‘Only 6 weeks after the fire front passed we have just returned from more days on the fire grounds where we find plant and animal successions are well advanced. Lots of new regrowth on charred and standing timber.
Fire dependent fungi are prospering in the ash beds. There are lots of tracks and signs of small vertebrates such as lizards, marsupials, and birds on the ground. Many are taking up new shelters in fallen timber and fire hollowed logs, we can detect at least four different types of birdsong on the air. Recent rains have created ephemeral pools and running creeks where frogs and toadlets are calling. The calm evenings are punctuated by the calls of thick knee curlews, boobooks and masked plover’.
Excerpt from field report Kangaroo Island 3/2/2020 – Dr Peggy Rismiller OAM, Mike McKelvey OAM, PLWRC