe vegetation fuel type structural and pyrolysis characteristics. We show that Pindan (i) can be identified and mapped as a unique tall\ Acacia\ shrubland vegetation fuel type, (ii) characterised by a significantly greater shrubby fuel load biomass, and (iii) the conservation status of which would benefit from imposition of strategic prescribed burning programme. Savanna burning projects in the Pindan fuel type could potentially abate up to 24.43\ t.CO2-e/km2\ per year, generating significant income and employment opportunities for predominantly Indigenous land managers in the region.

}, keywords = {Abatement, fire management, Savanna}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1111/emr.12334}, url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/emr.12334}, author = {Erin Lynch and Jeremy Russell-Smith and Andrew C. Edwards and Jay Evans and Yates, Cameron P.} } @article {bnh-6255, title = {Navigating the fiery debate: the role of scientific evidence in eliciting policy and management responses for contentious plants in northern Australia}, journal = {Pacific Conservation Biology}, volume = {24}, year = {2018}, month = {08/2018}, pages = {318-328}, abstract = {

Australia{\textquoteright}s vast tropical savannas contain outstanding biodiversity and cultural values. The region supports many industries, with broad-scale pastoralism being the most widespread. Hundreds of plant species were introduced into northern Australia to support the pastoral industry; some species have since been termed {\textquoteleft}contentious{\textquoteright} or {\textquoteleft}conflict{\textquoteright} species due to their perceived positive value for industry but negative impacts on non-pastoral values when they invaded non-pastoral landscapes. Heated political and public debate ensued about the appropriate policy and management response to these species based on people{\textquoteright}s perceptions of values being altered by invasion by these species, and conflicting views on what constituted appropriate management actions to control their use and spread. Here we share our insights into the role of scientific evidence in progressing this debate, by quantifying the impacts of species on environmental, socioeconomic and cultural values. We reflect on the importance of science for underpinning evidence-based risk management tools, the outputs of which supported policy response by politicians and other policy decision-makers. We also assess the gap in translation from policy to coordinated on-ground action at the national scale, and provide our insights into the contribution that science can make to bridging this gap.

}, keywords = {conservation biology, conservation policy, invasive species, policy and planning, Savanna}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1071/PC18028}, url = {https://www.publish.csiro.au/pc/PC18028}, author = {Setterfield, SA and Rossiter-Rachor, Natalie and Vanessa M Adams} }