Australia’s Landscape Is Permanently Changing Due To Bushfires, Scientists Warn

Scientists fear that the bushfires currently raging in Australia are permanently changing the country’s landscape. This could mean that the areas affected by the disaster can no longer be restored due to the level of damage inflicted by the bushfires.

In response to the growing disaster in Australia, government officials and agencies suggested carrying out reseeding operations to assist the recovery of forests affected by the fires. Unfortunately, this effort may not successfully work according to scientists.

Before the bushfires, ecologists in Australia split up the country’s natural vegetation into two categories. The first refers to fire-adapted landscapes, which means even though they burn periodically, they can still bounce back. The second category refers to areas that don’t burn at all.

Unfortunately, the scientists noted that landscapes that belong to the second category, such as rainforests and peat swamps, were severely affected by the recent bushfires.

“Anybody would have said these forests don’t burn, that there’s not enough material and they are wet,” forest restoration expert Sebastian Pfautsch of the Western Sydney University said in a statement according to Global News.

“Climate change is happening now, and we are seeing the effects of it,” he added.

As for the fire-adapted regions, the scientists noted that the intensity of the heat brought on by the bushfires in these regions could prevent them from fully recovering. If the current disaster continues or happens again in the future, it could take centuries before these areas return to normal.

“The normal processes of recovery are going to be less effective, going to take longer,” ecologist Roger Kitching of Griffith University in Queensland stated. “Instead of an ecosystem taking a decade, it may take a century or more to recover, all assuming we don’t get another fire season of this magnitude soon.”

In addition to the impact on Australia’s vegetation, the magnitude of the bushfires also has a huge effect on the country’s wildlife. Even after all the bushfires have been extinguished, their overall effect will still be present in the country’s forests. Since these are the natural habitats of Australia’s wildlife, the animals might have a hard time adapting and surviving in their affected surroundings.