Fire ecology is a branch of ecology that focuses on the origins of wildfire and its relationship to the environment that surrounds it, both living and non-living. Fire plays a unique part in the Australian landscape, it is used as both a management tool and is also a naturally occurring phenomenon and have a significant effect on the flora and fauna of a particular area. Despite Australian’s close relationship with the ‘bush’, fire is not a well-understood phenomenon.
In this program students will investigate the role of fire in Woowookarung Regional Park. The park is subject to regular fuel reduction burning due to its proximity to Ballarat. Students will collect a range of data across two areas within the park, each with a different time since its last burn. Once the data is collected students will analyse and visualise the data using ArcGIS and esriAustralia mapping software to generate discussions on fire’s effects on the ecology of the park.
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