Flame resistance

• Autores: Kate Douglas
• Localización: New scientist, ISSN 0262-4079, Nº. 3133, 2017, págs. 37-39
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Douglas discovers how the traditional knowledge among Aboriginal Australians could be an effective weapon against wildfires. Aboriginal Australians burn land for a range of practical reasons, from clearing land for habitation to hunting fires used to catch small mammals, large lizards or to drive turtles from a swamp. Strategies vary in between different Aboriginal groups and in the U.S., wherein land is also burned pre-emptively to reduce the risk of large wildfires but have several features in common such as the fires are relatively frequent, small-scale and low-intensity. The two major benefits of patch burning such as reduces the risk of uncontrolled fires and it promotes biodiversity, by creating a range of different habitats suitable for a wide range of animals and plants. Adapting the aboriginal burning practices and translate them into a Western scientific vocabulary of distinct fire regimes that characterised by measurable factors, such as what type of vegetation burns, whether the fire flames or smoulders, how fast a fire spreads, when and how regularly fires are lit, how big they are, patchiness, and impact on vegetation and soils.