Alpine National Park - Bushfires

Bushfires

The park has been increasingly affected by bushfires with lightning strikes starting large fires in January 2003 and again in December 2006, each fire burning over 10,000 square kilometres over a number of weeks. The largest fire previously was the Black Friday fires of 1939. While fire is a feature of most Australian ecosystems, some alpine ecosystems, such as Alpine Bogs and Fens, are susceptible due to the sensitivity of the component species. The 2003 fires created a mosaic of burnt and unburnt areas. In some areas where the 2006-07 fires burnt over the same ground, species and communities have struggled to recover. Alpine Sphagnum Bogs and Associated Fens have now been listed as a threatened ecological community by the Australian Federal government.